Vietti does a great job with Arneis. Sadly, not a lot of it makes it across the pond.

Heading to Willamette for the first time over a weekend trip to Portland. Will probably rent a car for the day and find one or two spots to check out that are good for hanging out at, as we don't intend to drive drunk.

Any advice on such an excursion? Are there any AVAs or areas that are generally easier for that kind of visit? Don't have any wineries in particular we're dying to visit, just looking for a good experience and preferably not grocery store wine or stuff you see ALL the time.

Thanks for any guidance!

EDIT: And if this has been answered ad nauseam in other parts of the thread, please direct me there.

Wish I could say that I've spent more time up there in the wine regions! Only been to Oregon once and we did mainly coastal stuff.

Curious what others chime in with. I could recommend some wineries but it would all be based on drinking their wine elsewhere, not sure what the visits are like.

Thanks for those recs, looks like Arterberry Maresh will be closed all January when I'll be there. I see Ayoub is by request only, would that be a crazy thing to request for 2 ppl (especially cost-wise)?

I'll even just take your "these are tasty Willamette wineries I've had" recs. Can always do the research on their experience myself!

I've never been to the property, but Antica Terra is my favorite wine from the area. Hard to find and even hard to get on the allocation list for Pinots (easier for their whites).

The caves at Archery Summit are fun to visit.

If you buy a few bottles or join the club Mo usually waives the tasting fee. Either way it's cool to meet the winemaker. He's a Lebanese former Silicon Valley engineer. Quite a character.

We pretty much don't go anywhere that isn't appointment only.

Soter is another cool one. They have a kitchen if you want to do a food pairing. Our tasting (group of 8) was in a cabin. Very cool setting.

greenband said:

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Also curious about recommendations for great Pinot Noir that can be bought without allocation. Really like Donum, Sea Smoke, and Goldeneye Gowan Creek Pinot Noir.

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Do you like Burgundy or are you looking to stay domestic?

jh0400 said:

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greenband said:

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Also curious about recommendations for great Pinot Noir that can be bought without allocation. Really like Donum, Sea Smoke, and Goldeneye Gowan Creek Pinot Noir.

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Do you like Burgundy or are you looking to stay domestic?

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I'm good either way but have a lot more experience with domestic. I'm enjoying recommendations for French and Italian wines.

Krug vintage? Code on the cork, I think.

2013

My experience with Burgundy is that wines tend to more similar based on where they're from as opposed to who made them. I'd recommend picking up a few from different areas and see which ones jump out to you.

Gevrey-Chambertin, Vosne-Romanee, and Volnay are three of my favorites, but IMO it's hard to go wrong.

Inspector Spacetime said:

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I'll even just take your "these are tasty Willamette wineries I've had" recs. Can always do the research on their experience myself!

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In that case check these out:
Gran Moraine - excellent sparkling wine if you can get it while there, if I remember right they tend to pick fruit on the earlier side for their Pinots/etc. so if that's your jam you'd like them.
WillaKenzie - love the estate Pinot, property has some really cool steep vineyards and vistas.

Chipotlemonger said:

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Inspector Spacetime said:

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I'll even just take your "these are tasty Willamette wineries I've had" recs. Can always do the research on their experience myself!

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In that case check these out:
Gran Moraine - excellent sparkling wine if you can get it while there, if I remember right they tend to pick fruit on the earlier side for their Pinots/etc. so if that's your jam you'd like them.
WillaKenzie - love the estate Pinot, property has some really cool steep vineyards and vistas.

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I have not been to WillaKenzie, but I second the recommendation of their estate Pinot. Fantastic wine.

I don't remember much from my trip 12 years ago, but I remember enjoying tasting at Trisaetum and Sokol Blosser, Soter, and Four Graces.

We really enjoy Big Table Farm. Have not visited but the wines are excellent. They operate a tasting room - their "Atelier" - in Carlton, doubles as the wife's art studio. She draws/paints all of their labels.

great lineup. I've recently bought a few of that producers white burgundies to try. I'm pretty excited about it

jh0400 said:

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My experience with Burgundy is that wines tend to more similar based on where they're from as opposed to who made them. I'd recommend picking up a few from different areas and see which ones jump out to you.

Gevrey-Chambertin, Vosne-Romanee, and Volnay are three of my favorites, but IMO it's hard to go wrong.

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While I don't buy a lot of Burgundy, I tend to find a good producer and stick with them. Chances are high that whatever they make will be good, regardless of where it's from.

Inspector Spacetime said:

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I'll even just take your "these are tasty Willamette wineries I've had" recs. Can always do the research on their experience myself!

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Check out Roco Wines out of Willamette Valley. He is from Texas and an Aggie grad x2. Texas A&M & UC Davis. Rollin Soles was also one of co-founders of Argyle.

BigAg95 said:

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Lastbottle is slinging some wine from Italics today, in case any of you are interested.

https://www.lastbottlewines.com/

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Bought that. Had no idea the Martin family sold the property last year.

BigAg95 said:

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Lastbottle is slinging some wine from Italics today, in case any of you are interested.

https://www.lastbottlewines.com/

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Thanks for the tip! I'm in!

Vertical tasting tonight for the family was a success.

Impulse bought an Etna Rosso Friday. From a producer I've read about before though and was always intrigued by, have wanted to try for a while.

Occhipinti Nero D'Avola - Frappato Sicilia SP68 - Vivino https://www.vivino.com/US/en/occhipinti-nero-d-avola-frappato-sicilia-sp68/w/1169234

Also, how many of y'all are on Vivino? If I remember right on the Beer thread a few years ago, we compiled user info so we could all follow each other there. Wouldn't mind seeing what everyone is up to on here wine wise outside of what's posted on the thread.

Chipotlemonger said:

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Impulse bought an Etna Rosso Friday. From a producer I've read about before though and was always intrigued by, have wanted to try for a while.

Occhipinti Nero D'Avola - Frappato Sicilia SP68 - Vivino https://www.vivino.com/US/en/occhipinti-nero-d-avola-frappato-sicilia-sp68/w/1169234

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did you enjoy it? I liked their whites better than reds, but good wines for sure

bularry said:

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Chipotlemonger said:

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Impulse bought an Etna Rosso Friday. From a producer I've read about before though and was always intrigued by, have wanted to try for a while.

Occhipinti Nero D'Avola - Frappato Sicilia SP68 - Vivino https://www.vivino.com/US/en/occhipinti-nero-d-avola-frappato-sicilia-sp68/w/1169234

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did you enjoy it? I liked their whites better than reds, but good wines for sure

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Have not tried yet! Will post back here once I do.

Where do you guys buy wine in Dallas besides directly from wineries?

I generally buy at Total Wine since most of my retail buying is for every day stuff or parties. If I'm looking for something rare or fancy Pogo's is great, but they're expensive.