Well, it was a great trip and Willamette Valley offers a variety of experiences. From $175.00 Napa Valley like experiences (Antica Terra) to driving up a dirt road and hanging out with Brian at Belle Pente, the valley offers everything. A good home base was McMinnville as everything was less then 25 minutes away. McMinnville is a good first day as we went to Brittan, Goodfellow, Eyrie, Hundred Suns and Rose & Arrow.
Here is the recap.
Top five wines sampled:
- 2023 Goodfellow Family Cellars Chardonnay Richard’s Cuvee Whistling Ridge Vineyard – USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge (8/14/2026)
Day 1: Glasvin Kane. Composite cork. Wow is all I can say. Top 3 Chardonnay’s on this trip. Matchstick, lemon, grapefruit, white flowers, wood, stone, spice and dust. This is super tasty and complex. A top white effort for 2026 for sure. 96 points
Day 2: Amazing with matchstick, grapefruit, lemon, wood, spices, white flowers, stone, dust and minerals. Super complex and think top Chardonnay’s from Abbott Claim and Morgen Long without the price. 96 points
Day 3: Held up beautifully and my niece Erika was able to try some and love it. White flowers, matchstick, smoke, apple, grapefruit, lemon, minerals and stone. Super complex offering. 96 points
Recommendation: If you like Abbott Claim and Morgen Long wines this is cheaper and equal to their top offerings. (96 points)
- 2018 Antica Terra Pinot Noir Botanica – USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (8/13/2026)
Antica Tasting in the Cellar (Antica Terra Winery, Willamette Valley): Ok my wine of the morning since we started here on Thursday at 10:00 am. Tastes more like a Rocks Syrah than a Pinot but loved this wine. Good luck in a blind tasting on this one. Raspberries, dried flowers, bell pepper, stone, funk, dark cherries, pepper and earth. Medium to long finish. Wow wine. (96 points) - 2024 Morgen Long Chardonnay Temperance Hill Vineyard – USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola – Amity Hills (8/12/2026)
Morgen Long Winery (Day 3: Visit 3: Willamette Valley) (Morgen Long Winery): Day 3. Wow is this a wow wine. Candied pineapple, stone orchard fruit, minerals, stone, lime, dust and earth. This is awesome. 95 points
Day 4: This is even better on day 4. Stone orchard fruit, minerals, stone, lime, tropical fruit, candied pineapple and spices. 96 points (96 points)
- 2024 Morgen Long Chardonnay X Omni Vineyard – USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola – Amity Hills (8/12/2026)
Morgen Long Winery (Day 3: Visit 3: Willamette Valley) (Morgen Long Winery): Day 3 that Seth saved for me. Wow is this good. Tried it on day 1 today as well. Matchstick, lemon, lime, spices, white flowers, orange peel and dust. What a beautiful wine and one of my favorite Chardonnay’s on this trip. (96 points) - 2022 Rose & Arrow Pinot Noir Stone Creek – USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola – Amity Hills (8/10/2026)
Rose & Arrow (Day 1: Visit 2: Willamette Valley) (Rose & Arrow Winery): Glasvin Fu. My favorite of the wines at Rose & Arrow today. Tart berries, spices, blueberries, stone, rose petals, light pepper and minerals. Medium plus finish and balanced is the game here. (96 points)
Most Informative Tasting
Seth Morgen Long & Bjornson. Both are super passionate and experimenting in different ways to make great wines. No one in the wine world talks more about oak than Seth and Bjornson are producing some unique varietals and even make a great Cabernet Franc.
Helpful Wine Award
Thank you to Brittan Cellars. They were gracious and I was able to ship wines from WineBid to share with everyone and also glasses from Glasvin. Plus they were pouring older vintages which was great. Highly recommend hitting them up and then stopping by at Goodfellow right next door.
Most Tasting Notes
Goodfellow with Marcus. Perfect for my style as one sample after another. Most would not keep up but me this is no problem. Great to taste some older stuff. The 23 Richard’s Cuvee Chardonnay was top five of the week.
Best Overall Value
Easy that would Belle Pente. My brother has been buying from Brian at Belle Pente for years. These are legit and most wines are under $45.00 which is unheard of for top quality wines. Here are my notes and the blog for them.
Worst Wine
Well I disrupt and this wine was terrible. No matter how hard they tried to sell this I was not buying.
- 2019 The Eyrie Vineyards Melon de Bourgogne – USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills (8/10/2026)
This will be the lowest scored wine of this trip. Not sure why we are making this wine and the tasting room was really trying to push this. Sawdust, lemon, and spice. A bit of chemical taste. no. (70 points)
