From Hillsboro to Newberg, Then to McMinnville for Lunch and Wine

After a long season of gray days and rain, the comforting smell of the home fires that burn throughout the winter finally wafted away and gave way to the fresh scent of spring. Saturday was a spectacular day! It was like crawling out of a cocoon, spun with the rut of work and the long Oregon winter, and experiencing the place I live in with a heightened set of senses. And so we set out, with the car windows down, through the valley for a spring excursion.

We drove south from Hillsboro to Newberg on state route 219. It is roughly twenty miles of rural two lane roads that wind and twist through orchards, berry patches, and pastures. For the first ten miles, from Hillsboro to Scholls, the road follows the low point of the valley and stays just to the east of the Chehalem Mountains AVA. At almost every crossroads, every road leading west, there is a sign pointing the way to one of the local vineyards which are all located just a few miles away on the slopes of the Chehalem Mountains. 

The area still has an untamed rural feel to it. It is not uncommon to hear "talk" of the occasional cougar sighting just a few miles south of Hillsboro at Jackson Bottom Wetlands. Here the Tualatin River, a tributary of the Willamette that flows out of the Coast Range, creates a soggy wilderness that is usually flooded throughout the winter.

At Scholls, a T shaped intersection comprised of a few old edifices, you can grab breakfast or lunch at the South Store Cafe or go across the street to the Smith Berry Barn. If berry picking isn't on your agenda, the Berry Barn has other things: a garden market, a gourmet gift shop, espresso and milkshakes, preserves and honey. They have a nice patio where you can sit with your espresso. The French country vibe that the place exudes will make you feel like you are farther then ten miles from home. 

Before you get to Newberg, you have to climb over another low range of mountains, drive right through the Chehalem Mountains AVA, and then slowly (due to the speed limit and the occasional traffic cop at the bottom of the slope) descend into town. When you're on top of these slopes there are chances to see up to four snow capped volcanoes in two different states: Mt. Saint Helens and Mt Adams in Washington, and Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson in Oregon. But if you're driving don't take your eyes off the road. The hairpin turns and the occasional oncoming traffic will require your full attention.

Our principal reason for going to Newberg was to visit the Cecil & Molly Smith Rhododendron Garden in St. Paul, Oregon, just south of Newberg. It was a beautiful walk. The garden is situated in an old stand of trees that seemed to have defied the saws of the settlers who long ago clear cut all of the farm land that surrounds this little woodland paradise.

Smith Rhododendron Garden

From Newburg, we traveled west on route 99 to McMinnville. A small town that is turning into the center of the North Willamette wine industry. With a lively downtown filled with restaurants, wine bars, wine tasting establishments, and gift shops it's a great place to spend an afternoon strolling, eating, drinking, and people watching. It has a rustic sophistication to it that is best explained by the various types of vehicles that one might see parked along 3rd street: a group of Harley Davidson motorcycles, a classic MG, a beat up 1960's VW van, a BMW 3 Series sedan, a Honda Insite, a Dodge 4x4 diesel truck, a Ferrari.

We ate at Gem Creole Saloon. I had the Crispy Fried Chicken Wings with Bourbon Molasses BBQ Sauce. They were very good. So were the biscuits, the hush puppies, the fries, and my wife gave a big thumbs up to the Crawfish Etouffee. So, sated and happy, we strolled down the street to the Willamette Valley Vineyards Tasting Room. I had the daily flight:

     1. 2013 Pinot Gris

     2. 2012 Dijon Clone Chardonnay

     3. 2012 Estate Pinot Noir - 93 pts

     4. 2014 Whole Cluster Pinot Noir

     5. 2013 Riesling

They also threw in a taste of a Syrah from Southern Oregon. Right now I am hooked on red wines from France, especially Rhone Valley wines. I enjoyed tasting these local wines, and I preferred the Pinot Gris and the Riesling to the Pinot Noirs, probably because of the strong fruit. Oregon Pinot Noir is, as I have been told, an acquired taste. There is a smoky, dark fruity flavor to it and a lingering wisp of alcohol at the finish that always seems to float up my nose. These Pinot Noirs are not as fruity and dark as the reds I have been drinking from France, which at times are like drinking the blood of hundreds of massacred grapes. But to compare the local Pinot's to these other varietals isn't accomplishing anything here. The local wine is a major focal point of this blog, and finding the diamonds in what could be a heap of rhinestones will take some time, personal education, and the patience to learn how to tell a diamond from a rhinestone.

I will say this though, the Willamette Valley Vineyards 2013 Riesling is one of the best Oregon white wines I have yet tasted. It already has a place on my list of "Summer Wines" simply because it was crisp, fruity, honest and straight to the point. It was served chilled. 

If you travel, if you have spent meaningful time in other places sampling the culture, you occasionally get the longing to return and smell the air, taste the food, drink the wine. On such a beautiful day as this, in my own backyard, I bet there were people from other places tasting the food, drinking the wine, sniffing the air - planting the seeds of memories that some day will leave them longing for another day like today - that will perhaps bring them back for another taste of this place.

Cheers,