2011 Willamette Valley, Day 3

Our first stop of the day was at Lange Estate Winery. Don and Jesse Lange make some of the valleys most-respected wines.

In two previous visits to Lange, I had interviewed Jesse but never met Don the family patriarch. It was a lot of fun hearing his perspectives on Oregon wine.

The Lange tasting room.

Don Lange is a poet, musician, businessman, and winemaker.

A nice shot of the view at Lange Vineyards.

The well-manicured vineyards of Lange winery in the Dundee HIlls' jory soil.

This photo and the next one shows the wonderful views of the Dundee Hills from Anderson Family Vineyards.

Cliff likes to talk about making wines that reflect his vineyard's terrior and each year's weather. There is not blueprint for Cliff. He wants a true expression of his grapes from each growing season.

A Chardonnay cluster in Cliff's vineyard.

Anderson's winemaking facility and tasting room.

Drew's beautiful shot showing the slope of the Anderson Vineyard.

I like this shot a lot - I'd title it: "The hands of a winemaker."

During three different stops Tuesday workers in tasting rooms and elsewhere told us to be sure to visit Vidon. We did make the trip and loved the wine. But we missed owner/winemaker Don Hagge that day so we returned Thursday for a great visit.

Don Hagge's Vidon Vineyard.

Don uses three clones to make his Pinot Noir. He does a separate bottling of each clone and then a blend for this wonderful "Three Clone" Pinot Noir. The 09 Three Clone was one of the best Pinots of our first three days tasting.

One of the Valley's best-known winemakers is Penner Ash. Lynn Penner-Ash makes beautiful Pinot from atop this hill overlooking the valley.

The Penner Ash tasting room was the busiest of our Thursday visits.

Another look at the Penner Ash vineyards.

Back to Lange: This is probably one of my favorite photos of the day, even if I did grab a camera to quickly snap the moment. My friend Drew, who shot most of these photos, loves Lange wines and was taking photos while Don and I chatted. Drew wanted to taste the Three Hill Cuve so Don just poured him some from his own glass! These Dundee Hills' folk are good people!