Full day wine tasting itinerary at Willamette Valley

Gorgeous Domain Serene vineyard in Willamette Valley, OR

The Willamette Valley, a region best known for Pinot Noirs, is definitely one place I have yearned to visit. Finally we decided to head out this Spring to check out this renown wine region and do some sightseeing driving up the Oregon coast at the same time. Since we only planned one-day for wine tasting in the Willamette Valley, I had to do some research and pick which wineries we would visit.

The Itinerary

After watching multiple youTube videos (thank you youTubers) and reading up on a few wineries in the area, I finally narrowed my selection to these 3 wineries - Domaine Serene, Trisaetum, and Rex Hill Wineries. Why did I pick these wineries? Well, here’s why:

Domaine Serene - A popular choice across multiple youTube videos, they have a nice selection of sparkling wines, which I especially enjoy and have a strong reputation for their Pinot Noirs. While they do appear as one of the more premier wines, they certainly have many great reviews and compliments from the videos I watched.

Trisaetum - This winery has a great selection of Rieslings, and since this is something my other half, Tommy particularly enjoys I thought this would be a great winery for us to pay a visit while we are here. At least we will get a taste of the Rieslings from this region and see how they stack up to the German counterparts.

Rex Hill - After their year long renovation, this winery now offers a stunning new and modern open wine-tasting space with beautiful architecture which I was curious to see.

Oregon Wine Tasting Experience

First up - Domaine Serene. Driving up into the estate, we were greeted by the beautiful grounds, wide driveways, fountain in the center and vast vineyards. The place appears grand and spacious. The interior does seem a bit dated to me but still feels luxurious. We were first immediately welcomed with a glass of refreshing bubbly and promptly seated to one of the high chair bars near the main bar area. The views looking out to the vineyard from the bar is breathtaking and very inviting. There is outdoor seating available as well of course.

For this tasting, we had a flight of 7 different wines - One Chardonnay, 4 Pinot Noirs, a Syrah from Walla-Walla (Grand Cheval), and their very delicate Grand Cru Blnac de Blancs (my favorite). It was really nice to be able to try different expressions of their Pinor Noirs at this one seating and really pick out particular flavors that I enjoy. The Domaine Aspect Serene 2021 has a more fruit-forward expression compared to the Abbey Oaks Vineyard, which showed more tannins from the pinot skins and minerality from the volcanic rocks. The single vineyard Winery Hill 2021 was also very good, very elegant expressions of the Pinot with a silky finish.

Recolte, Dundee Hills, 2016

Impressive !!!

A well-balanced structured sparkling Chardonnay with a welcoming nose of vanilla, floral bouquet and brioche notes. A medium acidity with a clean crisp finish. It really drinks and tastes like a Champagne, very elegant and luxurious but also comes at a price $145 per bottle - ouch. As much as I love this, I am still not sure if I would spend that for a bottle.

Evenstad Reserve, 2011 and 2017

Having a side-by-side vertical tasting of the Evenstad Reserve was really nice as you can now see the evolution of this wine over time. The 2017 younger version, has a nice vanilla and cherry cola notes on the nose, more fruit-forward but still low tannins and a silky finish. Quite an elegant wine. Then, as you go into the 2011, the fruit is subdued but you get more cigar and cacao on the nose. A different expression of the same wine essentially but such different characters. Amazing!

Overall, it was a very enjoyable experience for us. Tommy and I really enjoyed walking down the hallways, the outdoor area and grounds of the winery. The tasting fee was $60 per person, not inexpensive but considering the quality of the wine we tasted that morning, it may seem fair these days.

Trisaetum

One of the things that really appealed to us in this winery are their Rieslings, I was curious to try it. With Tommy’s sharp palate against the German Rieslings that he is used to, I am curious to see how he thought the OR counterparts would stack up. Here, we did 2 tastings of Rieslings (one dry and one semi-dry), 1 Rose and 4 tasting of the red Pinot Noirs. Not surprisingly, the Rieslings were indeed very good. Both Rieslings had bright acidity balanced with a good floral and zesty nose. Very inviting and refreshing. The Rose of Pinot Noir was one of my favorites - I can smell and taste the mature apricots, a fragrant rose petal and good mouthfeel on the finish. The Pinot Noirs I was not as impressed, and still preferred the ones we tasted at Domaine Serene personally.

Rex Hill Tasting

By the time it was our third tasting, I was definitely getting a little “tired” i.e. palate was feeling somewhat sluggish but still keen to try the wines here. It was quickly refreshed by the welcoming and elegant nose of 2016 Blanc de Blancs, hints of honey, brioche, green apple and lemon zest. It was just lovely! I also especially loved their Rose (of Pinot Noir) which I found out was foot-pressed and aged in stainless steel and neutral oak for 6 months. It was superb!

Finally we also tasted 3 Pinot Noirs - Dundee Hills, Jacob Hart Vineyard and Reserve, all from 2021. All three Pinots have a spicy / peppery finish but the Reserve was smoothest amongst the 3 wines. Definitely a solid Pinot Noir. If only I had a wine suitcase then to pack a few bottles home. The hospitality at this winery was superb, the gentleman tending to us was friendly and welcoming, and really made us feel comfortable (not rushed) into the tasting. A wonderful experience and great way to end our day at the Willamette Valley.

Conclusion of the Day

In closing, despite our very short one-day visit, it was truly a fruitful and rewarding day of wine tasting. Getting to see the region and tasting the wines was exactly what I wanted to do and yes, I would definitely be back again, hopefully soon… with the beautiful weather we were blessed with that day, this really made a memorable mark for me.