Willamette Valley Character Winery Tour

Overview

Does one of you prefer wine, while the other prefers spirits? Or maybe you're someone who appreciates both. On this tour, we'll have something for both palates. We'll take you to at least 2 vineyards and at least 1 distillery, representing a variety of settings, wines, and personalities. Your guide will introduce you to the Willamette Valley AVA while camaraderie develops among your small group. You will be wafted away to wine country while we provide you with background on the history, terroir, and character of Willamette Valley wine. We'll select among the 500 Willamette Valley wineries, and 6 distilleries located the heart of wine country, and specific requests may be accommodated. We'll wander through the rolling hills of multiple Willamette Valley sub-AVAs, passing through charming little villages, while making stops at some of the most unique boutique wineries. Lunch is included, tasting fees are not.

City: Portland

Sun 25 Jan

Other dates

You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $199.00

Make a reservation

Sun 25 Jan

Starting at $199.00

Make a reservation

New York City Tours

Unique Activities (21) Transfers & Transportation (175) Tours, Sightseeing & Cruises (252) Entry Tickets (96) Sporting Events (4) Good for Small Groups (27) Seasonal & Holiday Tours (113) Walking Tours (705) Outdoor Activities (48) Limitied Availability Tours (29) LGBT Friendly Tours (9) Family-friendly Activities (8) Wildlife Activities (6) Solo Travelers' Tours (147) Food & Drinks (96) Travelers recommend (174) Good for Groups (32) Top Activities (75) Guided Audio Tours (10) Art, Culture & History (406) Attractions to explore (43) Sustainable Tours (1) Limousine Transfers (5) Donut Walking Tour (2) Virtual Experiences (1) Additional fees (7) DSA non-compliant (17)

What's Included

Bottled water

Snacks

Lunch

Air-conditioned vehicle

Additional Info

Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Service animals allowed
Specialized infant seats are available
Not recommended for pregnant travelers
Suitable for all physical fitness levels

What To Expect

Willamette Valley

You will visit tasting rooms, wineries, and vineyards located in the most beautiful part of the Willamette Valley AVA; a countryside characterized by rolling, pastoral hills and subdivided into distinct AVAs.

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Traveler Photos

Reviews (35)

Christina D

Jul 2023

Marcus did a fabulous job communicating the entire time. The tour was fantastic! Brittany was our driver and hands down the BEST! Must do!!

Leah_H

Jun 2023

The driver was kind and kept the conversation flowing but I will say he was more of a designated driver than a wine lover. One of the "wineries" that we visited was a tasting room and the lunch was a skimpy charcuterie board. Ken Wright (tasting room) tasting tour was awful the lady basically handed our table of ten a book, poured wine said next to nothing about it and went back inside. Absurd amount of down time with very little wine. The other two wineries were nice but did not justify the cost of this trip especially since tasting fees are on your own.

Response from Host

Jun 2023

Leah, I'm sorry you were disappointed with your tour. The guide is new to Willamette Valley wine, so he is still low on the comfort-level curve. I'm sorry you were also disappointed with Ken Wright Cellars, as Ken Wright was the first Oregon winemaker to make the cover of Wine Spectator magazine. Although we try to include vineyard stops, wine tasting is, first and foremost, about the wine, and some of the best wine is sampled in tasting rooms that are not located at a vineyard. I'm sorry you were disappointed in the service at Ken Wright. I've run into 'off' days with the tasting room staff at virtually every winery I've been to; the vast majority of the time we get great service. We will look into increasing the food portions at Ken Wright, but you'll be hard-pressed to find another Portland-based wine tour that provides more robust food portions without charging a higher price, and they still don't include tasting fees. As someone who worked at a winery prior to operating tours, I pride myself on choosing the locations with the best wine and/or experience. Since we commit to running this tour when only 2 guests have booked, we cannot go lower on the price.

Melissa_A

Jun 2023

We arrived at our predetermined pickup point and saw the unmarked van and no driver. We waited about 10 min before she popped out. That delay caused our first tasting spot to be rushed - a beautiful vineyard, a lovely table, a knowledgable host with beautiful charcuterie plates, and rush rush rush (the winery had another tasting appointment coming in). The second stop was 45 min away and we weren't told that the drive would be that long. Many on the tour grumbled about that, wishing they had used the bathroom before leaving the winery if they had known how long we'd be without a stop. Another gorgeous winery, knowledgable and gracious hosts there with a great space for our included lunch. We were presented with basic, wrapped turkey sandwiches from a supermarket that had gotten mushy, mayo to go with it (as if it weren't mushy enough) and blocks of cheeses, right from the grocery store cooler, that we had to slice ourselves with plastic knives and no plates (two of the cheese blocks we ignored as they had mold growing on them.) Oh, and a cookie. No beverages. No plates. The charcuterie plates from the first winery were leaps and bounds more impressive than the included lunch. We were asked in advance for food allergies, and one person in our party was not accommodated. Thank goodness this winery had a pizza oven station on property - we bought $60 in pizzas (one gluten free and vegan for our friend) and shared it with the other people on this tour. The driver decided to add one more stop to our day, taking us to a 4th winery. Worried about time, she tailgated a school bus for miles on a two-lane highway, making everyone on board very nervous. That bus could not move over if it wanted to - and I'm sure it did, for the safety of the students on-board. The 4th winery didn't know we were coming and had nothing planned for us. So feeling like we should participate in some way, many of us ordered a glass from their menu. The group was groggy and tired and ready to end the day. And then we drove into parade traffic when we returned to Portland. I don't know the city, so I don't know how the driver could have avoided it, but this slow crawl did us in. Three passengers asked to be dropped off and said they'd walk the rest of the way back to their hotel. It was only a block later that the other three left to do the same thing, leaving me and my friends to trek the last 5 or so miles past the parade route to our designated pick up point. Which, I should note, had a parking lot adjacent to the building that was designated for customers only - not for day parking. Luckily there was street parking available, but the implied use of a parking lot was not correct and we had to move our cars. The wineries were beautiful and the tastings were wonderful experiences. The tour driver was not a guide. While she tried to engage with some information about wine country and the soil and other facts or tidbits, she wasn't prepared nor well spoken about it. For example, she mentioned that a well-known football player was a part owner of a winery, or maybe he just invested in it, and she thought maybe he moved to the area, she didn't know for sure. And when we asked, she couldn't remember the football player's name. At one point, she invited us to look out the window on the left. We saw a barren field, not sure what we were looking at, and she said "Soil." That's it. Soil. Nothing more. There were only a few head scratchers like these because she didn't really talk all that much. And we had hours of drive time she could have prepared to fill with a script of well-researched and rehearsed material. Add to this the fact that the wine tastings themselves were not included, and every venue required a payment, it just doesn't add up to a value experience.

Response from Host

Jun 2023

Melissa, I'm sorry you weren't happy with your lunch. The tasting room where we usually go for lunch was closed due to a wine club event, so we had to improvise. As far as dietary restrictions, I asked you if you had any dietary restrictions, and you replied "no". You are responsible for voicing restrictions for everyone in your group, as Viator only provides us with your contact information. You're the first guest we've had whom that didn't seem obvious to. As far as "mold" on cheeses, they were bloomy rinds, so that is to be expected. Where is it that you're reading "implied use of a parking lot"? I'm sorry the guide did not perform up to par. She has been guiding this tour for a long time, so my guess is she was under high stress, as she was in the middle of a move.