Wine Tasting in Oregon

Got out and discovered a great way of kicking a St Patricks Day Hangover. Go out wine tasting in Pinot country. Hayden and I managed to drag ourselves out of Portland and on to the road to wine country. First we went to the Lange Winery to sample their Pinot Noirs and Pinot Gris, flollowed by Tori Mor whose very good Pinot Noir was spoiled by the worst sort of wine snobbery from the staff. Unfortunately it is not the done thing to reach across the tasting counter and knock their heads against the table but it sure was tempting. From Tori Mor we headed to Archery Summit via some lovely llamas which seem to be a fairly popular animal out here, though I have yet to figure out precisely why. Archery Summit was considerably more expensive $15 rather than the usual $5 tasting fee, but their wines were very good, and probably the best Pinot Noir of the day, though at $150 a bottle you should hope for something special. Very pleasant staff at the tasting room which considering its premium nature was a nice surprise, no violence required here. A quick dash was required to make it across to the Domaine Drouhin winery before the 4pm closing of the tasting room. More great pinot but was beginning to feel fairly old compared to the 22 year old girl that was pouring the wines. The Argyle winery was the only disappointment of the day, all the wines there tasting slightly wet and indifferent compared to the quality of those up to that point. After Argyle it was a short trip down the road to the Pinot Station, a kind of tasting fair. Once you had bought a glass you could wander the various wineries that had set up stall there, tasting the produce, all the while listening to the slightly overly loud band and marveling at the sheer number of people there. As we were leaving we were accosted by a couple of women who had obviously been there for some time, considering how drunk they appeared. Hayden and I barely managed to escape the encounter unmolested but we did manage to snag a bottle of good Pinot Gris.