Wine Tasting at David Hill Winery, Willamette Valley, Oregon

This article is part of the one-month road trip series, The Great Northwest North American Wine Road Trip. Follow along in real time on Twitter with the hashtag, #NWRoadTrip.

The pinot noir grapevines on the David Hill winery property are some of the first ever planted in Willamette Valley, but whether or not they are the oldest is pretty fiercely contested. Located outside of Forest Grove, David Hill makes both excellent white and red wines, and the tasting room is open daily, offering tastes of seven wines for $5 (fee waived with purchase). I highly recommend visiting; the wines are both delicious and well priced.

David Hill Winery is located inside of a low-down rustic and historic farmhouse

In the history of Oregon wine, the names David Lett and Charles Coury are like George Washington and Ben Franklin: those guys were the wackos studying oenology at UC Davis who predicted (correctly) that Oregon would be the next big pinot noir producer after Burgundy, France. Local folklore says that David Lett smuggled pinot noir rootstock (along with many other rootstocks, including silvaner, gewurztraminer, and marsanne) from Burgundy to Oregon in the 1960s, and that he and Charles cloned the rootstock until they had enough to plant a vineyard.

The vineyard they planted is still alive and well, and it is located on the David Hill winery estate. Because David "smuggled" the vines in, there are no official records of when this happened—and thereby no proof that the pinot vines are the oldest in Oregon. Nevertheless, when I spoke with Jason Bull, David Hill's winemaker, he confirmed that David Lett brought the rootstock to Oregon in 1965.

David Hill Winemaker Jason Bull

Today, David Hill winery creates killer wines. I love the pinot gris, riesling, and pinot noirs. Also, the big, bold Farmhouse Red, which comes in a $12 bottle or $40 box (4 bottles), is an excellent table wine. The whites tend to be slightly off-dry, with residual sugar levels between 1 and 3 percent. When wine tasting, check out these standout wines:

• 2012 Pinot Gris
• 2011 Riesling
• 2009 Estate Winemaker Cuvee Pinot Noir
• 2009 Estate Blackjack Pinot Noir
• N/V Farmhouse Red

Portions of this article included information obtained during a press trip funded by the Washington County tourism board.

Wine Tasting at Ardiri Winery, Willamette Valley, Oregon

This article is part of the one-month road trip series, The Great Northwest North American Wine Road Trip. Follow along in real time on Twitter with the hashtag, #NWRoadTrip.

A great set up for a picnic

Ardiri Winery, located in the northern Willamette Valley, gives you the unique opportunity to taste pinot noirs from California and Oregon produced by the same winemaker side by side. Let the games begin!

But before we get to this fierce California/Oregon rivalry, I've got to tell you about the insane deal that Ardiri is offering this 2013 Memorial Day Weekend: They are selling 5-bottle jugs of their 2009 Estate Pinot Noir for $59! That's $12 a bottle for pinot noir produced by a boutique producer. Last year, their 5-bottle jugs sold out fast, and, this year, they're only releasing 120 jugs—so make sure to visit them asap.

While you're there, you can taste verticals (flights of the same wine from different vintages) of their Los Carneros and Chehalem Mountain pinot noirs. Tastings cost $10 (refunded with 2-bottle purchase), and they're open Friday-Sunday year round (by appointment Wednesday and Thursday, too). These pinot noir wines are made from the same clones by the same winemaker, and it's a fun way to taste the contrast between terroirs. Ardiri also makes the Due Stati pinot noir, a wine made of both California and Oregon grapes.

As you'd probably suspect, the California pinot noirs were more fruity thanks to a warmer climate and the Oregon pinots had more herbal flavors. I tried to step outside of my Oregonian "house palate," and my favorite wines were actually from both states:

• 2010 Los Carneros Pinot Noir
• 2010 Chehalem Mountains Pinot Noir

Ardiri's wines come at a great price, and every bottle is $30 or less. The winery has tons of seating options, and it's a good place to enjoy a picnic with views of the valley. In fact, many of the seating areas at the winery have their own fireplaces.

Portions of this article included information obtained during a press trip funded by the Washington County tourism board.

The Great Northwest North American Wine Road Trip

Over the next month, we'll visit the greatest wine regions of the northwest United States and southwest Canada:

• Willamette Valley, Oregon: home to some of the best pinot noir on earth
• Vancouver, British Columbia: home to urban wineries, farm-fresh produce, and islands galore
• Okanagan, BC: the Napa Valley of the north
• and the Tri-Cities and Walla Walla wine region in Washington state: home to budget-friendly cabernet sauvignons and many other bold red varietals

—surely an epic road trip in the making. I'll be traveling with travel mates Marcy Gordon, of Forbes Travel Napa Valley, and Kristin Kearns, editor and fiction author. Since I live in Portland, Oregon, the Willamette Valley portion of the road trip will focus in on the northern part of the Willamette Valley: Washington County. This lesser-traveled part of Willamette Valley is home to some of the area's most delicious artisanal cheese, meat, jam, cider, and sake products as well as excellent, under-the-radar wineries, such as David Hill, Apolloni, Kramer Vineyards, Ponzi Vineyards, Hawks View, Alloro, and Raptor Ridge Winery. The well-known biodynamic/organic-certified winery, Montinore, is also located here.

Fields of blooming clover

Northern Willamette wine country is just 40 minutes from downtown Portland, making it one of the  city's closest wine regions. Nevertheless, most travelers hit the 99W and drive straight toward Newberg and Dundee Hills. The wineries around those towns are great, but they're already in the national spotlight. For a more personalized winery experience, hit northern Willamette and the towns of Gaston, Forest Grove, and Banks. You'll appreciate the difference in bottle prices, too.





With an history based in agriculture, northern Willamette Valley has tons of great restaurants serving very local ingredients, and this makes all of the difference. In addition, northern Willamette has local producers that offer unique culinary experiences, such as cheese-making classes. Washington County is quite a bread basket. Here is a list of restaurants, hotels and B&Bs, and gourmet producers that are worth checking out:

Hotels and B&Bs:

• McMenamins Grand Lodge, wow is Washington County short on hotels and accommodations in general. This is definitely the only non-chain hotel in the area, and it's pretty sweet. Typical McMenamins-style artworks and rustic rooms inside of a historic, Oregon building—in this case, a one-time Masonic lodge.
• The Suite at Gentle Acres, a two-bedroom accommodation for up to 4 people, it has modern amenities and costs $225/night or $1300/week at the time of writing.
• The Chains: Since northern Willamette Valley is home to major companies like Nike and Intel, a huge selection of business hotels exist, from Best Western to Budget Inn.

Restaurants:

• 1910 Main Restaurant, (aka, the place I ate deep-fried meatloaf!) serves comfort food comprised of regional ingredients
• Cruise In Country Diner, serving a huge selection of burgers and other diner fare comprised mostly of local and organic ingredients
• South Store Cafe, for picnic lunches packed to go
• Maggie's Buns, for gigantic, delicious pastries and complete breakfasts
• Syun Izakaya, some of Oregon's best sushi served with a huge sake selection, including Sake One sakes
• Chennai Masala, top notch, authentic Indian food
• DeCarli Restaurant, Italian-style NW fine dining
• Du Kuh Bee, one of those hard-to-find Korean restaurants that the area is famous for; don't let the strip-mall surroundings turn you off: this is great food
• Nakwon, another authentic Korean joint

Artisanal Food:

• Quail Run Creamery, Nigerian Dwarf Goat Cheeses my friend (and cheese-making classes)
• Sake One, the first American-owned sake brewery in the United States, and boy, if you haven't experienced sake outside of a sushi restaurant, this place will blow your mind
• Bull Run Cider, producers of hard cider
• Smith Berry Barn, pick your own fruits and berries and tons of artisanal food products, including jams, relishes, honey, and herbs
• L-Bar-T Bison Ranch, local buffalo/bison meat with onsite store
• Hillsboro Tuesday Marketplace, farmers market with live music
• Beaverton Farmers Market, most Saturdays, February-November
• U-Pick, you can't miss them; there are tons of farms, such as Unger's Farms Store, welcoming you to shop local; find a huge concentration along Scholls Ferry Road.

Articles on these as well as the area's great wineries soon to follow. In the meantime, here's a map of northern Willamette Valley with food and wine attractions on it (click on the map to enlarge):

This article is part of the one-month road trip series, The Great Northwest North American Wine Road Trip. Follow along in real time on Twitter with the hashtag, #NWRoadTrip.

Portions of this article included information obtained during a press trip funded by the Washington County tourism board.

The Ravenous Traveler: A Fresher than Fresh Restaurant Recommendation in Amsterdam

This article originally appeared on EuropeUpClose.com

Before visiting The Netherlands, I wasn’t sure what type of food the Dutch eat. I had a vague idea or two, but both ideas were pickled. Could one subsist on pickled foods alone? I truly hoped not.

For a fine-dining meal with some of the freshest ingredients available in all of Europe, check out Restaurant De Kas on your next trip to Amsterdam. Located inside of a beautiful greenhouse in Klein Dantzig Park, the restaurant grows many of its own vegetables onsite. Heading the kitchen is Michelin-star Chef Gert Jan Hageman, and, on my most recent trip to Amsterdam, he prepared an amazing feast that demonstrated what the cutting-edge culinary scene in The Netherlands is all about.

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Paella Recipe: Eating Spanish with The Ravenous Traveler

Paella by PincasPhoto

This article originally appeared on EuropeUpClose.com

Getting to know a foreign country through its traditional flavors is a whole-body experience. In Spain, the scent of sofrito—a mix of garlic, onion, peppers, and tomatoes sautéed in olive oil—can open the mind to Spanish culture just as quickly as a visit to Sagrada Família in Barcelona. Throw in a carefully made seafood stock, Spanish paprika, and Valencian-grown rice, and you’re getting closer to experiencing one of the main components of Spain culture: paella.

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Goulash Soup Recipe: Eating Hungarian with The Ravenous Traveler

 This article originally appeared on EuropeUpClose.com

Hungarian cuisine merges flavorful spices, such as paprika, with hearty stews and meat dishes, and a trip to Hungary wouldn’t be complete without sampling one of the country’s national dishes, Goulash Soup. Perhaps surprisingly, a lot of controversy surrounds goulash, and the definition of goulash changes depending on which Eastern European country you’re in. To find out why so many people are arguing over a mix of potatoes, beef, and sweet paprika—as well as to get my hands on a traditional goulash soup recipe straight from the source—I contacted The Chefparade Cooking School, which offers cooking class to travelers in Budapest.

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Join Me for a Twitter Tasting with R. Stuart & Co., Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

R. Stuart & Co. winery in Willamette Valley is hosting the #bloggersblend Twitter tasting this Tuesday, April 23rd, at 5pm (PST)–Join us with hashtag #bloggersblend!

This Tuesday, you get the chance to see how much I #$*&@*#% at blending wine. At last year's Wine Bloggers Conference, R. Stuart owners Maria and Rob Stuart invited a few fabulous wine bloggers to create our own pinot noir blends using incomparable grapes from select Willamette Valley vineyards, including Daffodil Hill, Hirschy Vineyard, Temperance Hill, Courting Hill, Weber Vineyard, and Elkhorn Vineyard. On Tuesday, we'll open them up and see how we did. Please join us by logging into Twitter and searching for the hashtag "#bloggersblend". Once you search for the hashtag, you will only see a Twitter feed for the tasting, and you can learn about Willamette Valley pinot noir, ask winemaker Rob Stuart questions, and more (just don't make fun of my poor blending skills!).

Here's a photo of the awesome wine label that R. Stuart created for our pinot noir blend, Half-Assed Red. In retrospect, we could have chosen a better name, but we'd run out of time and we're feeling too stellar :-( All the same, I'm super excited to see how we did! (Photo courtesy of blending partner Kim of the D'Vine Wine Time wine blog)