The Willamette Valley: Where Wine is a Lifestyle Choice

Summer in the Willamette Valley isn’t just a season; it’s an Instagram filter that turns everything golden and makes you wonder if you should sell your house and become a winemaker. The air is thick with the smell of sun-warmed grapevines and the distant hum of people using words like terroir and mouthfeel unironically. You don’t correct them. You nod like you, too, have contemplated the subtle distinction between minerality and acidity in a Pinot Noir.

Because this is Pinot country, where the wine is both fragile and expensive, much like the people who drink it. The vineyards stretch out in long, cinematic rows, the kind of scenery that makes you want to reconsider every life choice that led you to not own one.

And then there’s the food. The farm-to-table restaurants where the servers, in denim aprons, casually drop phrases like locally foraged and house-fermented as if that’s not just a fancy way of saying “we found this in the woods and left it in a jar for a while.” But it’s delicious, and the wine pairs so well that suddenly you’re convinced you can taste the volcanic soil in every sip.

And if you need proof that this place knows its wine, look no further than The Willamette Valley Winery, recently crowned Best Tasting Room in America by USA Today. Yes, out of all the tasting rooms in the country, this one—nestled right here in Oregon wine country—took the crown. You can sip a glass of estate-grown sparkling wine while basking in the knowledge that you are, officially, in the best possible place to do so.

Getting here is easy. You land in Salem, Oregon, and within minutes, you’re on a sun-drenched patio, a glass in hand, thinking, I should quit my job and move here. (You won’t, but it’s nice to dream.)

Because in the Willamette Valley, summer is a sensory experience. The sunsets are long, the wine flows freely, and for a fleeting moment, you believe that maybe, just maybe, you were meant for this life—the life where your biggest concern is whether the 2018 or 2019 vintage pairs better with your existential crisis.

Welcome to wine country. Sip accordingly