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| Green vistas of Oregon's Willamette Valley. |
During
our road trip through Oregon we decided to explore Oregon’s Willamette Valley
while in transit from Salem to Portland.
Willamette Valley is well known for its wine, especially Pinot. In my opinion the Willamette Valley produces
some of the best Pinot in the world. But
it’s probably not wise to fill an entire day with wine tasting, especially when
almost 80 miles need to be traveled.
Luckily the Willamette Valley offers a number of gastronomical delights
in addition to the wine which make a day trip through the Willamette Valley a
tasty adventure.
Wine and cheese go hand-in-hand, so our culinary trail began at Willamette Valley Cheese Co., owned by Rod Volbeda of Volbeda Farms. Willamette Valley Cheese Co.’s cheeses are made from the raw milk produced at the farms by Rod’s herd of Jersey cows. The cheese tasting room is a tiny little building at the end of a gravel road. You’ll know you’re there when you see the cows. You’ll really know you’re there when you open your car door and are struck by the powerful smell of cows. Thankfully the tasting room does well to keep out the smell. Willamette Valley Cheese Co. makes some fabulous cheeses. Their handmade, farmstead cheeses include Havarti, Gouda, Fontina, Jack and Cheddar, made in traditional, aged, smoked, and flavored varieties. Our favorite was the Brindisi, an aged Fontina full of flavor.
Wine and cheese go hand-in-hand, so our culinary trail began at Willamette Valley Cheese Co., owned by Rod Volbeda of Volbeda Farms. Willamette Valley Cheese Co.’s cheeses are made from the raw milk produced at the farms by Rod’s herd of Jersey cows. The cheese tasting room is a tiny little building at the end of a gravel road. You’ll know you’re there when you see the cows. You’ll really know you’re there when you open your car door and are struck by the powerful smell of cows. Thankfully the tasting room does well to keep out the smell. Willamette Valley Cheese Co. makes some fabulous cheeses. Their handmade, farmstead cheeses include Havarti, Gouda, Fontina, Jack and Cheddar, made in traditional, aged, smoked, and flavored varieties. Our favorite was the Brindisi, an aged Fontina full of flavor.
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| Willamette Valley Cheese Co.'s residents. |
Our
next stop was St. Innocent Winery,
which had been suggested by the owner and chef of Salem's Crooked House Bistro. All of the wines are good, but the Oeil de
perdrix, a pale rosé made from Pinot Noir, is out of this world. Our next winery was Bethel Heights, specializing in
single-vineyard Pinot Noir. The winery
has beautiful views in addition to excellent wine.
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| View of the Willamette Valley vineyards from Bethel Heights' tasting room patio. |
It
was time for a break from wine, so we headed to the Brigittine Monks Priory in Amity to
sample their divine fudge. The
Brigittine Monks is a Catholic monastic order that is self-supporting through
the manufacturing of gourmet chocolate confections. At the time we visited, there were seven
monks residing at the priory.
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| Brigittine Monks Priory, with chocolaty confections inside. |
While
I had put together a brief itinerary for the day, we were open to suggestions. At Bethel Heights we fell into conversation
with a couple who had also been at St. Innocent. They suggested we stop in Carlton for wine
and jam. My ears perked up at the word
jam. We took an unplanned detour and
visited the small town of Carlton and Republic of Jam, and what a fantastic detour it
was. Republic of Jam is owned by two
ladies who are making traditional recipe jams with half the sugar of modern-day
market jams. They use local fruit and
make jams that showcase the real flavors of the fruit. Republic of Jam also creates some unique flavor
combinations like Mixed Berry Habanero. Not
only could the jams be sampled, there was also food to be tasted that
incorporated some of the jams.
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| Shelves of delicious jams at Republic of Jam. |
We
next visited SakéOne,
Oregon’s only saké brewery. SakéOne makes some delicious sakés,
including flavored sakés like Moonstone Asian Pear and Momokawa Ruby. (Learn more about my SakéOne visit and tastings on the Passports & Cocktails blog.)
The
day was drawing to a close, but we weren’t quite ready for it to end. While sampling sakés we met a couple who
recommended a winery in the area that stayed open later than the rest. We followed their suggestion and made Ardiri Winery & Vineyards
our final stop. Ardiri creates some
exceptional wines and also has a beautiful tasting room with a fireplace,
chairs to lounge in, and a gorgeous view over the vineyards.
When
visiting Oregon, time should to be spent in the Willamette Valley. What better way to spend a day in transit
than sipping wine and saké and sampling cheeses, chocolates, and jams? And the best thing about taking a road trip
through Oregon’s Willamette Valley?
There’s room in the trunk for all the tasty purchases!
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| Spoils of a day exploring Oregon's Willamette Valley. |
