Oregon's Willamette Valley Flexes its Wine Muscle

There is a discernible and different vibe happening in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

While the headwinds impacting the wine industry are nearly universal – declining and shifting consumer patterns of consumption, tariffs, climate change, risings costs, and consolidation – in many places they take on an ominous tone that points to a state of somewhat inevitable decline.

In Oregon, those same challenges seem differently assimilated. They feel couched in a cloud of exuberance – an exuberance for an American wine-growing region that is coming into its own and is emergent and not in a state of retraction or decline. It’s a muted exuberance to be sure -- Oregon’s producers are not isolated from the industry’s headwinds – but there is a palpable optimism in the air.

There is reason for the optimism when you taste the wines emerging from the region. Some are doubling down on what the region is already well known for – Pinot Noir – but seeking to excel further still. Others are taking advantage of climate change and planting in places throughout the region that were considered inhospitable to viticulture just a few decades ago. Still others are seeking to diversify the wines for which the region is already well regarded, planting experimental blocks of different varieties and others, going all in on sparkling.

The joy of visiting the Willamette Valley and its wineries is that despite a few bottlenecks of traffic that can be experienced during peak transit hours in the valley’s population centers, it’s a bucolic jaunt from venue to venue though a vast and verdant region. The Valley itself – and the Willamette Valley AVA – is 150 miles long by 60 miles wide containing some 3.4 million acres. About 30,000 of those acres are planted to some 900 vineyards and 700 different wineries. In other words, visiting requires advance planning to maximize your time and experiences.

Here are a few of my favorite producers and experiences to either assist you in your planning of a trip, or more immediately perhaps, in creating a stellar line up Oregon wine for your own collection and enjoyment. I’ve also recommended a few centrally located properties (see accompanying story starting on page 172) to consider if you’re doing more than just a daytrip from Portland.

As always, Salud!

Martin Woods Winery

Evan Martin is a genius winemaker. He creates wines with fruit sourced from trusted growers from the region’s top vineyards and these wines are the epitome of the optimism and potential of what Willamette Valley can produce. His small production facility is down a long dirt road and if you’re lucky, Evan might be available to host a tasting in the cellar or more intimately, in his home. He creates a truly exceptional and complex Pinot Noir from the Jesse James Vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA, a luscious rosé of Cabernet Franc from the Eola Springs Vineyard, and he is one of the area’s winemakers leaning into Aligoté with great success. The 2023 Aligoté from the Chehalem Mountains is in the top five of the 100+ wines I tasted from the Valley last year.

Rex Hill Winery

If there is a solitary, not-to-be-missed, wine experience on a trip to the Willamette Valley, it is the Somm’s Table Experience at Rex Hill’s tasting room in Newburg. A stunning modern edifice of wood, glass and steel, and set alongside the substantial production facility of sibling winery, A to Z Wineworks (whose quaffable rosé of Sangiovese I have written about previously), the setting is simply stunning. The Somm’s Table Experience allows you to taste some of Rex Hill’s limited release wines – a gorgeous array of Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays from the Willamette Valley – as part of a paired five-course culinary journey. Not only were the wines spectacular, but the innovative, Pacific Northwest-inspired cuisine was exceptional.

Granville Wine Co.

I love Chardonnay and, in the Willamette Valley, while it is dwarfed by Pinot Noir in terms of acres planted to vines, its reputation for quality and terroir-specific expression is exploding. In fact, I would argue that the Chardonnays coming out of Oregon are among the very best being produced in the United States. Come at me, but first try Granville’s 2023 Latchkey Vineyard Chardonnay from the Dundee Hills AVA. Granville produces a handful of Chardonnays, but the one from the Latchkey Vineyard is sublime. Dry-farmed in the unique soils of the area, the fruit shines in notes of lemon zest and white flowers and a judicious use of new French Oak barrels elevates it further. What I loved most were the hints of salinity and stone. This was my favorite Chardonnay among the more than 50 sampled during my time in the Valley. Tastings are by appointment-only at their estate in Dundee.

Willamette Valley Vineyards

If a grand and largess experience is desired on your trip, there is perhaps no better way to indulge for a few hours than at the estate of Willamette Valley Vineyards (WVV) in Turner. Founded in 1983, the scale of WVV is immediately impressive as one drives up to the tasting room and through meticulously tended-to vines on both sides of the drive. Various wine tastings, food pairings, and tours of the cellars and production facilities are offered. Especially popular with guests is the Pinot Noir Clonal Blending Experience where you don’t just learn about the clones of Pinot Noir, but you take home a bottle of the wine you’ve blended.

Beaux Frères

Sitting on picnic tables under the porch of what was a barn – and is now the production facility – at Beaux Frères feels like visiting old friends. No pretense. Nothing fussy. Just spectacular wines that speak for themselves. Beaux Frères has developed a true cult following for its impeccable Pinot Noirs that speak powerfully to the unique terroir of their various vineyard sites across the Willamette Valley and the diversity of Pinot Noir clones that are utilized. Tastings, which are by appointment-only, allow you to taste and compare bottlings of the same vintage from their sites. The limited production 2023 Sequitur Vineyard Pinot Noir (just 387 cases produced) is profound and unique, expressing itself with bright acidity and herbal notes that linger with fresh brambles.

Alexana Winery

Dr. Madaiah Revana is one of a handful of vintners who’ve sought a presence in Oregon in addition to established production in other parts of the world (perhaps Willamette Valley’s most well-known example is Jospeh Drouhin). Revana’s estate in Oregon is the Alexana Estate Vineyard in the Dundee Hills. The tasting room is modern and intimate, with extensive outdoor seating to take in the views. And in addition to Alexana’s well-regarded Pinot Noir and Chardonnay bottlings from the Willamette Valley, guests can also sample wines from Revana’s other estates in Napa and Argentina. But what caught my fancy was the Alexana 2024 Hillsides Pinot Gris. Pinot Gris is the second largest grape variety planted in the Willamette Valley and while finding single varietal bottlings is not difficult, the Alexana Pinot Gris is a standout. A stern backbone of salinity creates a brightness to flavors of tart apples, bosc pear, melon, and chamomile.