Oregon Wine Experience

Willamette Valley vineyards, Oregon. Photos by Joann Schissel, October 2018.

Touring wineries and tasting samples of various wines can provide hours of entertainment, especially during these dwindling days of autumn. As the holidays approach and leisure time tends to be limited to indoors, consider taking a tour of our winery, trying a new wine with a sample flight, experience a wine and art class, or other activities you can enjoy with family and friends. Be sure to check our events page for all the activities in November.

We just recently returned from a trip to the Willamette Valley in Oregon, famous for its Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines. Mike and I like to be on the other side of the wine experience to explore wine tasting as customers and see how the world-class wineries operate from a consumer viewpoint. The Valley has dozens of wineries and vineyards just within the geographical area known as an American Viticultural Area (AVA). We could only visit a few wineries, and it was a wonderful experience. This region makes some of the finest Pinot and Chardonnay wines in the world. It wasn’t uncommon to see bottle prices range $100 and up. At the places we visited, tastings ran $25-$45.

We don’t have the same grapes in Iowa as they do in Oregon. Those grapes would not survive in our climate. Iowa has cold-hardy grapes such as Frontenac, Brianna, Edelweiss, and other French-hybrids. Iowa-grown grapes may be different from Oregon, but still delicious. Stop by and try some of our quality Iowa wines. You won’t have to spend a fortune either.