Are you a true Oregon Wine lover? Prove your affection by drinking wines from the Beaver State all May, for the seventh annual Oregon Wine Month. Here are a few ways to do that this month.
1) Enter the Oregon Wine Month Getaway.
This sweepstakes awards one winner and a guest with a four-day, three-night excursion in the vineyards of the Willamette Valley, rubbing elbows with the state’s lauded winemakers, chefs and artisans. Expect a full immersion into all that is Oregon wine and food, and the want to never leave. Three runner-ups will win a two-month, two-bottle membership to Cellar 503, a unique wine club dedicated to Oregon’s small-batch wineries.
2) Eat Oregon Wine.
More than 100 restaurants and retailers are offering specials focused exclusively on Oregon wines. In Portland, try flights at Urban Farmer, Irving Street Kitchen, Olympia Oyster Bar and many other restaurants in town. Step up the game with the three-course pre-fixe menu paired with an Oregon wine flight on Mondays and Tuesdays at Ned Ludd in Portland or tour the state with the Oregon Appellation Tasting of Pinot Noir from four different AVAs at Bistro Maison in McMinnville.
3) Drink Oregon Wine.
This seems obvious but there is a wide variety of events going on throughout the state this month that allow wine drinkers every opportunity to do that with wines made in Oregon. Tomorrow head to the Rogue Valley as winemakers open cellar doors to showcase new releases during the Roam the Rogue self-guided tour, the winegrowers of the Dundee Hills will pour wines exclusively from the region May 12-13 and the I Love Gamay festival homes in on Oregon Gamay Noir May 20-21. The month closes out with the annual Memorial Day Weekend in the Wine Country, when upwards of 150 wineries and tasting rooms open doors for special events and tastings at one of the Willamette Valley’s longest-running celebrations.
4) Give Back with Oregon Wine.
The whole state is lit with Oregon wine and a few are giving back the love with four different Taste of Community tour loops. Each destination — participating restaurant, bar or winery — of the loops supports a local nonprofit of their choice, with donations from tasting fees or proceeds from a special flight or offering during the spring season. Drink good, feel good.
