Sunday was another great day for wine tasting. The wandering began with my eleven mile run in the morning around the bike paths along the river in Eugene. Then we were off for wine tasting in the town of Amity (there were no Great White sightings).
First up was a tasting at Brooks Winery with some friends, Joe McCully and his pal Annie. As always, we got the VIP treatment from the staff. Everyone gets VIP treatment there! Gerry, Daymon and Jordan, you guys rock! The view was not up to its usual standards, fog and misty rain blanketed the valley. However, the leather sofas and blankets were as warm and toasty as ever. Our friends brought the snacks that paired beautifully with the full array of wines poured. We went with the reds this trip. Runaway Red 2014 was one of our favorites as was the Temperance Hill pinot. You have to try them and draw your own opinion, but they are among our favorites. Alyse calls Brooks her “happy place.”
After snacking, tasting and lounging for nearly two hours at Brooks, we headed into downtown Amity, about eight miles away. The next part of the adventure began at Coehlo Winery.
At Coehlo, we were greeted by our hostess Jo, who was as smooth as the wines we tasted. One of the reasons for our visit was to taste and buy some of the best Port we’ve ever had. I suggested that we bypass Coehlo on our last trip to Amity. That made this visit a required stop or I was going to be fed to the sharks. Maybe that’s why the Wheatland ferry was closed, shark sightings? The Port lived up to our memory, it was fantastic!
When we finished our visit at Coehlo, Jo sent us to visit another tasting room around the corner. Samuel Robert Winery is owned by one of the Coehlo Winery brothers. This was a perfect space for a tasting room with brick walls, high ceilings and a very long table that could accommodate 20 + people for tastings or a special event. The space is large enough for three wineries to share and is already occupied by Cottonwood Winery of Oregon along with Samuel Robert.
SRW had one of the best Rieslings we’ve tasted in a very long time. A complex taste at only $20 a bottle. My palate always says grapefruit and lemon. Our hostess, Sara, was knowledgeable about the varietals and just made us feel at home. We will be back To Samuel Robert Winery for sure! By the time we finished tasting here, we were unable to taste Cottonwood’s selections, but we are going back to visit with Angela at Cottonwood.
Amity, as far as we can tell, is going to be another great destination for tasting wines at both rural and in-town tasting rooms. We’ve heard that there are more wineries coming. Keep wandering; you never know where you’ll end up, what you’ll find or who you’ll meet when you get there.