Anniversary Weekend in the Willamette Valley - July 2016

Enjoying Wine at Penner-Ash

Our original plan to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary was to spend the long weekend at the Inn at Perry Cabin on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.  Once Keith received the job offer for Scottsdale, we decided to stay on the west coast, but knew that we wanted to escape the heat of Phoenix.  We had never been to the Willamette Valley so we booked a flight to Portland for the July 4th weekend.

View from Stoller Winery

Shawna picked Keith up at his office in Scottsdale at 3pm so we had plenty of time to drop off the rental car and get to the gate - there were alerts that there were long TSA lines.  Fortunately, we did get through quickly with plenty of time for the flight.  It was an easy 2.5 hours to Portland as we watched several Entourage episodes on the iPad in the air.  Upon arrival at the airport, Keith realized that he had failed to reserve a rental car - so Shawna came to the rescue with her Hertz app and got us a super-cheap car for the weekend.

It was less than an hour drive to The Allison Inn in Newberg, our hotel for the weekend.  The hotel is only seven years old and has a very clean, simple aesthetic.  The room was huge with a large bathroom as well.  When we arrived, there was a bottle of wine in the room waiting from the manager - but Shawna looked around the room and immediately picked up the phone.  No one answered so she popped out of the room to speak to someone at the desk and was back in 5 minutes.  She had arranged a bottle of wine and cheese plate to be in the room upon arrival but the hotel had failed to deliver.  Within 15 minutes the wine and cheese arrived - but there were no crackers with which to eat the cheese!  We asked the guy to bring us some bread or cheese - he seemed surprised that we needed a delivery mechanism for our cheese!  :)  He returned with some bread and we enjoyed a really nice bottle of wine in the room before bed.

The Allison Inn

On Saturday, we headed out of the hotel and grabbed Starbucks for breakfast as our first stop.  We then drove about 20 minutes to Wilsonville to see a property Keith's company is buying.  We "shopped" it for 30 mins and then left in time to be at the first vineyard for opening at 11am.  The vineyards of the day were:

• Ponzi - really modern building with a great view of the hills.  We sat outside and shared a wine tasting plus had a cheese plate.  The Pinot Reserve was delicious.

Ponzi Winery

• Rex Hill (sister of A to Z) - this vineyard is right off the main road so not as nice a view.  We shared a tasting standing at the counter in a more traditional style tasting room.  We particularly enjoyed the La Colina '13 Pinot.

• Duck Pond - we visited this one earlier than expected because a traffic jam motivated us to leave the road.  While just off the road, it had beautiful flowers and a blues band playing outside.  We each had our own tasting here and had another cheese plate which came with some delicious warm bread.  We really liked the Pinot Noir Blanc which had an interesting taste for a white.

Duck Pond Winery

• Argyle - also off the main road, it has modern barn decor and is known for its sparkling wine.  The person serving the wine was very friendly and we liked the sparkling rose and the sweeter Riesling - we both had our own tasting here as well.

After four vineyards, it was time for a nap so we headed back to the hotel.  Following the nap, we each had a 90-minute massage - Shawna at 3:45 and Keith at 4:15.  Shawna's was a "top 5" massage.  We relaxed a bit more before heading to dinner at Jory, the hotel restaurant.  We wanted to start with cocktails outside but it took 25 minutes for them to arrive so we just transferred the tab to the table and sat down.  There was a bottle of Cameron wine chilled on the table with a card from Keith's parents wishing us a happy anniversary - very impressive!  The wine was a very nice Chardonnay from the region.  For dinner, we shared the buratta, pork belly, and the halibut.  The food was tasty but service was very slow.

Dinner at Jory

On Sunday, we opted to have breakfast at the hotel - the weather was beautiful so we sat outside.  Keith had the yogurt parfait and Shawna the veggie hash.  Then, it was off to the races again to see a few more vineyards:

• Sokol - the architecture here is a clean Scandinavian style with stand-up tastings.  We particularly loved the Dundee Hills Chardonnay so bought that, the Riesling, and the Dessert Wine to be shipped to Scottsdale.

• Stoller - this was recommended by Sarah so we had to stop here.  It was super-busy so we did not get great service but we sat at a high-top table with a super view.  We ordered two types of cheeses and crackers which seemed to be very expensive until we got them - each was a large block of cheese as well as a large package of crackers - not as nice of a cheese tray as the wineries from the first day.  

Stoller Winery

• Erath - While this is a larger vineyard, the tasting room was small and a bit more of a traditional style.  We shared a wine flight which was served in mini-carafes which we could then self-serve.  

Erath Winery

• Alexana - our wine server was a young Italian guy who was really friendly.  It was a modern room with a great view, though the outside deck was a bit small.  Here we bought Chardonnay, Riesling and an Argentinian Pinot to be sent to Scottsdale.

• Penner-Ash - Shawna saw this one was on the way back to the hotel and it had been recommended by the person at Argyle for their Viognier.  While the Viognier was OK, the rest of the wine was delicious and the view was the perfect way to close out the day.  We shared a tasting, bought three wines to ship home, and then Shawna bought a bottle of Rose for us to drink while sitting on the Adirondack chairs on the grass looking at the view.  Glorious.  

Penner Ash Winery

After an exhausting day of wine tasting, we went back to the hotel for another nap.  That evening, we enjoyed a seven course meal with wine tasting at the Painted Lady which is a highly recommended restaurant in town.  The hotel drove us there and back so that we would not have to drive after drinking so much wine.  The restaurant is a small, two story Victorian house and while the decor inside is fancier than we like (aka white table cloths), it was intimate and nice.  The food was very good and spaced apart so that we never felt stuffed.  It was a great meal to end the weekend.

On Monday, we slept in and had breakfast again at the hotel - this time we sat inside as it was cloudy outside.  Keith had the parfait again while Shawna had the omelette.  We then relaxed in the room before heading out at 11am to drive back to the airport.  Shawna flew back to Baltimore while Keith flew to Seattle to see some of the properties there.