Willamette Valley wine tasting

[Celeste]

Hi all,

I'm an SF chowhound, raised in Portland, coming up for Memorial Day weekend and hoping to do some tasting in Willamette Valley. I've never been tasting in Oregon, just down here in Sonoma and Napa, and am *really* looking forward to it.

Any can't misses? I know some wineries are only open on Memorial Day and Thanksgiving, like Panther Creek. Others? Open to all suggestions, especially along the lines of fantastic pinot noir and pinot gris.

If there's a link to a set of posts already that I've missed, that would be great too.

[Hunter]

The list is far too long to type and remember that most of the biggies will run you some cash but here's a sampling of my favorites:

Archery Summit
Domaine Serene
Domaine Drouhin
JC Carriere
Panther Creek
Ken Wright
Stags Leap
McKinlay
Erath (great view)
Patricia Green
Adelsheim
Hamacher

I think a few of these might be part of a cooperative which does a collective tasting in Carlton but I'm not sure where. Just ask any winery. They'll know.

[Brendan]

The name of the "cooperative" in Carlton is The Tasting Room. It represents (I don't know whether it is really a cooperative) many of the smaller, finer wineries, many of which will not be open even on Memorial Day weekend. They're right down the street from Ken Wright.

[Hunter]

Actually it's the Carlton Winemakers Studio and it is made up of Hamacher, Andrew Rich, Penner-Ash and Domaine Meriwether.

[Windy]

(My post is about half a page down.) Most wineries in the Williamette Valley have special hours for Memorial Day weekend. Details on Oregonwines.com.

[Sky]

I'll second Archery Summit. Also: Bethel Heights and Cristom in the central Willamette region.