As the weather became quite a bit colder today, Mick and I actually became warmer.

Warmer, as in closer, to finding some very good examples of Oregon’s famous Pinot Noirs.

Mick had a tasting at Brooks Wines just outside the small village of Amity. We took a longer route option to get there as we had plenty of time, and were treated to some wonderful countryside, mostly farming country as opposed to vineyards. We’d learnt yesterday that many of the current vineyards around here have been built on land that was previously used for farming turkeys.

This vineyard is located in the Eola-Amity Hills appellation of the Willamette Valley. There are eleven appellations in total in the valley and we’ve really only tried wines from four of them. So any conclusions we draw about the wines can only based on those, which means essentially they will be flawed.

We had to sit on the outside deck here but I was given a blanket and they lit a heater for us. The outlook from the deck was gorgeous.

Mick chose the mixed flight tasting for $30, which included three Pinot Noirs, two Rieslings and a Gewürztraminer. And, he liked them all but for different reasons.

His favourite wine here was the Pinot Noir made from the Pommard clone of the grape which was being grown in the vineyards we could see behind Mick in this photo. But the Rieslings, while they were very good, were not up to the standard of the one he bought from Paul, the winemaker we met two days ago.

The young woman who hosted the tasting was extremely knowledgeable about the wines, their growing seasons, and their unique characteristics. She was also able to answer any questions Mick had.

I said to Mick that it would be impossible to beat our winery visit record for one day that we set almost two years ago in the Margaret River in Western Australia. We had a driver on that day and managed to visit and taste wines from seven wineries. I must add that on that day we had our son Edward with us and he was ‘cracking the whip’ to keep us on task.

This tasting experience took over one hour and probably finished up a little early because Mick and I were freezing.

During our wine tastings here we have come across a new term for describing the aroma of some wines.

Bibliosmia

For non-wine drinkers, I am sure some terms used to describe the aromas and tastes of wines seem ludicrous, pompous and even ridiculous. I must admit that my sense of smell is pretty poor and the words I have to describe a wine are limited. But, I am going to look for the chance to use Bibliosmia.

The term for the smell of books, and can also refer to the act of smelling books: 

During the afternoon we ventured back to the Main Street of McMinville with its 17 wineries and 7 breweries to try some more examples of the local wines before our trip is over.

First stop was Pike Road and it was here we intended on having one glass of wine each, but we met some amazing people and ended up spending much more time and money here than we had planned.

The man working here was extremely knowledgeable about wines from not only Willamette but from all over the world. He had worked in a very exclusive bottle shop for many years and he knew his wine.

We tasted a 2018 and a 2022 Pinot Noir here, labelled as ‘cru’, meaning single vineyard. They were both very good. We learnt that the head wine maker at Pike Road is a young Australian woman named Heather Perkin.

We left here in a drizzle of rain to Chris James Cellars which was just across the road.

We arrived 30 minutes before closing time to try one final sample of the local wines. Mick went a bit off-script and chose a GSM from the Columbia Valley where it is warmer than here. The woman working here told Mick that this wine was her favourite. I chose an Eola-Amity (Willamette Valley) Pinot Noir. We were both pleased with our selection and enjoyed our time here.

After saying goodnight and thank you, we headed outside and stood under the awning to avoid the drizzling rain, to call an Uber. It was quite dark by now even though it was only 6pm. Eventually a driver was located, 30 km away and about a 40-minute wait. So we headed off on a 20-minute walk in the dark and drizzle, grateful the rain wasn’t heavier.

We have very much enjoyed our stay here in McMinville. We are leaving with very high opinions of Oregon and its local people who have gone out of their way to make us feel welcomed.

We head to Portland tomorrow to return the car. We will spend the night near the airport as we have to get to Los Angeles the following day.