Life on the Road - Memorial Day Road Trip

Memorial Day weekend – that traditional kick off to summer in the US – can be a bit of a weather toss-up here in Oregon. Warm sunshine, grey rain and wind, or snow is not uncommon. It’s just a matter of hope for the best. While this weekend was no different, we did get a chance to spend some time on the road.

The day started out in the best possible way. Around 7:20, the phone rang. When the phone rings that early it can only mean one thing – an international call from our son, and world traveler, Christian. Christian was enjoying a low-key day in South Africa, at the Guthrie’s home in the countryside between Jo-burg and Pretoria, and preparing for another adventure. This time he’ll be headed off to Swaziland with his friend Tessa who, unbelievably, lives around the corner from us here in Eugene. It was such a great thrill to hear from him. Both our sons are an inspiration to us.

This weekend in the southern Willamette Valley (if not all of Oregon) has become the opening of wine-tasting season. So, having become dutiful Oregonians, we decided to take advantage of the weekend celebrations. This was especially important because it would allow us to compare our recent Napa experience with a Willamette Valley experience. We also threw in a picnic à la française. Overall, the day was wonderful.

After picking up Katie and Kellen, we headed for LaVelle Vineyards in Elmira, Oregon. There were quite a number of people there since the vineyard was offering music, a barbeque, and plenty of wine. While we didn’t stay for the food or music, we did taste their wine offerings. Their memorable wine was a 2005 Vintage Select Gamay Noir. Their website describes it well when is states that “[t]he resulting wine has an intense nose, with nuances of cherries, oak, and a slight earthiness. This wine exhibits the boysenberry and raspberry fruit flavors typical of Gamay Noir, with hints of spice on the finish.” Compared to the great Pinot Noirs found in Oregon, this was very different and very good.

Next we ventured to see the gardens and the grounds at Secret House Vineyards in Veneta, Oregon. While they offered a standard fare of average-ish wines, the most memorable was their VinoTaboo, which they said was a Pinot Noir blended with Loganberries. Described as a dessert wine (which always causes me to cringe at the idea of drinking pancake syrup), this was much more exciting with a balanced flavor of a rich Pinot and the spiciness of cinnamon, chocolate and vanilla. We were taken by surprise.

Next we headed north toward Monroe, Oregon for a visit to Benton-Lane Vineyards. It’s important to note that we started on our wine odyssey many years ago when our oldest son gave us a bottle of their famous Pinot Noir as a Christmas gift. Not normally drinkers of red (or quality) wine, this turned out to be something entirely different. Having a chance to visit their vineyards was something we’ve been looking forward to for some time, so this weekend was perfect.

The first thing that was different at their vineyards was the “tasting stations” they had set up for each of the wines. Rather then standing at a typical tasting bar, visitors would walk from one location to the next in the Benton-Lane facility to taste their wines. While everything was wonderful, the two major standouts for us were the Pinot Gris and the First Class Pinot Noir. The Pinot Noir has earned 92 points with the Wine Specator (enough said) while the Pinot Gris was a delightful surprise being both flavorful and crisp without being too sweet.

After the wine tasting, it was time for a little outdoor adventure. We headed northwest to Alsea Falls high (relatively speaking) in the Oregon’s Coast Range mountains. We enjoyed a picnic of baguettes, pate, Gouda, baby Swiss, smoked summer sausage, salami, bananas, Fiji apples, cookies and a bottle of Henry Estates 2005 Pinot Noir. After a leisurely lunch we walked down to enjoy the view of the falls. The water was clear and flowing fast, yet we were still able to walk along (and in) the creek without being in too much danger.

It was an incredibly wonderful way to spend a Sunday on Memorial Day Weekend. Katie and Kellen were great company, and the weekends we can spend together are beginning to shrink. It also reminded us that there are hundreds of vineyards between Portland and Medford that we MUST visit. After all, life on the road can be really fun.