Laurel Ridge Winery

I discovered Laurel Ridge Winery over the summer via the Portland Farmer’s Market and I instantly fell in love! Their Creekside Red is the best red blend I’ve found, the Rosè is out of this world and the Hit The Deck White is summer spectacular. Not only are their wines delicious, but the owners are wonderful people who will go over and above for their customers. They are my favorite winery by far!

The view is spectacular. The dogs are friendly. The lady working yesterday, not so much. After arriving and waiting 10+ minutes, we finally called out hello. The server would pour a taste and disappear for quite a long time. No explanation, no I’ll be right back, just gone. It was like pulling teeth to get any information about the winery or vineyard out of her. After the 3^rd disappearing act by the server, we disappeared too, never to return. It’s a shame the server couldn’t engage with customers. Perhaps she was having a bad day? Still no excuse to treat paying customers like they are a bother.

This winery is top-​notch. I can’t thank Ryan Huett enough for showing me all the great discoveries this winery has to offer. The winemaker, (Ryan Huett) really goes out of his way to make people feel extra special and he really loves the process of making great wines. He is developing other wines too under his own private label and really is establishing himself within the wine community. Check him out on facebook. The Rieslings were some of the best I have had in the valley. The dessert reisling is like heaven in a bottle… luscious grapes with a touch of honey-​sweet. True paradise. The views of the hills and country side were extra spectacular. I was given a special tour on my birthday and learned about other wineries and companies that partner with this winery during crush. Chehalem and puffin wines (from Cannon Beach) are a few more that have made a great name for themselves with their grapes and facility. The wine making process is always fascinating to learn about, and this winery was a treat to revisit. We even were able to taste wine from out of the barrel. A rare treat that I have only done a few times in my life. I was so lucky to have had a marvelous time getting to know the winemaker and his wife (Tammy). This winery has a small gift shop section and a variety of wines to choose from. Wine tastings that are here are also a reasonable price, and I am sure I will bring back my friends for many more visits to come. There are a lot of wineries in Oregon, but my favorites are the smaller ones like this — as well as Silvan Ridge, Vista Hills, Orchard Heights, Kramer, and Honeywood.

Very nice selection of wine. The ’10 Davids is great every day, ’10 Tempranillo is well worth it, ’10 Zinfandel new release is very smooth, ’10 Tinto Roiz nice and spicy, the ’10 Deuce is great, very bold, good kick. My wife, of course, liked all the whites. Not far, 4 miles from Carlton. Nice drive, and view.

Had an absolutely delightful time here this afternoon. If you’re looking for breathtaking views, posh restrooms, and over priced wines, you can skip this winery. However, if you’re serious about tasting and interested in taking home some nice local wine, please stop in.
My husband, daughter, and I were out on a Mother’s Day bike ramble and this winery was a destination on our tour (Road Biking Oregon). We tasted 5 wines for $ 5; tasting fee waived with purchase. A satisfying no-​frills snack plate of 3 cheeses, boxed crackers, olives, apple slices, and nuts ($ 20) served outdoors at a table overlooking the vineyard hit that hungry spot in our tummies. We walked out with 1 ½ cases of wine and a club membership, so I guess we’ll be back!
PS Say hi to adorable Beatrice: the official winery border collie greeter.

Despite the experience we had about a year ago with this winery, Ryan and Tammy made it all up. My boyfriend and I had a more positive experience this time around. Whatever happened last time I’m willing to let go and start fresh. We were first greeted by Ryan who is the winemaker there. There were light refreshments for us while tasting some wine starting off with white wine. Then Ryan also took us to the back and tasted some wine out the barrel. We ended with a nice dessert wine with a hint of brandy. It was great, both took the time to know us. It felt like we were hanging out with friends drinking and eating. We are planning to go back already! Thanks again Ryan for reaching out and making the best out of the situation. We really appreciated it!

This was the second winery on our tour with Embrace Oregon. As promised, this boutique winery did not disappoint.
Laurel Ridge is lovely inside and out. The tasting room is spacious yet manages to be cozy and inviting with a lot of room at the tasting counter.
The wines were all very good and both me and my pal Jeannie J. were delighted that they had a bubbly. I went back for seconds on that. This is also the winery that Sherry, our awesome tour guide brought out the picnic she brought for us. There was a nice sized table that accommodated us.
In addition to really nice wines, they had some cute wine related items for sale such as great smelling candles, chocolates and sequined T-​shirts. The candles here are $ 5.00 less than at some of the other wineries I’ve been to.
This is definitely a winery that I would happily return to.
2014 — Review # 12

I attended a wedding here 2 nights ago.
The setup is beautiful. There’s nothing like having nothing but fields, mountains and lush greenery as far as the eye can see — while drinking good wine and eating great food.
At dusk, the sky was the most azul blue, and the backdrop didn’t have a power pole or building in sight.
The rose and sparkling wine they served were excellent. The catering staff they used also served a delicious meal of pork or fish and risotto, salads and breads.
On days like that of the wedding, they could use more than one restroom, but other than that, there wasn’t really a down side.
There is plenty of parking, lots of room to wander — inside and out — and the drive isn’t too far off the beaten path.
I would like to come back here on a Saturday; to wine taste in a smaller setting.
All in all, Laurel Ridge did a wonderful job hitching the new bride and groom — without a hitch.

We showed up right before closing, and the winemaker happened to be hanging out with one of the, I assume, family members (who was our host).
Our host was really nice in pouring quite a few samples of wine. But then he freaked out and snapped at my friend for making a comment on the order of the reds on the tasting menu. Like, chill man, he’s just trying to have a discussion about wine.
But other than that, it was a nice final stop of the day, and I highly recommend a trip through here.
In fact, we were there for a good 20 minutes past closing time, which was cool, and I left with a bottle of the dessert riesling — yum!

Friendly! So many great wines to choose from. We had a lot of fun tasting and learning about the varieties here. Warm, welcoming and affordable wines (and only $ 5 tasting). Awesome oak barrel furniture too. Very friendly and informative (in an easy-​going way, not snooty). Our kind of winery.

Oregon wine country has so many incredible wines to offer and tasting rooms to experience, it seems a waste of time to stop here unless you’re desperately trying to get away from the wines Oregon specializes in, in the first place.
Let me start off by saying the people are incredibly friendly and the tasting room is set upon a hill with a beautiful view. Much of the tasting room is handmade by one of the men who work there and the woodwork is beautiful. There are two dogs, Kaizer and Rue who greet you at the door and happily sit at your feet begging for attention until you leave. The atmosphere is a pleasant one for sure.
The wines on the other hand leave little to be desired. They have far too many choices and none of them are anything worth writing home about. The prices are fairly inexpensive but you can get inexpensive wines somewhere like Trader Joes that are of a much higher quality. Ultimately, with the large number of incredible wineries to visit I’d skip this one unless you have a driver and your tastebuds are numb to everything else.

I genuinely enjoyed my visit to Laurel Ridge. The large tasting room looks out across a small valley with hills in the background — it’s a very beautiful setting. We tried a bunch of wines that ranged from $ 12 – 28 a bottle. Generally, they were enjoyable and affordable (pinot gris, reisling) although there were some I did not like (zinfandel, bordeaux blend). The wines weren’t perfect but their prices weren’t too high either. The staff was super friendly and chatty. The owner wandered in with her dog and struck up conversation. We walked away with a tasty Cab Franc for $ 24. Overall a very fun visit!

Our second visit on this trip to wine country found us at Laurel Ridge Winery in Carlton. We didn’t realize we had been here once before (in 2008) until we drove up to the property.
We were the only ones here. The entire time. That wasn’t a bad thing. Upon entering the tasting room we were greeted by the guy who we soon found out was Chris, one of the winemakers. We specifically came here because they had Port and dad and I both like Port. We immediately jumped into a tasting and started out with the Port. Usually you start out with whites, but we were on a mission. They offered 2 Ports. One of the Tawny variety and one of the Ruby variety. I haven’t found many that make Ports around here, but Chris told us of another place that we will have to try another time.
After that we just ended up tasting a bunch of their other wines. Everything from a Tempranillo to a few Rieslings they hadn’t even released yet. The Rieslings of the late harvest variety were both very tasty, but the bottles hadn’t been labeled yet and therefore Chris couldn’t sell them to us. Dad left his information so that he could get a few bottles shipped to him once they are for sale.
Anything we wanted to try, Chris was happy enough to open up a bottle and pour. He even drank with us. He was happy to answer any questions we had and even poured us some of their sparkling wine (don’t think this is for sale) that they had on tap and which we ultimately drank when we sat outside to eat the lunch we had brought with us.
I ended up buying a bottle of wine that I had never heard of before. A Tinto Roiz. It is a Portuguese varietal commonly used in the production of Port. A bit more money than I usually spend on a bottle of wine, but I’ll save it for a special occasion.
They lose a star because the grapes are not coming from the grounds that this winery sits on. They lost their crop many years ago, but have plans to plant again soon. In the meantime most of their grapes are coming from Walla Walla, WA.
Stop in. Say hello to Chris. He’ll treat you right.

Nice tasting room. Every wine I tasted had some sort of flaw that stuck out like a sore thumb. Either too much acidity, too high alcohol content, overwhelming tannin etc.
Check out my other many Oregonian Wine Reviews!!!