It seems everyone has something going on this weekend including new releases but here are some highlights.
The 20th annual Memorial Weekend in the Wine Country kicks off the summer wine tasting season. Join us May 29-31 for one of wine country’s longest running celebrations when more than 150 wineries open their doors for special events and tastings. Don’t miss out on this three-day toast to the tremendous wines and the amazing stories behind them. Come explore the many corners of the Willamette Valley!
Hip Chicks Do Wine – Skip the traffic and crowds out in Oregon wine country and stay in the city limits for Memorial Day Weekend. Hip Chicks Do Wine will be featuring a massive tasting of 15 Hip Chick wines, delicious appetizers and fabulous live music all weekend long. You can also enjoy a rare sampling of Tiernan Connor Cellars wine from Hip Chicks winemaker Renee Neely. $15 admission price includes a free logo glass, all wine tastes and food. Friday, May 28 11am to 9pm, Saturday, May 29 11am to 7pm, Sunday May 30 11am to 7pm and Monday, May 31 11am to 6pm. 4510 SE 23rd Ave., Portland, OR.
Willamette Valley Vineyards is having an Open House all Weekend 11-6pm. “Listen to live music as our highly anticipated 2008 Willamette Valley Vineyards Pinot Noirs dance across your taste buds. 2008 is one of Oregons best vintages yet. General admission is $5 and includes a Riedel Oregon Pinot Noir Glass. Upgrade to the Reserve Room for an additional $10 to taste pre-release and Library Wines.” See site for more details.
Anne Amie – “Join us in the cellar this Sat & Sun from 11-5. We’re tasting new release whites, dry Pinot Noir Rosé, & new Pinots including ’08 Cuvée A Pinot & the ’07 L’iris Reserve Pinot Noir. Food Pairings prepared by Subterra Restaurant. $20 gets you all the wines, the food pairings, the cellar experience, and to top it off, you get to take home your sexy Riedel Oregon Pinot Noir Glass.”
Sokol Blosser – “We’re kicking off summer May 29-31 from 10am to 4pm each day. Come taste newly released estate wines, enjoy a delicious picnic lunch from Phresh Organic Catering (at additional cost), and groove to fun and funky music. Come rain or shine, because we’ll be under the Big Tent! And don’t forget the 20% case discounts!”
Purple Cow – This is the 2nd biggest weekend for tasting rooms in the Willamette Valley. We will pour the 2007 Durif for the last time that weekend as it is almost sold out.
Eola Hills Winery -“Tasting is from 10am until 5 pm. We have everything from Pinot Gris to the #1 selling Pinot Noir in Oregon. Porter’s BBQ has been a staple of our Memorial Weekend Celebration for over 10 years. They have some of the best BBQ in the area.(cost is extra). Saturday we will feature The Shinkle Band. On Sunday and Monday we will have our house favorite musician, Rob Rigoni w/Budapest West. On Saturday from 2:30pm until 4:30pm and on Sunday from 11am until 3pm, we will have a book signing by Jeff Welsch and Sherry L. Moore. They will be promoting their book “Great Destinations: Oregon Wine Country“.”
St. Innocent Winery – “Please join us for our spring open house over the Memorial Day weekend 2009. Our hours will be 11:00-4:00 PM on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. The fee that includes tastes of five new single vineyard 2008 Pinot noirs and the 2008 Dijon clone Chardonnay, Freedom Hill Vineyard as well as a full buffet of wine friendly foods.”
Naked Winery has live music this weekend and open late on Sunday.
Find all of these wineries on http://www.winecountryguidebook.com and the book Oregon Wine Country Guidebook.