Sips and Trips with Paige

I am back with Day 2 of our Oregon trip. If you missed it, you can find Day 1 here!

Day 2 started early so we could hit the trails. Our goal was to hike Multnomah Falls but it was closed due to COVID. We ended up hiking the Latourell Falls loop which was BEAUTIFUL. It took an hour to drive to the trail head but the drive was gorgeous. On our way back into town we hit up the Bridal Veil lookout, this lookout showed gorgeous views of the Columbia River.

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We followed our hike the best way possible… with wine! Our first winery of the day was Alit. Alit is a small batch winery that focuses on farming organically with minimal intervention. They produce 7,000-8,000 cases across all their brands. Alit believes wine should be affordable and accessible so you buy direct from them. I’m all about affordable wines that are delicious! Alit offers two tastings, the Alit Tasting Flight for $15 and the Alit Vertical flight for $10. Zach and I did both. Our favorite was the 2015 Alit Pinot Noir. This Pinot was 20% whole cluster with notes of red cherry, vanilla, and cedar. YUM!

Did someone say bubbles? Argyle Winery was the winery I was most excited to visit. I have had their wine before and I knew I would love their tasting experience. Argyle was founded in 1987 with a belief that Oregon’s cool climate would produce amazing sparkling wine. Their tasting room and production space was formally a hazelnut (filbert if you’re local) processing plant. All the wood is refurbished and their space is breathtaking. Argyle offered two flights, Zach did the traditional flight ($25) and I had the sparking flight ($30). We had so many favorites but we loved their Art of Sparkling, Knudsen Vineyard Blanc de Blanc, Knudsen Vineyard Brut, and their Lone Star Vineyard Pinot Noir. We sent some bubbles home and I am hiding them!

Need the perfect place to grab a bite to eat between tastings? Red Hills Market is the place to go. They serve up simple dishes that you will love, from wood fired pizzas to delicious sandwiches and much more. The Market is also the perfect destination spot to pick up all your supplies for a DIY cheese and charcuterie board for your adventures around the Valley. Stock up on local wines and peruse the little shop! We ended up enjoying a small pizza and their famous open faced roast beef sandwich.

Following lunch we went a few blocks down to Purple Hands Winery. Purple Hands is an urban winery and tasting room in Dundee. Producing only 5,500 cases of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, their wine is top notch. They focus on traditional wine making. All the wines we tasted were single vineyard and delicious. Their tasting was $20 for a sample of five Pinot’s. Our favorite was the Holstein Vineyard 2017 Dundee Hills. The Holstein Vineyard is at the peak of Dundee Hills at 800 feet elevation. This wine had notes of black cherry, black raspberry, and dark chocolate.

We finished up at Stoller Family Estate. We ended up tasting in their brand new Experience Center. The vineyard started with 10 acres of Pinot Noir and 10 acres of Chardonnay, now they have 225 acres under vine. We tasted about ten different wines and all of them were remarkable. We loved their variety and were obsessed with their single acre Dry Riesling. Another one of our favorites was their steel Chardonnay.

We ended our evening at La Rambla! This was probably our favorite restaurant the whole trip. Spanish Tapas are our jam. We ordered a bottle of wine and enjoyed small plates. Zach and I stared with their cheese board and it was divine. We ended with their octopus and it was one of the tastiest things I have ever eaten.

Day 2 was a busy one but it was also a great one. Be on the lookout for Day 3 soon! Make sure you subscribe to the blog to get notified when I post and follow me on insta, @sipsandtipswithpaige!

Cheers, Paige