Tendril Wine Cellars

Oh my. Great experience, even greater wine!
Oddly, even though we live in the Willamette Valley we were not aware of Tendril until relatives in Wisconsin (where both Tony and Sam are from) turned us on to it. That resulted I our visit to Tendril today (with said relatives)) and OH MY! What an experience. The wine at Tendril is second to none, and Sam as our host, was so friendly and informative. Yes An sppointment is required, but it is SO worth it! Tony’s wine background definitely shows in the quality of these wines. No short cuts are taken here, the wines are aged to perfection before release and as such EXCELLENT out of the bottle. We’ve just become fans!

Thank you so much to Tony, Sam, and Tendril for this excellent experience on our Portland Vacation.
My wife and I made a trip out to Gaston this last weekend, and I am so happy that we were able to hook up with Tendril Wine Cellars. Not only for the very very good Pinot Noir wines, but for the most unique wine tasting experience of our lifetimes.
We contacted Tendril Wine Cellars prior to our visit to Portland. As mentioned on their site, they do wine tastings/​winery tours but they need to be reserved in advance. Trust me. Reserve a time now. You won’t be sorry.
We were able to talk personally with the vineyard owner (Tony). But what made this the most unique tasting of my lifetime, was the fact that we were afforded the opportunity to taste the wine straight from the barrels prior to the wines even being bottled.
That’s right. We were escorted down to the barrel room, and using a unique device, Tony was able to extract a few ounces of wine straight from the barrel. We tasted a Pinot Noir that was very near to it’s bottling time (excellante). And we tasted a few Pinots that were in the midst of their fermentation process. Those particular tastings were a bit fizzy, almost like soda. Awesome. Interesting. And definitely, unique.
We then made our way back up to the main offices and tasting area. We were able to sit down with Tony and enjoy another tasting of a finished product (a recent vintage of his signature Tendril Pinot Noir). It was so good, we walked away with the Reserve Tendril Pinot Noir.
So get yourself to Tendril Wine Cellars. The drive there is beautiful. The last couple miles are a bit interesting as you drive out into the middle of farm country on a rock covered dirt road. But the end destination is worth it. And if you come home with a bottle or two, you can enjoy the taste and memories for a bit longer.