Another great video! Nice that you chose some of the lesser known wineries that produce amazing wine, not to mention some of the greatest values. I’m a huge fan of Jim Anderson (Patricia Green Cellars) and Kelley Fox. Hopefully you got to spend some time with each of them.
@@AttorneySomm I did have one question: Where do you stay when you are in W Valley? Doesn’t appear to be that many options, other than the drive to and from Portland…
@@matts9034 Great question! I’ve never stayed the same place twice. I like to stay near McMinnville if possible since it’s close to the restaurants but those places sell out way in advance. Last time a group of us rented a house thru Marriott in Dundee.
Thanks for the overview. It has been fun to watch this area evolve over the last 30-40 years. As a Willamette Valley (Salem) native, I started tasting these wines back in late 70s, early 80s. Lots of Rieslings and Pinot Gris. It is fun to go back to visit and continually see how the wine industry there has matured. It is unfortunate, though, to see how the prices of both the tastings and the wine have also increased quite a bit.
@@crrizello5157 Thank you! Completely understand what you were saying. It is terrific that you were able to see the region evolve over the years. Very glad that you enjoyed the video!
I think these are great recommendations! I would definitely mention Ken Wright Cellars in this video as well! He was the grandfather of Pinot in Willamette Valley; a true captain for quality and terroir as well as transparency. He has initiated the Oregon Promise- a frontier for transparency and terroir- based wines. Kelley Fox is a wonderful winery as well! Thanks for making these videos!
@@ellapulido183 Thanks very much! Glad you enjoyed it! Also appreciate the worthy addition! I have definitely enjoyed a number of Ken Wright Cellars wines. 👍🍷
Great video. Couldn’t agree more when it comes to Oregon wines. I’ve been loving these for years and prefer their Pinot WAY more than the California counterparts. Drouhin is definitely a solid but I have fallen in love with some of the domaine serene wines out there especially their Yamhill cuvée. Very underrated region in general I find. Great to see someone giving it some credit.
Was thinking I’d see Cristom here but I think you may have reviewed their wines before! Thanks for the thoughtful and informative recommendations as always.
Great video. I’ve not been to the Willamette Valley but it’s in my list. I recently popped a cork on a Lingua Franca Eola-Amity which was really nice …
Thanks for covering Willamette Valley. Our tasting there is not as extensive as yours, but my personal favorites are White Rose, Argyle and Penner-Ash. I've also had some nice Rieslings from this region as well.
@@VictorGadelhaCam Thanks! Yes I didn’t have time to feature all of my favorites in the 5 producers so tried to work them in at the beginning. A very enjoyable wine! Got it in magnum at the winery.
@@AttorneySomm It is a special wine, even more so when it comes to Joseph Drouhin. I was looking for an American Pinot when I saw Oregon as a reference and Wilamette Valley. I found the last bottle of Mistral from all of Brazil under this appellation. It's not a magnum but I believe it's 2013 is a collectible vintage. What do you think?
@@AttorneySomm You have to have a lot of knowledge to buy wine, right? Thank you very much! The video surprised me with the diversity that exists in Wilamette.Very good!
Beaux Freres for me (particularly Upper Terrace). Enjoyed our tasting at Brick House a few years ago (rustic and bucolic setting). And visited Domaine Drouhin this year (along with BF). I particularly liked trying both French and Oregon wines to compare/contrast and thought the Roserock Zephirine was very good. Tragic news re Zalto!
I learn so much about Oregon's Willamette Valley AVA through your excellent content here and on IG. In this particularly impressive video, I really appreciate your description of WV PN as being in the middle of the spectrum between Burgundy PN and California PN. While I’m very familiar with Burgundy PN, I’m only slightly familiar with California PN and not knowledgeable when it comes to Willamette Valley PN, so that description is really very helpful for me, personally. Thank you, John, for this informative and insightful video about Willamette Valley.
I’ve been enjoying Big Table Farm pinot noir, as well as pinot noir from Ponzi and Arterberry-Marresh. Very much enjoying chardonnay from Resonance (Louis Jadot project in OR). I liked your point that OR wines sort of split difference between CA and Burgundy.
I love wine from the US. The only problem in my humble opinion is that most wines are either very hard to come by in Europe, or downright too expensive, in comparison with France, Germany or Italy for instance. Thanks for another nice video! (ps. "burp" means I drank too much. 😂)
@@rickwezenaar Ha! 😂 Yes I think the problem is the EU taxes US imports quite heavily. Some of the producers with EU operations can avoid it (eg, Dominus in France at least).
Thank you! I definitely enjoy Archery Summit and Bergstrom too! I’ve done a podcast with AS’s winemaker and a RUclips short re my visit to Bergstrom so spreading the love. Appreciate you mentioning these excellent producers.
I was very impressed with Domaine Drouhin and their other property Roserock. Both provide better value than their wines in Burgundy where even village level Burgundy often costs more than 50 euros
Thank you for the addition. I certainly welcome additions in the comments. This is not a ranking or any sort of comprehensive analysis. Rather, I tried to include a diverse group of styles and prices understanding there are many more excellent producers in the area. And some of it is based on the places that I was able to visit during my visits.
Not sure I agree with 1 of the top 5 on this list. You're a high end collector (or so I thought) you could have included at least 1 producer who I on top of the game right now. While patricia green (at one point) was dynamite, they haven't been the same since 2017.
@@brandenkidd895 To clarify it isn’t really a ranking. More just tried to include a diverse group of producers I enjoy and a range of styles and price points. I also didn’t want to just repeat producers I have included in other videos.
Thanks for your reply. I certainly have not seen any of your past oregon videos, but can appreciate repetition does not sell. Unbiased analysis of quality wine producers is hard to find, and I suppose I felt that your "top 5 wineries" list dodged a vast majority of the cream of the crop. Some great wineries on this list no doubt, just some shock, as I attempt to use this channel for high end wine advice. Thanks again for the response and appreciate the content. Ensure you try Domaine Roy's best offerings if you have not already
@@brandenkidd895 Other than this one and the travel tips, I haven't done a dedicated Oregon video. But in my videos with top wines at various price points I have included numerous Oregon wines over the years. I do enjoy Thomas and Cameron, but those are very difficult to get. Part of the criteria is making sure that people can actually get the wines as well, so I excluded those producers for that reason. I enjoyed the White Rose wines as well, but not sure they justify the price premium. There may also be some others that are popular that did not impress me as much or were too similar to a producer I included. Appreciate the suggestion re: Domaine Roy. I haven't been to Willamette for 2 years, but it is going to be at least next summer before I can get there again. I'm quite sure I focus on high-end wines at least as much as any other channel on YT and that will not change, but I do try to vary the content as I have viewers at different stages of their wine and financial journeys.
I think these are great recommendations! I would definitely mention Ken Wright Cellars in this video as well! He was the grandfather of Pinot in Willamette Valley; a true captain for quality and terroir as well as transparency. He has initiated the Oregon Promise- a frontier for transparency and terroir- based wines. Kelley Fox is a wonderful winery as well! Thanks for making these videos!
Another great video! Nice that you chose some of the lesser known wineries that produce amazing wine, not to mention some of the greatest values. I’m a huge fan of Jim Anderson (Patricia Green Cellars) and Kelley Fox. Hopefully you got to spend some time with each of them.
Thanks very much! Glad you enjoyed it! I did meet Kelley when I visited.
@@AttorneySomm I did have one question: Where do you stay when you are in W Valley? Doesn’t appear to be that many options, other than the drive to and from Portland…
@@matts9034 Great question! I’ve never stayed the same place twice. I like to stay near McMinnville if possible since it’s close to the restaurants but those places sell out way in advance. Last time a group of us rented a house thru Marriott in Dundee.
@@AttorneySomm thank you , sir
Thanks for the overview. It has been fun to watch this area evolve over the last 30-40 years. As a Willamette Valley (Salem) native, I started tasting these wines back in late 70s, early 80s. Lots of Rieslings and Pinot Gris. It is fun to go back to visit and continually see how the wine industry there has matured. It is unfortunate, though, to see how the prices of both the tastings and the wine have also increased quite a bit.
@@crrizello5157 Thank you! Completely understand what you were saying. It is terrific that you were able to see the region evolve over the years. Very glad that you enjoyed the video!
I think these are great recommendations! I would definitely mention Ken Wright Cellars in this video as well! He was the grandfather of Pinot in Willamette Valley; a true captain for quality and terroir as well as transparency. He has initiated the Oregon Promise- a frontier for transparency and terroir- based wines. Kelley Fox is a wonderful winery as well! Thanks for making these videos!
@@ellapulido183 Thanks very much! Glad you enjoyed it! Also appreciate the worthy addition! I have definitely enjoyed a number of Ken Wright Cellars wines. 👍🍷
Great video. Couldn’t agree more when it comes to Oregon wines. I’ve been loving these for years and prefer their Pinot WAY more than the California counterparts. Drouhin is definitely a solid but I have fallen in love with some of the domaine serene wines out there especially their Yamhill cuvée. Very underrated region in general I find. Great to see someone giving it some credit.
Thanks very much! Very glad you enjoyed it! Also appreciate you sharing your thoughts. 👍🍷
Was thinking I’d see Cristom here but I think you may have reviewed their wines before! Thanks for the thoughtful and informative recommendations as always.
@@Docbyday Thanks very much! I definitely still enjoy the Cristom single vineyard wines. 👍🍷
Great video. I’ve not been to the Willamette Valley but it’s in my list. I recently popped a cork on a Lingua Franca Eola-Amity which was really nice …
Thank you! Yes that is an excellent wine too! I’ve featured that producer in some other videos. Hope you can visit soon!
Evening Land from the Seven Springs vineyard is a lovely Pinot and Chardonnay.
@@richardcollins586 Agreed! Thanks so much! Cheers!
Thanks for covering Willamette Valley. Our tasting there is not as extensive as yours, but my personal favorites are White Rose, Argyle and Penner-Ash. I've also had some nice Rieslings from this region as well.
Thanks very much! I have definitely enjoyed visits to Argyle and White rose as well!
Thomas. One man, one wine. Extremely hard to find. Worth searching for.
@@bruceachtermann8023 Thanks! Agreed. It’s terrific and I have some. Didn’t include it because most people wouldn’t be able to locate it.
Great that you show a Laurene. Thanks
@@VictorGadelhaCam Thanks! Yes I didn’t have time to feature all of my favorites in the 5 producers so tried to work them in at the beginning. A very enjoyable wine! Got it in magnum at the winery.
@@AttorneySomm It is a special wine, even more so when it comes to Joseph Drouhin. I was looking for an American Pinot when I saw Oregon as a reference and Wilamette Valley. I found the last bottle of Mistral from all of Brazil under this appellation. It's not a magnum but I believe it's 2013 is a collectible vintage. What do you think?
@@VictorGadelhaCam 13 isn’t my favorite as it was very hot early and then there was rain at harvest.
@@AttorneySomm You have to have a lot of knowledge to buy wine, right? Thank you very much! The video surprised me with the diversity that exists in Wilamette.Very good!
@@VictorGadelhaCam Thank you! Yes try to help provide guidance as much as possible. It’s a fantastic region!
Beaux Freres for me (particularly Upper Terrace). Enjoyed our tasting at Brick House a few years ago (rustic and bucolic setting). And visited Domaine Drouhin this year (along with BF). I particularly liked trying both French and Oregon wines to compare/contrast and thought the Roserock Zephirine was very good. Tragic news re Zalto!
Thanks very much for these worthy additions! All producers I enjoy as well! RIP 🍷😅
I learn so much about Oregon's Willamette Valley AVA through your excellent content here and on IG. In this particularly impressive video, I really appreciate your description of WV PN as being in the middle of the spectrum between Burgundy PN and California PN. While I’m very familiar with Burgundy PN, I’m only slightly familiar with California PN and not knowledgeable when it comes to Willamette Valley PN, so that description is really very helpful for me, personally. Thank you, John, for this informative and insightful video about Willamette Valley.
@@margauxml Thank you! Appreciate the kind feedback, Margaux! Very glad you enjoyed it! Cheers!
@@AttorneySommYou’re welcome, John! Happy weekend! Looking forward to your wine-travel updates next week.
Resonance is pretty good if you have a chance.
Thank you! I’ll have to try it.
I’ve been enjoying Big Table Farm pinot noir, as well as pinot noir from Ponzi and Arterberry-Marresh. Very much enjoying chardonnay from Resonance (Louis Jadot project in OR). I liked your point that OR wines sort of split difference between CA and Burgundy.
@@baggrabb Thanks very much! Very worthy additions! I enjoy them too!
@@AttorneySomm cool that French winemakers are getting into OR. Understandable, a lot in common w Burgundy
@@baggrabb Yes! They’re doing an excellent job
I love wine from the US. The only problem in my humble opinion is that most wines are either very hard to come by in Europe, or downright too expensive, in comparison with France, Germany or Italy for instance. Thanks for another nice video! (ps. "burp" means I drank too much. 😂)
@@rickwezenaar Ha! 😂 Yes I think the problem is the EU taxes US imports quite heavily. Some of the producers with EU operations can avoid it (eg, Dominus in France at least).
My top are Antica Terra, Lingua Franca, Domaine and Winters Hill.
Thanks very much for the worthy additions! I’ve recommended LF in some other videos.
Have you tried Resonance wines? I tried them recently and found them to be great expressions of the Willamette valley.
Thanks! Have not had a chance to try them yet. I'll have to change that! Appreciate the suggestion!
I would have included Bergstrom. Alexana and Archery Summit are quite nice as well
Thank you! I definitely enjoy Archery Summit and Bergstrom too! I’ve done a podcast with AS’s winemaker and a RUclips short re my visit to Bergstrom so spreading the love. Appreciate you mentioning these excellent producers.
I was very impressed with Domaine Drouhin and their other property Roserock. Both provide better value than their wines in Burgundy where even village level Burgundy often costs more than 50 euros
@@Pseudopimelodidae Thank you! Agreed! I have featured those wines in some of my other videos. Appreciate the worthy addition!
You've missed out Antica Terra, very good producer of burgundian style Pinot Noir.
Thank you for the addition. I certainly welcome additions in the comments. This is not a ranking or any sort of comprehensive analysis. Rather, I tried to include a diverse group of styles and prices understanding there are many more excellent producers in the area. And some of it is based on the places that I was able to visit during my visits.
Not sure I agree with 1 of the top 5 on this list. You're a high end collector (or so I thought) you could have included at least 1 producer who I on top of the game right now. While patricia green (at one point) was dynamite, they haven't been the same since 2017.
@@brandenkidd895 To clarify it isn’t really a ranking. More just tried to include a diverse group of producers I enjoy and a range of styles and price points. I also didn’t want to just repeat producers I have included in other videos.
Thanks for your reply. I certainly have not seen any of your past oregon videos, but can appreciate repetition does not sell. Unbiased analysis of quality wine producers is hard to find, and I suppose I felt that your "top 5 wineries" list dodged a vast majority of the cream of the crop. Some great wineries on this list no doubt, just some shock, as I attempt to use this channel for high end wine advice.
Thanks again for the response and appreciate the content. Ensure you try Domaine Roy's best offerings if you have not already
@@brandenkidd895 Other than this one and the travel tips, I haven't done a dedicated Oregon video. But in my videos with top wines at various price points I have included numerous Oregon wines over the years.
I do enjoy Thomas and Cameron, but those are very difficult to get. Part of the criteria is making sure that people can actually get the wines as well, so I excluded those producers for that reason. I enjoyed the White Rose wines as well, but not sure they justify the price premium. There may also be some others that are popular that did not impress me as much or were too similar to a producer I included.
Appreciate the suggestion re: Domaine Roy. I haven't been to Willamette for 2 years, but it is going to be at least next summer before I can get there again.
I'm quite sure I focus on high-end wines at least as much as any other channel on YT and that will not change, but I do try to vary the content as I have viewers at different stages of their wine and financial journeys.
I think these are great recommendations! I would definitely mention Ken Wright Cellars in this video as well! He was the grandfather of Pinot in Willamette Valley; a true captain for quality and terroir as well as transparency. He has initiated the Oregon Promise- a frontier for transparency and terroir- based wines. Kelley Fox is a wonderful winery as well! Thanks for making these videos!