Top 5 Wine Regions for Bicyclists, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Oregon Wine Country is less than an hour drive southeast of Portland off Route 99W. Download a winery map and off you go on rural roads to sample a handful of the 200 wineries. Pedal Bike Tours in Portland offers a guided day ride to Willamette if you want to go on a group tour. If you find yourself in Salem, do yourself a favor and stop at a personal favorite, Cristom Vineyards. Many of the Oregon pinots are bright, redolent of fruit, have a fine nose, but on his small plot, winemaker Steve Doerner has managed to bring layers of complexity to his wine. The Jessie, for example, named for the owner’s grandmother, has hints of black cherries, tangy plum, and cinnamon, with a smooth finish that will have you reaching for your credit card to order a case, the exact move my brother and I made.