Sunday In the West Hills

It's Sunday and a great day to visit the northern Willamette Valley. We hightail it out Highway 26 to Forest Grove, home of Pacific University, a quaint downtown and increasingly, new homes on the outskirts. We motor up David Hill Road, leaving pavement and worldly concerns behind, to David Hill Winery which welcomes us and our dog, Lucy.

David Hill's tasting room is located in an historic farmhouse, originally built in 1883. The farm is on 140 acres with some of the oldest vines in the state. We buy a bottle of 2007 Estate Pinot Noir, on sale at $16.00 and a bottle of Farmhouse Red for $10.00. We pop the pinot and enjoy it immensely in the picnic area with some bread and cheese that we toted from the city. The $16.00 bottle sure tastes like a $30.00 to us.



Next up, a rendevouz with Kim and Alan at Lion Valley Vineyard in Cornelius. Except it's not Lion Valley anymore. It's Ardiri. That's what the sign says. Hey, we're adaptable. The gates are open and when we get out if the truck, a gentle Rodesian Ridgeback greets Lucy. Proprietor John Compagno comes out to meet us and explains the multiple changes in ownership (remind me to get a new guidebook). He also says they're planning to build a tasting room. I ask if he will sell us wine and he graciously agrees, noting that he's right in the middle of harvest. I say don't worry about us. He says help yourself to the picnic area and I'll be out with some wine in ten minutes.

We buy a $20 bottle of 2006 Carneros Napa Valley Pinot Noir. The wine is made from California grapes from Ardiri's Napa vineyard, but it was aged and bottled in Oregon (under contract with Gypsy Dancer Estates, the property's owner after Lion Valley and before Compagno and his partner Gail Lizak took over in 2008). The grapes the team is collecting and de-stemming today will go into Ardiri's first pinot noir vintage from this land, John says. He says he plans to blend wine from this vineyard with wine from their Napa property. That's one way to make California and Oregon get along.

Kim and Alan show up with their dog Hilo in tow. The winery manager's dog, Joshu, loves Lucy but Hilo's not sure about Joshu. He is big!



Gail escorts Kim down into their wine cellar and hands over another 2006 Carneros Napa Valley Pinot Noir. We open the second bottle and nibble olives and some of Kim's homemade jalapeno jelly on crackers, while soaking up what's left of the sun and stunning scenery in all directions.

Before we go, we walk up the hill to take it all in. From that high ground, we see Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens. The afternoon light is skimming off the western hilltop and making everything we see a bit more beautiful than it was an hour ago. On our way out, we make a point to thank John for his lovely wine and hospitality and to wish him luck with his 2009 vintage.