Willamette Valley Wine Tour
Monday, October 7 - Wednesday, October 9
It took most of these three days to drive from our house to my mother’s house, spending the nights in Billings, MT, and Spokane, WA. Note: If you need a place for dinner in Spokane, try The Onion downtown. Well worth the stop.
Wednesday, October 9 - Wednesday, October 16
We spent this week at my mother’s house, mostly catching up on some minor chores around her house, interviewing contractor’s for a couple of projects (new roof and converting a tub to a shower), and visiting with Mom. It was a good week.
Wednesday, October 16 - Sunday, October 20
We drove down to Newberg, OR, for a short photography tour of the wineries of the Willamette Valley area. Because of the nature of this tour, I’m putting the photos in a different order than usual, grouping by topic rather than day.
We visited several of the area wineries, shooting around the wineries themselves and attending some wine tastings. An interesting change of pace! Most of the wines produced in this region are pinots - pinot noir, pinot blanc, and pino gris. There were also some chardonnays and reislings.
The three photos above show some grapes on the vine, ready for harvest. The left and center photos are from Elk Cove Winery and the one to the right is from WillaKenzie Winery.
More grapes on the vine. The photo on the left was taken at Elk Cove Winery and the one on the right at WillaKenzie Winery.
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More grapes on the vine. While the harvest was just about over, some grapes were still on the vines. The photos to the left and center were taken at Elk Cove Winery and the one on the right at Sokol Blosser Winery.
These grapes had red leaves near them, making the photos different. All three of these were taken at Elk Cove Winery, where we spent two mornings. We were told that, while the red leaves were more interesting photographically, they signalled the winery that these particular grape vines were in distress.
These three photos are all from Elk Cove Winery and show the vineyard rows and autumn trees.
Three more photos of the vineyards in autumn. The photo on the left shows more of the extensive vineyards at Elk Cove Winery. The center photo shows the vineyards on the high hills of WillaKenzie Winery and the valley below. The photo on the right shows the vineyards of Sokol Blosser Winery in the fog. We encountered a lot of fog on this trip. Some mornings it was light enough to provide atmosphere while at other times, it was thick enough to cut with a knife. This shot of the vineyard at Sokol Blosser was about as thin as the fog got all day that day!
Two views of two different vineyards at WillaKenzie Winery. The photo on the left is a vineyard which perches high on a hillside and the valley can be seen below it. The photo on the right is a view through the rows of a different section of the vineyard, looking below the main branches.
Three photos of autumn grape leaves. The one on the left is from Elk Cove Winery, while the other two are from WillaKenzie Winery.
The photo on the left is a close-up of a grape leaf in autumn colors from the WillaKenzie Winery.
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Three personal photos. The photos on the left show me shooting at Elk Cove Winery while the one on the right shows Carl enjoying the sunshine at WillaKenzie Winery.
The photo on the left shows the side of the building housing the tasting room for Montinore Winery and the autumn color along this side of the building. The photo on the right shows the gazebo and vineyards of Elk Cove Winery. The building at the top of the hill houses its tasting room.
These two photos show views of an old barn and the vineyards beyond at Colene Clemens Winery. We didn't spend much time at this winery as it was getting late in the day.
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These photos show two views of the tree lined road leading to Kramer Winery, one taken from each end of the alley of maple trees.
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These three photos were taken at the Montenore Winery. The photos on the left and right are different views of an alley of very old oak trees. The center photo shows some of their vineyards and a pond that's on the property.
Our last morning, we got a decent sunrise, despite the thickening fog. The three photos above were taken from the grounds of the Sokol Blosser Winery. The photo on the left has Mt. Hood in it.
Every visit to a winery has to include wine cask barrels, right? The barrels in the photos to the right and left are awaiting filling at Elk Cove Winery. The center photo has a rack of filled barrels at Sokol Blosser Winery.
More wine casks, this time at the Maysara Winery. Maysara, according to the young lady leading the wine tasting is Persian for grape grower, if memory serves... The photos to the left and center show wine casks full of aging wine. The photo on the right shows some of the interesting patterns caused on the sides of the casks as the wine ages and gets tasted at various stages in the aging process.
The Maysara Winery had a large building that the public was welcome to enter, showing some of the wine making process. The photo on the left looks through one of the large doors of this building to the huge racks of casks of aging wine. The photo on the right is another view of these large racks of casks. The photo in the center shows the top of a cask with a wine glass and the tool that the winemakers use to sample wine in the barrel. We were also told that all of the wood and rock that went into this building were gathered from the property. Impressive!
More photos from the Maysara Winery production building. The photo on the left shows the top of one of the wine casks. The center photo has a partial wine cask embedded in the wall above our heads (actually, just over the restrooms). The photo on the right shows one of the massive doors. Note the smaller "man door" built into the larger door to get an idea of the size of this door!
The photo on the left shows the play of sunlight through a wineglass. Polly had set hers down on a concrete bench during lunch this day and we spent more time taking photos of the patterns than eating... The center photo shows some autumn decorations in the tasting room at Maysara Winery. The photo on the right is one of the glasses used for the wine tasting at Maysara.
These two photos are from two of the tasting rooms we visited. The photo on the left is one end of the bar at Maysara Winery with its decorations. Like the rest of the large building the rocks and wood for this room, including the thick slab of wood used for the bar, came from the property. The photo on the right shows some of the wine bottles and glasses near the tasting room at Sokol Blosser Winery.
So, what do you take photos of when the fog is too thick to see much of anything? How about the decorations on the picnic tables? Behind the tasting room at Sokol Blosser Winery, there were a series of picnic tables with pumpkins and decorative squashes on them. That's what these photos show.
More of the picnic table decorations.
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The photo on the left shows the row of picnic tables with the pumpkin and squash decorations. The center photo shows a mushroom that popped up in the garden. The photo on the right shows an old wine press that's been converted to a planter. All three photos were taken at Sokol Blosser Winery.
I wound up buying six bottles of wine at the various wineries...
Sunday, October 20 - Monday, October 21
After visiting the last winery, we packed up and headed for the coast for the night. Along the way, we stopped in Tillamook to visit the cheese factory there. Fascinating!
That night, we were at a very nice hotel in Lincoln City (Pelican Shores), which is on the beach. Going from our room to the sand involved walking through the center of the hotel, down a long flight of stairs and we were there! It would have been nice if the fog had not been so thick, but it was still relaxing to sit and listen to the water and watch when we could.
The photo on the left shows Carl walking out to the ocean, taken from our hotel room window. I joined him shortly after this was taken.
We spent the afternoon sitting in front of the window, with the window open and the heater blasting at our feet, resting our feet on the windowsill, sipping margaritas, and watching the world go by! Dinner that night was fantastic! (Blackfish Café - highly recommended)
The fog was even thicker the next morning, which was our one morning without an alarm clock!!! But we still pulled the table over in front of the window to eat breakfast with the sound of the waves accompanying us.
Monday, October 21 - Wednesday, October 23
Then we packed up and headed home, again taking three driving days. This time, the nights were spent in Baker City, OR, and Evanston, WY. We stopped for lunch the first day at Multnomah Falls, OR. Carl had never been there and the falls there are the second highest year round falls in the country!