Wine Tasting in the Eola Hills Region

By Cole Danehower
For Oregon.com

Today, Oregon's most important wine country is the Willamette Valley. Here a cool growing climate has proven ideal for some of the world's most cherished wine grape varieties, especially Pinot noir, Pinot gris, Chardonnay, and Riesling.

But the Willamette Valley itself is extremely large, and encompasses many different winegrowing regions. This size, and the diversity it offers wine consumers, is both a blessing and problem.

So let's get the "problem" side of this situation out of the way first.

For Oregon wine tourists, there is a whole range of exciting wineries to visit in what can be thought of as the middle portion of the Willamette Valley, grouped roughly in the area to the west of Salem, Oregon's capital.

So what's the problem? Well, simply that these wineries are located far enough away from Portland - the most popular embarkation point for wine touring - that you'll have to make a more concerted effort to reach them. It also means you'll really need to spend at least two days to do these wineries full justice.

But believe me, it is well worth the effort.

If you drive south along Highway 99 from Portland, you first go through a wine-growing region known informally as the "Red Hills of Dundee" area (you can read my touring suggestions for this area here). This is the region that is relatively easy to visit from Portland.

Once you get further south, below McMinnville, the landscape changes. Between the towns of Amity and Rickreall you are skirting the western edge of a different wine growing region known as the "Eola Hills."

This area is just far enough from Portland to make it worth considering spending the night in the McMinnville or Salem areas.

The Eola Hills rise gently and beautifully from the valley floor northwest of Salem. This is an unusually fertile region and home to many large nurseries and many fruit orchards as well as a growing number of wineries.

From a wine grape-growing perspective, this region tends to produce Pinot noir wines that have a different character from the same grape variety grown in the Red Hills region. The wines of the Eola Hills often have more dark fruit character, additional spice and mineral notes and can have naturally higher levels of acidity, giving them a fresh and bright tone.

Amity Vineyards
The first small town on Highway 99 you encounter south of McMinnville is Amity, a quaint and sleepy village that is also home to one of Oregon's most interesting wineries -the aptly named Amity Vineyards. Follow the signs to the left off Highway 99 and then again to the left up the road to the winery.

Founder and winemaker Myron Redford is one of the true pioneers of Oregon winemaking, having been making wine here since 1976. A tall, bushy bearded man with a ready smile, you may well encounter Myron as you sip his samples at Amity's rustic tasting room.

Amity's signature wine is Pinot noir though Myron also makes an intriguing array of additional wines, including some outstanding late harvest (sweet) wines.

Amity takes an unusual approach to their Pinot noir, eschewing the use of "new oak" barrels for aging the wine. Myron believes that most other winemakers, who use freshly made oak barrels imported mostly from France, end up masking the natural flavors of the Pinot noir fruit with the artificial flavors of oak that are imparted by the barrels.

So, pay attention to the flavor of the Pinot noirs you taste. Unlike most other wineries, you'll be tasting the pure fruit essence, untainted by the use of oak. This may be an approach you'll find eccentric, or you may fall in love with the fresh and clear flavors. Either way, don't pass up the experience of tasting Amity's Pinot noirs.

And, be sure to also sample the other Amity wines. Myron makes many different styles, including an intriguing rosé, a fully-flavored Pinot blanc, and a range of Rieslings and Gewurztraminer wines from dry to intensely sweet-surely he'll have a wine you'll love.

Once you've finished wine tasting at Amity, get back on Highway 99 and continue south. As the road opens up to the wide and gently rolling hill country, keep your eyes peeled for blue "Oregon attraction" signs directing you to any one of these four closely located wineries: Witness Tree, Cristom, Stangeland or Bethel Heights. When you see the sign, get ready to make a left turn onto Bethel Road, and then a left onto Bethel heights Road NW.

Bethel Heights Vineyard
The first winery on this little tour of the Eola Hills is Bethel Heights Vineyard. Founded in 1977 by the twin brothers Terry and Ted Casteel and their wives, Bethel Heights was one of the earliest vineyards to be located in this area. The sleek and attractive tasting room offers great views of the estate's 50 acres of vines, plus the opportunity to taste some of the best Pinot noirs made in Oregon.

Touring Data

Amity Vineyards 18150 Amity Vineyards Rd, SE Amity 503-835-2362 Generally open from Noon to 5 pm daily, between February and December

Bethel Heights Vineyard 6060 Bethel Heights Road NW Salem 503-581-2262 Open 11 am-5 pm on weekends from March to November, and additional days in the summer - call for specifics.

Cristom Vineyards 6905 Spring Valley Road NW Salem 503-375-3068 Open weekends April through Thanksgiving, 11 am-5 pm, and additional days in summer - call for specifics.

Witness Tree Vineyard 7111 Spring Valley Road NW Salem 888-GR8T-PNO Open weekends 11 am-5 pm

Stangeland Vineyards 8500 Hopewell Road NW Salem 503-581-0355 Call for opening hours

The Bethel Heights red wines are famous for having a silky elegance and high-toned polish that sets them apart form many other wineries. The Casteels (Ted is in charge of the vineyards while Terry handles the winemaking) are fond of distinguishing their different bottlings by the area of the vineyard where the grapes were grown.

Over the years, the brothers have found that particular spots in the vineyard (called "blocks") consistently deliver distinctively flavored wines. So, each year they bottle the wines up separately, giving consumers an intriguing opportunity to "taste the places" within their estate vineyards.

My personal favorite tends to be the "Southeast Block" designation. If they are available for tasting when you visit, be sure to also try the "Flat Block," "West Block" and the "Estate." These are all reliably tasty wines.

Bethel Heights also makes fine Pinot gris (a cousin to the famed Pinot noir, and a variety that is rapidly gaining in popularity), Pinot blanc, Chardonnay, and more recently, a Syrah from Southern Oregon.

When you have relaxed enough on their patio, it's time to leave Bethel Heights and head to the next winery. Go back to Bethel Road, turn right, and bear off to Zena Road when you come to a "Y" intersection. Then turn left onto Spring Valley Road and look for Cristom Vineyards.

Cristom Vineyards
One more renowned producer of fine Pinot noir, Cristom Vineyards offers yet another Oregonian take on this delectable varietal. Winemaker Steve Doerner is one of the most experienced Pinot noir winemakers in Oregon and it shows in the juicy elegance of his different bottlings, each named for a different part of the estate vineyards.

Always rich and always in demand, a tasting sample at Cristom is always a treat. Their different Pinot noir releases, including the Marjorie Vineyard, Mt. Jefferson Cuvée, Lousie Vineyard (my favorite), Jessie Vineyard, and Eileen Vineyard represent an unusual array of different wine characters, all coming from a single winery.

And, be sure to pay special attention to the Cristom Reserve Pinot noir - a blend of selected lots from the winery estate. For my money, this is one of the most consistently tasty blended Pinots available anywhere. Also be sure to sample the Pinot gris, Chardonnay and Viognier white wines that Cristom makes.

In particular, see if you like the Viognier wines, This relatively new-to-Oregon white varietal is being grown in a few places in the Willamette Valley as well as in Southern Oregon where the climate is warmer. A few wineries, like Cristom are beginning to make the wine in a variety of styles.

Redolent with pretty flower-blossom aromas and softly fruity notes of peach and apricot, Viognier is an appealling and up-and-coming white wine that you won't get to sample everywhere, but you can taste here.

Witness Tree Vineyard
Just down the road from Cristom is Witness Tree Vineyard, named for an ancient oak tree in the vineyard that was designated a surveyor's landmark in 1854. Owners Dennis and Carolyn Devine produce small amounts of highly focused Pinot noir and Chardonnay from their own 100-acre estate. They tend their own vines and emphasize minimal handling of the grapes in the winery in order to retain as much of the original "taste of the place" that the grapes possess.

Their intimate tasting room is always friendly and their wines are delightful. In fact, on a quality-for-dollar scale, Witness Trees Pinots are some of the best values in the Willamette Valley. I tend to favor the Estate bottling for its richness, intensity and good price.

When you're finished tasting the wines and looking at the vines of Witness Tree (they run right up yo the gravel parking lot), get back in your car and continue to the left on Spring Valley Road until you get to Hopewell Road. Just off to the left is the last winery of this tour segment: Stangeland Vineyards.

Stangeland Vineyards
Owners Larry and Kinsey Miller like to say "there are no strangers at Stangeland," and two minutes in their cute tasting room proves the point. Winemaker Larry Miller has been producing Pinot noirs since the 1970s, primarily from his own estate vineyards but also from fruit he buys from neighboring vineyards.

Stangeland is a great example of the Oregon winemaking ethos: a husband-and-wife team who are truly dedicated to their craft (even though Larry has a day job), and who passionately share their enthusiasm with customers and visitors. With many award-winning wines under their belts, the Millers can offer you a range of taste styles and price points.

In particular, Larry's top-end Pinot noirs (especially his Winemaker's Reserve) can be intense and big, offering lots of punchy red and black fruit flavors spiced with toasty oak and warm earth notes.

Stangeland's wines are all hand-crafted originals (kind of like the Millers themselves), and are exemplary of what makes Oregon's wine country special - visiting the Millers' Eola Hills winery, for instance, is an experience you simply won't find in the more famous wine regions in that other state to the south.

Next up: We'll visit a few more Eola Hills wineries that further show the range and power of wines grown in this region.

Cole Danehower publishes the Oregon Wine Report, writes for Northwest Palate magazine, and is a member of the Oregon Wine Advisory Board. He can be contacted at cole@harborside.com.