Willamette Valley Wineries

Founders David and Ginny Adelsheim established their winery in 1971, and Adelsheim Vineyard is recognized as one of the Willamette Valley's flagships. The winery sources its pinot noirs, chardonnays, pinot gris and pinot blancs from estate vineyards in the Chehalem Mountains and along Ribbon Ridge. The tasting room offers five tasting experiences (reservations required), ranging from a casual tasting at the bar to a private, 2-hour Cave Experience. A few tastings come with food pairings, and you can purchase a Market Box, featuring locally made snacks, for the others.

Established by Dr. Robert Pamplin, a revered businessman, philanthropist, minister and author, the winery crafts pinot noir, pinot gris and pinot blanc from its estate vineyards, as well as other varietals. The latter include gamay noir, riesling, sparkling wines and dessert wines.

Winemaker Maggie Harrison's signature wines include pinot noirs from an 11-acre estate vineyard on a rocky hillside in Eola-Amity Hills. And she also produces as estate chardonnay, her Lillian syrah, made with Santa Barbara County fruit, and others. Her wines offer nuanced complexity, with her reds offering notes of ripe fruit, spice and smokiness that dance across your palate.

Centrally located at the base of the Dundee Hills, Argyle is the perfect spot for familiarizing yourself with the lay of the land. The still wines are great, but the true stars in the tasting room are sparkling wines, available in flights, with the makeup of the bruts, blanc de noirs and blanc de blancs changing slightly from vintage to vintage.

Doug Tunnell and his team produce 4,000–5,000 cases a year of pinot noir, chardonnay and gamay noir at this Ribbon Ridge winery. The grapes are grown on Tunnell's 40-acre biodynamically farmed estate vineyard, and the name refers to the brick house located in the middle of the farm, which houses the winery and tasting room. Appointments required.

Portland, Oregon, doesn't necessarily offer the type of rural surroundings you'd expect in a wine destination, but it does technically sit in the Willamette Valley. And urban Division Winemaking is a great winery to know about. Founded by Thomas Monroe and Kate Norris in 2010, Division produces an eclectic assortment of food-friendly varietals and blends, sourced from sustainably farmed vineyards in Oregon and Washington. The selection includes pinot noirs, syrahs, chardonnays, gamay noirs, chenin blancs, at least one aligote and others, produced in small lots that tend to sell out pretty quickly. The wines are currently available online as the owners complete the build-out of their new urban location.

The Drouhin family has been producing wine in Burgundy since the 19th century. At their elegant Dundee Hills tasting room, visitors can, among other things, compare the Drouhins' French pinot noirs to those produced in Oregon, while gazing at rolling vineyards stretching as far as the eye can see.

This Dundee winery has received many accolades over the years, most notably having its flagship Evenstad Reserve Pinot Noir named the No. 3 Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator in 2013. In addition to casual drop-in tastings, the winery offers a variety of programmed tours and tastings that vary in duration and price. Among them, the 45th Parallel is a food-and-wine experience that allows you to compare Domain Serene's wines with those from Château de la Crée, its sister winery in Burgundy.

If you raced bicycles in France's Loire Valley when you were in your 20s, you would have probably developed a passion for wine, too. That's what John Grochau did, before returning to his hometown Portland and gravitating from the restaurant industry to wine making. Today, he crafts food-friendly wines, sourced from top Willamette Valley vineyards, including pinot noir and chardonnay, plus gamay noir and melon de bourgogne (aka muscadet). The tasting room is open Fri-Sun.

Downtown Carlton resembles a life-sized version of a town you'd see on a model railroad set. So it seems only fitting that the tasting room for its most-lauded winery—and one of the finest in the entire Willamette Valley—is set inside a renovated 1920s train depot. Founder Ken Wright produces single-vineyard pinot noirs from 13 vineyards, as well as chardonnay, pinot blanc and a Walla Walla Valley syrah. Among his many accolades, his Abbot Claim Vineyard Pinot Noir was named the No. 1 wine in the world by Wine Enthusiast in 2012.

The Lachini's team specializes in well-crafted pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot gris from grapes grown on its vineyard on Willamette Valley's Chehalem Mountain. It also sources pinot noir from another vineyard on California's Sonoma Coast, while its vineyard on Washington's Red Mountain produces fruit for its Bordeaux varietals.

Sample Lachini wines, as described above, only in a wine-bar setting, about 20 min from Portland, depending on traffic.

Established in 1987, this family-owned and operated winery complements grapes grown on its estate vineyards in the Dundee Hills with those sourced from select other Willamette Valley vineyards to produce highly rated pinot noir, pinot gris and chardonnay.

Established in Newberg, Ore., in 1999, Owen Roe has a well-established track record for crafting quality wines. Initially focusing on Willamette Valley varietals, primarily pinot noir, the owners purchased Yakima Valley land to produce warm-weather varietals. The picnic-friendly Oregon tasting room is about 5 minutes from downtown Newberg.

Founders Richard and Nancy Ponzi are among the Willamette Valley's wine pioneers, establishing the winery in 1970. Their state-of-the-art Chehalem Mountain winery offers a stylish modern setting for tasting amid the vineyards. With patio seating, a sleek fireplace, bocce ball courts and more, it's much more than a tasting room.

Well-crafted estate pinot noirs, chardonnays, pinot gris, pinot blancs, rieslings and Mûller Thurgeaus reflect the characteristics of Dundee's terroir. The airy, modern tasting room is one of the valley's sleekest. Thanks to the winery's friendly and devoted fans, who tend to fill up the tasting room, it's also one of the most fun.

Set in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA, family-owned Stag Hollow produces small lots of age-worthy pinot noir and other varietals, including tempranillo, from its estate vineyards. The reserve pinot noirs feature six to 10 different clones. Tastings are available Fri.–Sun., by appointment only.

This 10,000-case-a-year winery focuses on pinot noir, pinot gris, chardonnay and other white varietals, best enjoyed in the garden patio outside its Dundee Hills winery tasting room. The grapes for its popular port are sourced from Southern Oregon. Pssst: try the port.

Pinot noir and riesling sourced primarily from three Willamette Valley subregions come together with pleasing complexity at this Ribbon Ridge winery, founded by artist James Frey and his wife, Andrea (the winery is named for their children, Tristen and Tatum). The Freys also produce sparkling wines and Bordeaux-style reds (the latter are sourced from Walla Walla's Seven Hills Vineyard), with the entire lineup available in flights in the tasting room, which doubles as an art gallery.

With more than 500 acres of estate vineyards (pictured above) located in multiple valley locations, Willamette Valley Vineyards' barrel-aged pinot noirs reflect the best characteristics of the terroir through its Willamette Valley blends and vineyard-designate wines. The winery recently introduced luxury accommodations at the Estate Tasting Room.

The winery's McMinnville tasting room brings its Willamette Valley blends and vineyard-designate wines to a convenient location among the historic district's tasting rooms, restaurants and shops.