If you’re still looking to plan a weekend excursion before summer ends, almost nowhere is more idyllic in late August in the U.S. than the Pacific Northwest.
And while often in the shadow of California’s Napa and Sonoma wine regions, Oregon’s Willamette Valley has garnered more and more attention in recent years among wine lovers and tourists alike—deservedly so.
Spanning approximately 150 miles, the Willamette Valley is home to more than 700 craft wineries, with a particular specialty for pinot noir. The region is also on the map for some of the best cheeses produced domestically, and fresh farm-to-table dining has long been the status quo in the restaurant scene here.
The Willamette Valley is approximately an hour drive from Portland International Airport. Within the area, McMinnville is the most perfect, charming town to serve as a base for exploring the region. While you would need to rent a car or book a car service to reach McMinnville, the town easy easily walkable once you’re there, with numerous tasting rooms (for both beer and wine), restaurants, cafés, bakeries boutiques, bookstores, and more within walking distance from local hotels. From here you could also reach many wineries within a 30-minute drive, but you could also just stay in town and still have plenty to do.
Where to go
Penner-Ash Wine Cellars: Tucked away up the mountain through a slightly winding road that looks straight out of a storybook, this family-owned winery offers some of the best views of the entire Willamette Valley. (On a clear day, you could see Mt. Hood from one of the tasting room patios while sipping on a glass of chilled viognier.) Thanks to its prime location (and excellent selection of pinot noir and riesling, reservations are being booked up quickly, so make sure to plan in advance.
Gran Moraine Wines: If wine is your jam, then you should definitely try to visit at least a few wineries in the area. But if you’re going to prioritize one, then make it Gran Moraine. A jewel in the middle of the valley, the house has indoor and outdoor tasting rooms offering the most breathtaking views while you sip some of the best pinot noirs and chardonnays in the area. A few of the standouts on the wine list include the 2019 Zena Crown Vineyard Confier pinot noir and the 2020 Yamhill-Carlton chardonnay.
Durant Vineyards and Olive Mill: This spot has something for everyone. In case wine isn’t your jam, then olive oil tasting is a fun option that anyone can enjoy—and there’s no shortage of olive oils to taste at the olive oil bar, with infusions such as basil, rosemary, garlic, lemon, orange, and jalapeño. Of course, you can pair the olive oils with wine made on the estate, elevated above the valley for some panoramic views over the vineyards and olive oil trees. This is also a very pleasant spot for enjoying the afternoon in the estate gardens, or you can even opt to stay overnight in one of the private cottages.
Briar Rose Creamery: A must-visit for cheese lovers. Co-proprietor and cheesemaker Sarah Marcus got her start in the business in 2005 with another popular cheesemonger down the West Coast: Northern California’s Cowgirl Creamery. Marcus soon fell in love with the process and all things cheese, and her employers encouraged her to get trained, which she did upon enrolling in a program at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. From there, Marcus went on to work with cheesemakers in England, Spain, North Carolina, and Vermont, before returning the Pacific Northwest—specifically to Dundee, Oregon, where she and her husband and co-proprietor, Jim Hoffman, started Briar Rose more than a decade ago. The cheeses—sourced from the dairy of a certified organic herd of Ayrshire cows, a very rare breed on the West Coast—the cheeses are available at local farmers’ markets in the area (also worth scouting out on the calendar) as well as the creamery farm store, which is a bit out of the way, uphill along a curvy, gravel road. But the fromage blanc, which you could eat straight with a spoon, is well worth the trip alone.
Willamette Valley Half Marathon: If you love to run, and you love wine, then this is the perfect event for you. There are several popular wine country marathons around the country, from Santa Barbara, Calif. to the Wineglass Marathon in upstate New York. Traditionally held every September or October, the Willamette Valley race offers some of the most bucolic landscapes imaginable, and between the sights and the local wine (after the race), there’s no shortage of inspiration to get to the finish line.
Where to eat
Crescent Café: An ideal spot to start with breakfast (or lunch), Crescent Café is your local, cozy café where all breads and pastries are made from scratch in-house daily. The menu rotates often, but it is sizable. You can dine inside or order online for pickup, which could be great if you want to bring your sandwich or salad to the local park down the street or out to the vineyards for a picnic on a sunny day.
Hayward: Located in the Mac Market food hall, this eatery has seen many iterations during and since the pandemic, from meal kits to pantry staples to food for takeaway. Now a fully fledged, standalone restaurant, Hayward is a purveyor of “new northwest” cuisine, essentially hyper seasonal and local, and menus change often accordingly. Current menus are available on the website, as well as plenty of information about the local farms from which Hayward sources its products. Recent menu items include udon pomodoro with ginger miso and pecorino cheese; braised hen dumplings with dashi, fermented mustards, and a peanut chili crisp; and sesame butter mochi with sweet black sesame and whey caramel.
Humble Spirit: If there was a restaurant that exuded “elevated humble” vibes, this would be it. Think simple dishes with local produce and game as well as a wine list that highlights some of the best examples of Willamette Valley bottles. And while the menu is elevated, the dress code and atmosphere are relatively casual, popular with tourists and locals alike. The place does attract a line out the door, so make sure to book reservations or come early.
Okta: Rare is the fine dining restaurant that offers a $300+ tasting menu but also doesn’t have a formal dress code. Yet that just speaks to the enjoyable laid-back attitude of the Willamette Valley, encouraging diners to simply enjoy themselves (and the food and wine) without any fuss or stress. Located at the base of the new Tributary Hotel on the main drag of McMinnville, Otka prides itself with a sustainable and inventive culinary program as part of Relais & Châteaux’s campaign around gastronomic sustainability, Food For Change, which promotes education about sustainable wine and food products and how travelers can be more conscious with their consumption. The restaurant’s produce comes directly from its own farm nearby. Otka was also recently a finalist for a James Beard Award.
Pizza Capo: The Neapolitan-style, wood-fired pizzas here are made-to-order, and the restaurant only sells as many pizzas as it has pizza dough made fresh each evening. So plan accordingly and come early. To-go orders are an option, but the dining room is first come, first serve.
Where to stay
Tributary Hotel: Opened in 2021, the hotel is a brand new member of the Relais & Châteaux association of luxury hotels and restaurants around the world. There are eight suites in total on the property, all of which are optimal for either short or long-term stays with spacious living areas and kitchenettes attached to the master bedroom. And while the building itself has a number of fixtures and design elements original to when it was first constructed in the early 20th century, there are numerous modern luxuries, from bluetooth speakers (on both the writing desk and in the bathroom) to Samsung TV Plus HDTVs (with live TV as well as Netflix and Hulu preloaded) to humidifiers and essential oil diffusers subtly uplifting the air quality in the suite. Breakfast is served individually in each suite, and it is essentially a feast of a tasting menu that is decided by the chef each morning (albeit still keeping a guest’s dietary restrictions and allergies in mind).
The Boutique Hotel: The tiny home movement is continuing to gain momentum as home buyers are being forced to rethink (and rethink and rethink) ownership costs but also sustainability for the long-term. Tiny homes are also becoming an increasingly popular model for hotels, offering a novel option for lodging with more amenities while offering a cozy ambiance that you would more likely find at home rather than a hotel, without the strings of renting from a home-sharing service. The Boutique Hotel, located in a part of McMinnville that is being heavily remodeled and upgraded as more tourists visit the area, has nine custom cottages, each with curated furnishings and décor selected to compliment a distinct theme for each cottage, from glam to surf shack.