Day Two of Willamette Valley Wine Tasting (Part 1)

Ever since my first day of wine tasting, I have been anxious to get back out there and do some more! This time, I recruited my boyfriend to come along with me. Our stops this time were - Bergstrom, Laurel Ridge, Anne Amie and Domaine Serene. (This post I will just write about Bergstrom and Laurel Ridge, I have too much to say!). Fortunately for us, it was a beautiful day so we were able to spend plenty of time at each of the wineries.


We stopped by the front desk at The Allison Inn and Spa for a winery map and some tasting cards and we were on our way!

I have been told to visit Bergstrom many times because it has a beautiful view, great Pinot Noirs and an even better Chardonnay. We drove up there and were in good company with a lot of other people. I think the nice weather brought a lot of people out wine tasting. The tasting room is not very big, but they have a patio with table and chairs for enjoying your wine. The view is quite spectaculor and you can see 33 acres of the Bergstrom and De Lancellotti Vineyards from the tasting room. I also learned that their winery is biodynamic which is becoming more common among wineries in the Willamette Valley.

We tasted the '07 Bergstrom Pinot Noir, '07 Nysa Vineyard Pinot Noir, '07 Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir (Pommard Block) and the 2008 Sigrid Chardonnay. I think we might have tasted another, but I can't seem to remember. Surprisingly, I loved the Chardonnay and I say this because the first wine I ever tried was a Chardonnay and I hated it. But, Bergstrom's Sigrid was fantastic! Dylan liked all the Pinots, I don't think he had a favorite at this winery. Overall, we loved it up there!


Next stop was Laurel Ridge Winery and we just sort of stumbled upon this winery on our way to Anne Amie. We recognized the winery name because we tried their dessert wine at the Educate Your Palate event. We pulled up and the property was very flat, unlike Bergstrom, which was up on the hilltop. Their were vineyards in the distant, but also wheat fields on property (at least I think that is what it was). The tasting room was very spacious and they had lots of other items for sale besides wine.

After looking around for a bit, Dylan decided he wanted to try the 2004 Laurel Ridge Port again. Did you know that Port originally came from Portugal, just like Champagne came from France? Well after the 2007 vintage, Portugal asked wineries to stop calling their dessert wine Port unless it is actually from Portugal. Interesting fact we learned.We tried the Port again with some fantastic dark chocolate and then I got to try the 2007 Riesling, which is not out for tasting yet! I lucked out, so tasty! But, remember...I love white wines, so everything might be tasty to me. :) It was well worth the stop and I am glad we saw their sign!

We then headed over to Anne Amie Winery...check out my next post to read about the rest of the day!