Dundee,OR - Erath Winery

The colorful front entrance to Erath Winery's Tasting Room.

Erath Winery offers a relaxing atmosphere in a lovely setting featuring excellent, moderately priced wine.
What did we have: a sampling of Erath wine while sitting on the outdoor patio overlooking the vineyards
What was fun: drinking quality wine with good friends in a scenic location

It's hard to beat an afternoon of wine tasting in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.  It is even better when you're  reconnecting with good friends who have relocated to the area.  We chose Erath Winery as our first stop.  Erath has wide distribution of their well known Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, and we've enjoyed many a bottle over the years in Georgia.  I was curious to try some of the estate wines and other varietals.  We drove up a winding gravely road surrounded by fields of grape vines on our approach to the winery.  The tasting room and outdoor patio is located at the winery on the top of a rolling hills with rows upon rows of ripening grapes,  After enjoying a substantial and tasty lunch at the Community Plate in downtown McMinnville, we did not bring a picnic lunch as you are invited to do at the winery.  We definitely wanted to sit outdoors where we could enjoy our conversation while leisurely tasting wine and taking in the scenery.  It was a lovely experience.

A couple of happy wine tasters.

What did we have:  The wine tasting consists of six samples of wine for $10.  If you spend $30 on wine, the tasting is free.  Since there were four of us, and planned to make at least one more winery stop, we chose to share two tastings.  Our server brought them out to us, and for over an hour we tasted wine, enjoyed our converstaion, and took in the beautiful view. We sampled a 2010 Pinot Gris Rose, 2010 Pinot Blanc, 2009 Pinot Gris, 2009 Estate Selection Pinot Noir, 2008 Battle Creek Pinot Noir and a 2008 Leland Pinot Noir.  Bottle prices range from high teens to around 50 dollars.  We enjoyed them all, but my favorite was the moderately priced  Estate Pinot Noir. It has a hint of fruit and hint of smoke, bold yet bright, with a smooth finish.  My husband liked the festive Pinot Blanc so we left with a bottle of each. Our friends also bought a bottle of Pinot Noir, so there was so the tasting fee was waived.  

The view from the outdoor patio.

What was fun:  Erath is the perfect setting to enjoy wine tasting with friends.  The location, nestled in the rolling hills of the Willamette Valley, enhanced the experience. The hostess was relaxed and unpretentious, and encouraged us to enjoy our time there. The quality of the wine is good and the prices were friendly to our dwindling vacation budget. Next time we'll bring some cheese, bread and fruit along with us, drink a little more wine, and linger a little longer.