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Private Customized Willamette Valley Wine Maker Tour with lunch
5.0
64 Ratings
Willamette Valley
Experience the ultimate customized wine tour in the beautiful Willamette Valley. Tap into the expertise of Carmine, your knowledgeable guide, and indulge in a gourmet wine pairing lunch. Cheers!
Duration:
8 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation:
1 day
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Highlights
- Willamette Valley - Oregon’s stunning Willamette Valley, just outside the Portland metro area, is a prime location for growing cool-climate grapes like Pinot Noir. With over 750 wineries, this region offers a variety of vineyards, cellars, and tasting rooms to explore. Carmine, your professional winemaker and tour guide, will consult with you before your tour to tailor the itinerary to your preferences. Along the way, enjoy a gourmet lunch in a picturesque vineyard setting, paired with a wine flight. This private, customized tour is ideal for singles, couples, or small groups. Sit back and relax while we handle the driving, allowing you to savor a gourmet lunch and some of the world’s finest wines. Cheers!
- Domaine Serene - Though it comes with a high price tag, I highly recommend this winery and tasting site. The facilities and grounds are exceptional. If desired, we can often arrange luxurious wine tastings here. The wines offered include Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Champagne-method sparkling wine, and a Syrah/Pinot Noir blend.
- Utopia Vineyard - Enjoy great wines on a stunning hilltop in Ribbon Ridge AVA. If you appreciate the laid-back, social pace of Cornhole, you’ll love Bocce Ball! On a warm, sunny day, it’s delightful to play Bocce Ball on our outdoor courts, with wine tasting highly encouraged.
- Argyle Winery - Nearly 100 producers of sparkling wine use our Pinot grapes, but only Argyle Winery offers a full Oregon Sparkling (Champagne-style wine) tasting flight year-round. They were the first Oregon producer of Champagne-style wine. Now owned by a large conglomerate, Argyle wines are widely available. Traditional Champagne wines are typically made from Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and/or Chardonnay grapes. Argyle offers a sparkling flight and traditional wine flights of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
- Nysa Vineyard - Perched atop the Dundee Hills with breathtaking views, this hidden gem is a must-visit for aged Pinot Noir tastings. For example, their 2023 release is a 2015 vintage! During the tasting flight, you’ll receive two additional vintages selected based on your initial responses to the wines. This is an elite Pinot Noir tasting experience!
- Domaine Drouhin Oregon - This French-owned and operated winery is well-known among Burgundian wine enthusiasts. They offer both French and Oregon-grown Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines for side-by-side tastings. Reservations must be made directly. If you’re interested, I can provide the best times to request.
- Holloran Vineyard Wines - A hidden gem with outstanding wines and stunning views. The small, intimate tasting room makes it an exceptional winery for value and quality, and it’s my favorite in the Dundee Hills AVA. Their wines include the first plantings of cool-climate varieties in the Willamette Valley, such as Pinot Noir, the last remaining original plantings of the “Draper Clone” Chardonnay, Riesling, and newer plantings of Sauvignon Blanc, Tempranillo, and others. They also offer wines from the Eola-Amity AVA, my personal favorite cool-climate AVA in Willamette Valley. I’ve arranged a chef-designed food pairing board for you to enjoy as a mid-day wine and food flight. A simple yet elite experience. Very cool!
- Sokol Blosser Tasting Room & Winery - A historic and renowned winery! Join us for “Farm & Forage,” a unique culinary experience. We believe the best way to enjoy our wines is to pair them with a carefully crafted tasting menu. Following our “good to the earth” motto, we source ingredients from local purveyors and forage on our property, often finding mushrooms, nettles, salad greens, and more. Our esteemed culinary team, led by Executive Chef Jonathan Jones, creates a 6-course tasting menu for an unforgettable experience. A few notes: The “dine” portion is equivalent to lunch, and the experience lasts about 2 hours. We kindly ask for no substitutions and cannot accommodate dietary requests. Additional costs apply, and seasonal and daily restrictions may affect availability.
- Patricia Green Cellars - The current release tasting includes 5 current vintage Pinot Noirs and a white wine of our selection. Your host will provide in-depth information about our history, winemaking process, the vineyards we work with, terroir, and the clones that make each wine unique. These private, seated tastings last approximately 60-90 minutes.
What's Included
- Private transportation
- Bottled water
- Lunch
- In-vehicle air conditioning
- Photography during your day, with top tech
- Expert wine/vineyard/cellar guide
What's Not Included
- Each traveler (over 21) will selects their desired wine flight at each winery. Wine flight prices vary greatly upon choice.
Additional Information
This is not your traditional wine tour; we customize to meet your needs and interests. Carmine, your winemaker tour guide, will interact with you before the tour to maximize your elite experience. 30 years of cultivating grapes and making wines. You have the option to tap his expertise.
A ‘wine tasting’ lunch is included. A wine pairing gastronomic experience with some of the world’s best wines in a historic vineyard.
Awards:
“Wine Tour Operator of the Year” in 2024 & 2023-‘Corporate LiveWire’, ‘USA Today’s’ Top 20 American wine tours in 2023 & 2020 & “Best Winery Tour Operator in the Pacific Northwest” & “Best Wine Tasting Experience – Willamette Valley”- ‘2022 LUXlife’.
Willamette Valley is nature’s masterpiece for growing cool-climate grapes, like Pinot Noir and Pinot Chardonnay. 950+ wineries producing elite world-class wines.
A trip to wine country with Oregon Winemaker Tours is perfect for singles, couples, or small groups. Relax and leave the driving to us.
Cheers :)!
- Wear comfortable walking shoes.
- Your health is our top priority. All tours are private and customized to your needs. We disinfect surfaces between each tour. Hand sanitizer and a complimentary mask will be available to all of our guests. Some wineries will operate on an appointment-only basis, and others will ensure a safe distance from other parties for wine tasting. Most wineries also have outdoor tasting areas. Carmine, your wine guide, has a daily wellness check to ensure he is healthy and symptom-free. If you or anyone in your group is experiencing symptoms, we will work directly with you to cancel or reschedule your tour.
- For your private passenger group of more than 3 persons: the 4th though 6th passenger will need to be able to load into the rear seats of a spacious minivan, which requires moderate dexderity.
Location
Willamette Valley
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
5.0
(64 Ratings)
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Chad_s
May 24, 2024
What an amazing tour! - This tour guide Carmine knows his stuff. He also has the network to get you into the best places. He leads with top notch service only know to the few.
Review provided by Viator
334admiralc
Apr 11, 2024
Wine tour with Carmine - Carmine was a great tour guide and took me to a lot of great vineyards thought the day. Was a great experience overall and would recommend anyone to book with him.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
451walterk
Mar 17, 2024
A pleasure worth the money - Carmine took me to a great tour that brought me great insights into the winemaking history of the Willamette, marvelous views, good information about the various plants grown there and the opportunity to taste some truly great Pinot Noirs.
It has been a pleasure fully worth the money.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
D8482yxtaras
Oct 26, 2023
Great Day Tasting Wines & Learning Craft! - Carmine was a great host to us on our recent wine tour! He is SO knowledgable and passionate about his craft - we learned more in the few hours together than we had ever known about wine! He made the trip very comfortable for my partner and I and curated an exceptional day based on our interests. We had a great time and would highly recommend Carmine for your next trip!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jennifer_s
Oct 10, 2023
Knowledgeable and Fun Day - We recently enjoyed a wine tour with Carmine. Despite a hiccup in our plans due to a power outage, he was agile and quickly adapted. His knowledge and network paid off and our day was amazing.
His enthusiasm and passion for wine was contagious! My goal for the tour was to have fun and learn about Oregon’s wine and he delivered above and beyond. As a novice Oregon wine connoisseur, I appreciated his ability to break down complex wine concepts into digestible, enjoyable insights.
He was very communicative and listed to my wishes. I had a couple of wineries mind but appreciated his suggestions to visit smaller wineries and learn something new. If you're looking for an unforgettable wine tour that combines fun with valuable insights, I wholeheartedly recommend this tour.
Review provided by Viator
Robyn_g
Sep 29, 2023
Terrific way to see wine country! - Great day orchestrated by Carmine. We went to some beautiful vineyards, which felt off the beat and path and had a wonderful local flair. Carmen was quick to share his extensive knowledge with us and picked some terrific wineries to visit. He went above and beyond when we told him last minute it was one of our groups birthday and helped get us a birthday dessert for lunch. Before we arrived, Carmen reached out to make sure he was tailoring the trip to our desires and even gently nudged us to be open minded about Oregon Chardonnay. Glad to say we needed his advice because they were some of our favorite wines. Highly recommend this tour! It was a great day with tons of amazing wines.
Review provided by Viator
Companion23948425097
Sep 27, 2023
Very nice trip! - Very nice experience. Carmine is a wealth of knowledge on the Willamette area and the industry of wine.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Vicki
Sep 26, 2023
Great experience - Today Carmine took us on a perfect day of wine tasting in the Willamette Valley. We went to 4 wineries, selected by us, including one where we had a delicious lunch and talked with the winemaker. We will do this again the next time we come for a visit!
Review provided by Viator
Hackncobra
Sep 19, 2023
Speak with the winemakers - memorable tour - Amazing 2 days exploring Oregon wines! Carmine is a wealth of knowledge on wine making and friends with many of the winemakers we visited, thus creating a relaxed wine tasting atmosphere. We greatly enjoyed being in OR during crush and speaking with the owners and winemakers. Carmine goes out of his way to ensure a memorable tour. Highly Recommend!
Review provided by Viator
Grandtour02577644160
Sep 13, 2023
Absolutely wonderful educational wine tour - Carmine did a superb job touring us through the McMinnville wine country. He taught us more about the wines, region, and the proper way to taste wines than we've learned in 30+ years of wine tasting. We highly recommend him! You won't be disappointed.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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