Wine country suggestions

dwalt

dwalt

Pre-takeoff checklist
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DWalt
We've done the Napa trip, and now want to do either Washington or Oregon...any one have any suggestions/experiences with either? We would want to go for roughly a week, so we want to make sure there's enough to do.
 
If you are interested in visiting a winery with an aviation link, there is the King Estate Winery which was started by the King family of King Radio fame. Just south of Eugene, Oregon.

There are a bunch of other wineries in the central Willamette valley of Oregon. See for example http://willamettewines.com

I'm not certain of your other interests so don't know what to suggest; I'll assume aviation is an interest - so:

Evergreen Museum in McMinnville. Spruce Goose and a bunch of other aerospace stuff - see it before it (maybe) closes.

Tillamook Air Museum with blimp hangars. Nor sure the state of their aircraft collection since they were moving to eastern Oregon.

Perhaps you'd like some cheese to pair with those wine visits? Then take a tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory, not too far from the air museum.

Whether driving or flying, the geophysical eye candy that is the Columbia gorge and Crater lake should be satisfying to your primal sense of place on the planet. As with most mountain ranges the Cascades have the same effect.

Both Washington and Oregon have an ocean coast, with all that comes with such a meeting of land and water. Seafood. Boats. The Oregon Coast Aquarium. If you are flying yourself, there are some interesting airfields on the coast.

I could point out other things of interest to see and do in southern, northern, and eastern Oregon but I'd rather know a bit more about how you intend to get around and what interests you and what does not.

I'll let others handle Washington, which has a lot of things that would keep you occupied for the proverbial month of Sundays.
 
dwalt said:
We've done the Napa trip, and now want to do either Washington or Oregon...any one have any suggestions/experiences with either? We would want to go for roughly a week, so we want to make sure there's enough to do.
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2 words....Walla Walla. I would put any wine produced here toe to toe with anything anywhere. Beyond that, the Marcus Whitman hotel is where you want to stay. I do not know of best airport, FBO, etc.
 
MtnMarcus said:
2 words....Walla Walla. I would put any wine produced here toe to toe with anything anywhere. Beyond that, the Marcus Whitman hotel is where you want to stay. I do not know of best airport, FBO, etc.
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Well, the Walla Walla airport comes to mind. :D

We have some pretty good wineries on the west side of the state, too. But, I think they get their grapes from the central part of the state.

And we've got a bigger rock in the middle of our mountains than Oregon does. Plus, if you are into museums, there's the Museum of Flight at KBFI and another great collection at KPAE. And a smaller museum at my home drome - KOLM.
 
You may want to try Paso Robles next time, excellent wine country and different than Napa.
 
The neat thing with Walla Walla is many of the wineries have their tasting rooms downtown so you can walk between them.

Some of the outliers worth visiting however are Ecole 41, Renninger, and Charles Smith (K).


On our trip to Portland, there are two major places to strike. You can go up the Columbia river to Hood River, again many wineries have tasting rooms in town there.

The other is to head down to McMinnville (Willamette/Yamhill Valley). We stayed in McMinnville and hit the Evergreen museum and hit lots of good wineries. Usually these are spread out like Napa is but there are a few small towns that have clusters of tasting rooms (Carlton, etc..).
 
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225 wineries in Paso Robles... Great FBO at PRB... Rental Cars.... Great downtown with dozens of shops and restaurants.. The Pacific is 20 mins away....
 
Run up to Oregon to the evergreen wine fields,evergreen has a great air & space museum. They have the spruce goose. They also have wine tasting in the lobby.
 
I would also highly recommend Walla Walla, WA. Two years ago I drove there from Seattle and loved it! That was before I had my PPL. It has a very cute downtown and really good wineries wherever you turn. Later this summer I will fly there with my wife. There are a number of wineries within walking distance of the airport, and it's a short ride into town for even more.

Planning to stay here, also walking distance from the airport :D

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2890130
 
pcorman said:
225 wineries in Paso Robles... Great FBO at PRB... Rental Cars.... Great downtown with dozens of shops and restaurants.. The Pacific is 20 mins away....
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California has another wine region - Livermore, with great airport right in the middle however I would be hesitant to recommend it as a long-distance wine destination simply because IMHO it isn't very pretty as an area. But Paso is absolutely great and has different look/feel than Sonoma or Napa, it's wines are also top notch. There is also Hearst Castle nearby as additional attraction.
 
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