Maximum Attendance: 25
Sunday, August 8
Yamhill – Carlton (Northern Willamette Valley)
Spend a day in Yamhill-Carlton, a horseshoe-shaped AVA in the northern Willamette Valley. Named for the two hamlets of Yamhill and Carlton, this small winemaking region was described by The Washington Post as, “arguably the most beautiful area of the Willamette Valley.” Yamhill-Carlton was one of the first six nesting AVAs in the region, a status it earned in large part thanks to its unique sedimentary soils. This coarse material was formed in the Eocene era, between 50 to 40 million years ago, making it the oldest parent material in the Willamette Valley.
Transportation & Accommodations
You will be picked up at 8:00 AM on Sunday, August 8 from the Valley River Inn in Eugene. The excursion will finish at approximately 5:30 PM the same day at the KEX Hotel at 100 NE Martin Luther King Blvd in Portland. The hotel has local wines on tap at its ground floor restaurant Dóttir, and is within walking distance of multiple award-winning restaurants, the Coopers Hall taproom, ENSO winery, and a light rail stop (1/2 mile to the red line with access to the airport). The hotel, located in the Central Eastside neighborhood, is also a short car ride away from the Southeast Wine Collective and other Portland destinations. You can receive a 10% discount using the Promo code KEX21.
What is Included
Cost: $25 per person, which includes one lunch, tasting room visits, and transportation throughout the day starting in Eugene and ending in Portland.
Itinerary
8:00 AM Group departs by bus from Eugene to the North Willamette Valley.
10:00 – 11:30 AM The Yamhill-Carlton Wine Media Conference tour will start at Ken Wright Cellars, in a converted train depot in the heart of Carlton. This morning Pinot Noir tasting will explore the geological events and perfect storms that created the oldest soils in the Willamette Valley.
11:45 – 12:45 PM Visit at Yamhill-Carlton High School’s working vineyard, a community project by the Yamhill-Carlton AVA, and an educational resource for the future winemakers of America.
1:00 – 3:00 PM Lunch at Abbey Road Farm. This working 82-acre farm, bed & breakfast and event space is also a winery incubator producing up-and-coming varieties. Over a seasonal lunch prepared by Abbey Road Farm’s chef team, we will taste examples from the winery’s incubator program, with some of the region’s up-and-coming winemakers. We’ll also learn about Abbey Road Farm’s farming program, meeting some of the farm’s llamas, goats, and donkeys along the way.
3:30 – 4:30 PM We will bookend the tour exploring the white varieties of Yamhill-Carlton at Beacon Hill Vineyards. From Albariño to Müller-Thurgau, the appellation is seeing a boom in white wine production. We’ll taste through some of the finest and engaging white wines in the region, poured by a cast of talented local winemakers.
5:30 PM Drop off in Portland at the KEX Portland Hotel.
