Willamette Valley
Wine Region · Dundee, Oregon
The wine region that occupies the drainage basin of the Willamette River between Portland and Eugene, and one of the two or three places on earth that grows Pinot noir at the highest level. The first modern vines went in in 1965 on the argument that the latitude and the marine climate resembled Burgundy; the region proved it at a blind tasting in Paris in 1979 and has been taken seriously ever since. There are now over seven hundred wineries, most of them small and family-run, in eleven nested sub-appellations.
North Pacific Highway West, Dundee, Oregon, 97115, United States
Tasting rooms keep their own hours, typically late morning to late afternoon, with many closed one or more days midweek and some closed entirely in winter. ⚠ A GREAT MANY WILLAMETTE VALLEY PRODUCERS ARE NOW APPOINTMENT-ONLY OR RESERVATION-PREFERRED - a change made after 2020 that has largely stuck, particularly among the small wineries. Book ahead, even for the same day. Tasting fees are the norm and are frequently waived on a purchase. Harvest runs from about mid-September into October, and the Thanksgiving weekend open house is the busiest event of the year.
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