Just got back from working in Oregon and Seattle and have never done
much wine tasting there. Went to Willamette Valley and hit every open
winery. Some impressions. Tori Mor absolutely hit the heights of the
smoothest silkiest example of Oregon Pinot Noir and Domaine Serene the
most powerful as well as Domaine Serene Viognier/Pinot Gris Blend with a
bit of oak in it. What a great taste. Enjoyed Archery Summit,
disappointed in several including Lange that was highly rated. Very
pedestrian Pinot Noirs were the rule at many places with the most
expensive tasting cost I have ever seen (makes Napa look like a bargain)
and my biggest disappointment was that Chelhalem, a maker of some
wonderful Pinot Noirs, had sold their liqour license to a grocer and no
longer does tastings. Also disappointed that all of the wineries in
Carlton were closed on Tuesdays and there were some very promising ones
to hit. Now will have to try a Washington tour though the wineries are
no where near as convenient to get to as Oregon. With only about 4 hours
of driving I could get to almost all of the Willamette Valley wineries
and that counted time getting lost. They are well hidden on some back
roads.

Lawrence Leichtman wrote:
<SNIP trip notes>

Thanks for the notes, Larry. That's a real shocker about Chehalem,
which has been one of my "must" visits for the past 5 years or so. Good
to hear that Torii Mor is still doing good things, and no real surprise
about Lange (about half the positive comments I've heard about it are
for the view and the best wine I've had there was a Reserve Pinot Gris).

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

On 2007-05-01 13:51:39 -0700, Lawrence Leichtman > said:

> Just got back from working in Oregon and Seattle and have never done
> much wine tasting there. Went to Willamette Valley and hit every open
> winery. Some impressions. Tori Mor absolutely hit the heights of the
> smoothest silkiest example of Oregon Pinot Noir and Domaine Serene the
> most powerful as well as Domaine Serene Viognier/Pinot Gris Blend with a
> bit of oak in it. What a great taste. Enjoyed Archery Summit,
> disappointed in several including Lange that was highly rated. Very
> pedestrian Pinot Noirs were the rule at many places with the most
> expensive tasting cost I have ever seen (makes Napa look like a bargain)
> and my biggest disappointment was that Chelhalem, a maker of some
> wonderful Pinot Noirs, had sold their liqour license to a grocer and no
> longer does tastings. Also disappointed that all of the wineries in
> Carlton were closed on Tuesdays and there were some very promising ones
> to hit. Now will have to try a Washington tour though the wineries are
> no where near as convenient to get to as Oregon. With only about 4 hours
> of driving I could get to almost all of the Willamette Valley wineries
> and that counted time getting lost. They are well hidden on some back
> roads.

I've always found that the Torii Mor folks were a little full of
themselves, in general their PN is not to my taste, and I balk at $10
tasting fees. In fact I balk at all tasting fees, but that is another
story... I much prefer the Elk Cove and they have a nice Pinot Blanc,
too. If you seem like a serious wine drinker, they don't charge for
tasting their single vinyard PN's either.

I really don't like paying $5 to taste plonk, and that feeling of
getting ripped off ruins my whole day. (that's the other story.)

in article , Broadwell at Broadwell
wrote on 5/2/07 11:43 AM:


>
> I've always found that the Torii Mor folks were a little full of
> themselves, in general their PN is not to my taste, and I balk at $10
> tasting fees. In fact I balk at all tasting fees, but that is another
> story... I much prefer the Elk Cove and they have a nice Pinot Blanc,
> too. If you seem like a serious wine drinker, they don't charge for
> tasting their single vinyard PN's either.
>
> I really don't like paying $5 to taste plonk, and that feeling of
> getting ripped off ruins my whole day. (that's the other story.)
>

Torii Mor isn't to my taste either but, after 30 years of
Napa/Sonoma/Central Coast winery visits, I don't fault wineries for charging
a reasonable fee. $10 seems reasonable in today's world. So many people
do tastings at popular wineries that it's difficult to see how it could make
good fiscal sense for them to not charge at all..... especially the smaller
ones.

Not sure I understand the fairness of <"If you seem like a serious wine
drinker, they don't charge for tasting their single vineyard PN's">. What
makes you "seem like a serious wine drinker"? Seems like it could be
capricious and arbitrary. It'd be much more fair to comp the tasting if you
buy $X at the winery, or are a club member. If I were tasting and saw
someone get comped for just "seeming more serious" I think I'd be really
****ed off. Not that I haven't been to tasting rooms where they'll bring
out library wines, reserves or offer barrel tasting if you seem interested
and reasonably knowledgeable. But they offer it to everyone there at the
time, not selectively.

Midlife wrote:

> Not sure I understand the fairness of <"If you seem like a serious wine
> drinker, they don't charge for tasting their single vineyard PN's">. What
> makes you "seem like a serious wine drinker"? Seems like it could be
> capricious and arbitrary.

It is at the bartenders discretion. I've been to many wineries that
normally charged for tasting. If it was clear our party were wine
drinkers and not just there for a sunday drive they often waived the
fee. If their policy was to taste 5 wines for $5 plus $2 extra for
premium wines they'd often pour us whatever we wanted. Sometimes a
winery has opened a bottle thats not on their tasting list if we showed
an interest.

Midlife wrote:

> Not sure I understand the fairness of <"If you seem like a serious wine
> drinker, they don't charge for tasting their single vineyard PN's">. What
> makes you "seem like a serious wine drinker"? Seems like it could be
> capricious and arbitrary. It'd be much more fair to comp the tasting if you
> buy $X at the winery, or are a club member. If I were tasting and saw
> someone get comped for just "seeming more serious" I think I'd be really
> ****ed off. Not that I haven't been to tasting rooms where they'll bring
> out library wines, reserves or offer barrel tasting if you seem interested
> and reasonably knowledgeable. But they offer it to everyone there at the
> time, not selectively.
>

I've had exactly the same experience as you, but I've found that often
times the staff doesn't charge me for tasting those library wines.
Whether they charged anyone else, I couldn't honestly say, but I do feel
that most tasting room staffs do make the distinction between partygoers
with no serious interest in the wine and someone who knows the winery
and the wines and is interested in learning something (and/or making a
purchase).

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

In article >, Broadwell wrote:

> On 2007-05-01 13:51:39 -0700, Lawrence Leichtman > said:
>
> > Just got back from working in Oregon and Seattle and have never done
> > much wine tasting there. Went to Willamette Valley and hit every open
> > winery. Some impressions. Tori Mor absolutely hit the heights of the
> > smoothest silkiest example of Oregon Pinot Noir and Domaine Serene the
> > most powerful as well as Domaine Serene Viognier/Pinot Gris Blend with a
> > bit of oak in it. What a great taste. Enjoyed Archery Summit,
> > disappointed in several including Lange that was highly rated. Very
> > pedestrian Pinot Noirs were the rule at many places with the most
> > expensive tasting cost I have ever seen (makes Napa look like a bargain)
> > and my biggest disappointment was that Chelhalem, a maker of some
> > wonderful Pinot Noirs, had sold their liqour license to a grocer and no
> > longer does tastings. Also disappointed that all of the wineries in
> > Carlton were closed on Tuesdays and there were some very promising ones
> > to hit. Now will have to try a Washington tour though the wineries are
> > no where near as convenient to get to as Oregon. With only about 4 hours
> > of driving I could get to almost all of the Willamette Valley wineries
> > and that counted time getting lost. They are well hidden on some back
> > roads.
>
> I've always found that the Torii Mor folks were a little full of
> themselves, in general their PN is not to my taste, and I balk at $10
> tasting fees. In fact I balk at all tasting fees, but that is another
> story... I much prefer the Elk Cove and they have a nice Pinot Blanc,
> too. If you seem like a serious wine drinker, they don't charge for
> tasting their single vinyard PN's either.
>
> I really don't like paying $5 to taste plonk, and that feeling of
> getting ripped off ruins my whole day. (that's the other story.)

Well, it was an older gentleman and he was quite nice and hardly full of
himself. That said I wasn't enamored of the high tasting costs
throughout the valley. Elk Cove was closed the day we toured.

Lawrence Leichtman wrote:

>> I really don't like paying $5 to taste plonk, and that feeling of
>> getting ripped off ruins my whole day. (that's the other story.)
>
> Well, it was an older gentleman and he was quite nice and hardly full of
> himself. That said I wasn't enamored of the high tasting costs
> throughout the valley. Elk Cove was closed the day we toured.

My only experience in Oregon was at Adelsheim, and it was a very good
tour and tasting with a detailed visit to the operation. There was IIRC
no charge but they are appointment only.