“While we are out do you want to . . . . “.  Mrs. Chump loves to spring that question on me whenever we are out running errands because she absolutely knows, “No, I do not want to.”. Well, very seldomly at least. If you tell me that we need to run to three different stores, I am perfectly fine going to those three stores. But after that, I am done. I don’t want add-ons, even if they make sense. I accomplished my mission, now let’s go home and come up with a new mission. I think I am this way because my father used to do that with me with chores around the house. It would start off with “We need to cut the grass today.” Ok, got it. Done. Now I can go hang out with my friends. Nope. “While we are out here, let’s wash the porch windows.” And then “We should really clean out this porch – let’s take some of this stuff to the dump.” Six hours later, I might finally be free. It’s like the ultimate rope-a-dope and once again, I’m the dope. Just give me the whole list up front please.

Anyhoo, I’ve bored you enough with this childhood (and I guess adulthood too) “trauma” of mine because this past October I got to turn it around on Mrs. Chump! She had a meeting in Anaheim, and I, being the opportunist that I am, said “While you are out there . . . why don’t I come meet you in Portland after your conference and we can do some wine tasting in Willamette and Walla Walla?” Man did it feel good to turn the tables!!! Yesssirreee Bob! It would have felt even better if she wasn’t the one that actually said “While I am out there do you want to meet me in Portland and do some wine tasting in Willamette and Walla Walla?” But why let the truth ruin a good “Aha!” moment, right? Short story long, that is exactly what we did and now I am here to tell you all about it! Even the parts you might not be interested in but I won’t know because you don’t really get any social cues while you are writing a blog. So feel free to skip those parts if you get to them. Over five beautiful fall days, we managed to visit five wineries in Willamette and eight in Walla Walla. In order not to have the world’s longest blog entry, I am going to break the reviews up into several entries and in today’s, I am going to just cover our first day in Willamette.

First things first, it is important that you understand how to pronounce “Willamette” and one simple phrase will help you remember. “It’s Willamette dammit.” Yup, it rhymes. Looking back now I realize I probably should have put this earlier so that you weren’t mispronouncing five times before reading the right way, but what’s done is done. I have it on good authority that if you mispronounce Willamette in Willamette, they won’t sell you any wine until you buy a t-shirt that says “It’s Willamette dammit”. I was tempted to find out but didn’t want to waste any of my wine allowance.

Second things second. If you don’t know, Willamette is well known for making some of the best Pinot Noir not just in the U.S., but worldwide as well. The majority of vineyards sit atop of a soil called jory, which has formed from volcanic rock and helps give Willamette wines their distinctive tastes. And similarly to Burgundy, its next most popular grape is Chardonnay. So if you are a fan either of those two grapes, you might want to swing by Willamette, “while you are out”. Now on to the tastings!

Our first stop in Willamette (after both flying into Portland Saturday morning) was at Resonance Wines (https://resonancewines.com/). Driving into Willamette (specifically the Dundee Hills part of Willamette) is a very pretty drive. As you drive up the main road(s) the wineries are located on, you pass by all off the vineyards on slopes/hills that produce the wine you are about to taste. Given that we were a bit later in the fall, most of the vines had already been harvested and the vine leaves turned colors to a beautiful golden yellow. As picturesque as one could hope for. The tasting room at Resonance was a bit on the small side but very cozy and intimate. And there was additional outdoor seating that would have been an option if we had been in a tad bit warmer weather. We were immediately greeted by Shane who asked if we would like to taste some wine to which we eagerly agreed. Despite having a large group to take care of as well, Shane gave us excellent attention and plenty of information about their wines. We started off with a basic tasting ($45/person) which included two of their Chardonnay’s and three of their Pinot Noirs. Shane (who we found out had spent a good amount of time in Northern Virginia, small world) explained the difference between the Pinot’s, as they came from different vineyards – two from Dundee Hills and one from Eola-Amity Hills. Shane set the standard that was followed throughout our time in both Willamette and Walla Walla – very knowledgeable not just about the wines at his winery, but also about the entire Willamette area and other wineries. When we completed our initial tasting, we were offered the opportunity to also try wines from Resonance’s Burgundy owners, Maison Louis Jadot (this cost an extra $20). We happily agreed and it was interesting to compare the Burgundy and Oregon wines side by side. After finishing the Louis Jadot, it was time to move on to our next stop, which was a long 5 minutes away.

After a complicated drive of two right turns and 2.2 miles, we arrived at Domaine Drouhin (https://domainedrouhin.com/), a top name in Willamette Valley. Domaine Drouhin also has Burgundy roots, having been founded in 1986 by Robert Drouhin, whose family produces several Burgundy Grand Cru’s and Premier Crus. Having made a reservation, we were immediately seated and Jasmine quickly came by to start our tasting. Drouhin offers multiple types of tastings – The Oregon Experience, which allows you to try their Oregon Pinot Noirs and Chardonnay’s ($40/person), A Pinot Journey, which gives you a larger selection of just Pinot Noirs for your tasting ($50/person) and lastly, The 1880 Connection, which allows you to do a side by side comparison of their Oregon wines (Dundee Hills and RoseRock) with their Burgundy wines (Pinots and Chardonnays), for $60/person. Given that we are more inclined towards red wines, Mrs. Chump and I chose the Pinot Journey and eagerly anticipated our first wines. To go along with the wines, Jasmine also brought out some crackers and hazelnuts (I’ve smelled them in coffee beans but had never tasted one) for us to snack on while we tasted. For our tasting, we received three wines from their Dundee Hills vineyards, including their well-known “Laurene” wine, as well as two wines from their RoseRock vineyards, including their Zephirine wine (RoseRock vineyards get a bit more wind off the ocean so tend to have a bit more salinity in them. All I know is we liked the RoseRock wines ), It was nice to see them give us a wide variety of their wines, both from different locations and a variety of price points. Jasmine, our host, was very helpful in educating us on the differences between the sites and giving us clues on what to look for when tasting the different wines. When we had finished with the original tasting, she also offered to let us taste two of their Burgundy wines, both of which were Premier Crus (in Burgundy, the highest classification is Grand Cru, followed by Premier Cru and then Villages, so these were pretty good wines). In the end, we enjoyed what we tasted enough that we purchased six bottles to ship home. Jasmine gave us some recommendations for dinner and we were happily on our way to our hotel, aptly named The Dundee Hotel. But more on that later, this has gone on long enough.

Needless to say, it was a very enjoyable first day in Willamette. I look forward to telling you about Day 2!

After tasting so many outstanding wines at these two wineries, I was hesitant to pick a single wine for the “Wine of the Week”. But in the end, we enjoyed the RoseRock Pinot Noir so much, I have to go with that as the “Wine of the Week”. Not only is it delicious, but it is a great value, coming in at just under $40. Absolutely worth it next time you are looking for a great Pinot!

Wine Stat Sheet