As part of a Living Social deal, I went with a group on a deal with G-Limos on a 5 hour tour of 3 wineries that included all the wine tasting fees and also a plate of cheese meat and cracker tray for snacking. Our vehicle, a stretch limo, was promised to also be stocked with water bottles.

As it would turn out, the limo had a strange air system where on one half of the main cabin (thankfully, on the half with the bar area, not the seats) the vents were blowing out warm air, while on the other side would be blowing out the cool air we all desperately needed as we sat inside with the sun rays beaming to warm us up. The water bottles were teeny half pints. And the screens/radio didn’t work- at one point one of the passengers used their phone for some background music. The cheese/meat platter I could have recreated better for $10.

Thankfully, there was good company, and a pleasant winery visit schedule:

Pick Up our our group  (a total of 8 of us) at 11:00: Gresham Fred Meyer

12:00: The Pines Vineyards, one of the oldest heritage vineyards in the Northwest as some of their Zinfandel vines were planted back in the late 1800s, and this winery supplies grapes to Sineann. This winery had the best atmosphere, with the young man taking the time to describe the wines as he poured to each half of the group, and always coming over with a new taste as soon as he saw our glasses were empty.

Here, we tried a refreshing and clean 09 Pinot Gris, a smooth toasty 09 Viognier, 09 Merlot, 09 Big Red jack of all trades red blend that could go with anything and please anyone, an 09 dark fruit with hint of leather Cabernet, and berry 10 Old Vine Zin (from the heritage vines). This tasting room’s location downtown makes it a nice respite after walking around the town, and is also is an art gallery and has room for a small stage for musical acts or other entertainment. It definitely had the most comfortable space and all it’s wines are crowd pleasers.

1:00: Pheasant Valley known for their certified organic grown grapes and wines, particularly their pear wine, and you can take yourself on a self-guided wine tour using QR codes (though we never were told or saw this- I only saw it on the website later). We were given six tastes of our choice from the twelve available. There were two ladies pouring cheerfully, and this was where I tasted my favorite wine of the tour. Here, the 2006 McDuffee Celilo and Larsen vineyards contributed Chardonnay with its hint of vanilla coconut peaked my palate’s interest. They also have a lovely relaxing area outside to sit at various picnic tables and gaze at their gardens and vines

2:00: Phelps Creek Vineyard, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay focused winery on a golf course. The wines here were priced slightly higher than the other two, and the tasting room size about 1/8 the size. They had available to taste just a handful of wines (literally), although she offered as a bonus a taste of their dessert wine Pinot Gris at least when another couple looking around noticed they were offering bottles of it, which is how we made it to 5 tastings. At $24, this sweet wine may be frozen artificially instead of via natural artic winds but the flavor is pretty decent (not cloyingly sweet) and the price tag is much more affordable than ice wine, which can be 2x or 4x as much (they do have an ice wine as well for $52 created as when frost hit in Dec 09, but with no tastes available because of such low production).

4:00: dropoff at Fred Meyer Gresham. As you can see there was no lunch time, but we had been warned beforehand by our confirmation a few days before the tour so it seemed everyone had purchased some alcohol absorbing food at the Fred Meyer that was eaten in the limo. I’m not sure I would recommend G-Limos, as it seems you would get a better experience if you can get a good group and rent a transport that is included with an actual tour instead to get information and not just a driver. Maybe it won’t cover all the tasting fees, but you will probably end up buying wine anyway since the tour should already be bringing you to good wineries where you will want to buy- so your tasting fee will end up waved.

But I did like the Pines and Pheasant Valley and would visit again. It actually would make a super sweet long weekend stay-cation in Portland to stay and a bed and breakfast for an evening and maybe tour around on bicycles. There are 30 wineries here, and the views while traveling of the Gorge and perhaps glimpses of Mt Adams and Mt Hood are a great escape from the city. You can pretty much get the feel for this area from their Chamber of Commerce site with their listings of wineries and more though you can also try to cross the border to visit Washington wineries as well that are still in this Gorge area.

And, in case you want a break from wine, there are also several breweries in the area (Full Sail, Double Mountain, Big Horse Brewpub)- more than you can say in most wine country areas!