Quailhurst Vineyard Estate

We went to their estate sale, which was held on Friday — Saturday, September 19 & 20, 2014. NOT WORTH IT!!! They are asking for retail prices on used items! Really? And the lady running the sale on Saturday afternoon had a strong desire that her used goods were worthy of brand new prices, and would not entertain any negotiations.

Stopped here because of a Unilocal review on the local search and found a true jewel. Fine wines, gorgeous estate, and the very nicest people. You must make this a stop when you’re in the area.

A tasting event at Quailhurst is a feast for all of your senses. They always put out a great food spread and the the staff always offer pairing suggestions.
Most of their tastings offer a huge vertical, six or eight years. This is very rare and very educational. Tasting six or eight years from the same vineyard all together is a rare experience and well worth the tasting fee.
Joe Dobbs is the winemaker, so the wine is quite good.
The view and the grounds are a feast for the eyes. And, if you are lucky, there will be an Olympic-​caliber dressage demonstration because that is the other specialty.
The wines are good and have won some significant awards. The Pinot Noir is the best, of course. Their port can be quite good. Their rose and white are nice.
The owner is a character and a generous and gregarious gentleman, a fascinating conversationalist. He’s usually found near the port. And you will enjoy meeting him.
His wife is a charming lady with a sparkling personality. She is an Olympian and a world-​traveler. She is found somewhere and not anywhere for very long. You will also enjoy meeting her.
The staff are remarkably well-​versed in the wines, friendly and helpful.
It’s always a good crowd at Quailhurst too. I’ve met many interesting people there.

This review is as much for the business owners as future customers. We were there over Memorial Day and they had a great turnout. The tasting fee was $ 20 which seemed steep, but they were serving generous tastes of about 12 or 13 wines along with some high-​quality appetizers, so it was very reasonable.
The wines were good and the tasting was interesting due to the fact that they were serving pinots from almost every year since 2002. I believe the 2002 and 2003 were $ 25/​bottle and seemed very worth that price. The 2004 and later were $ 50 each. Those were probably not worth quite that price, although most of them were good.
The grounds were lovely and it seemed like a great place to come for an outing in the future. Croquette and bocci were available and the stroll around the waterfalls was nice.
BUT! Why on earth would you have what appears (by smell) to be an active stable as your tasting room for high-​end pinots? When the nose of every wine is horse crap, it seriously detracts from the experience. Sure they did a good job of mucking it out ahead of time, but no amount of mucking is going to completely remove the smell.

I visited Quailhurst for the first time today because they were open for the Labor Day holiday weekend. They were charging $ 20 for the tasting which was not refundable with a purchase (as far as I could tell). I thought that was pretty steep at first, but looking back, it was a fair price for everything they were offering today. $ 20 got you admission onto their beautiful grounds with the opportunity to play croquet or relax in a rocking chair while enjoying the view, a logo glass, snacks from a beautiful cheese, cracker & salmon spread, and about 14 different wine samples (2 roses, 3 port-​style pinot noirs, 1 pinot future, and the rest pinot noirs).
I didn’t think the wines were anything super fabulous, but they certainly weren’t bad. I do think they were slightly over-​priced by about $ 5-​$ 10 per bottle. It was neat doing a vertical tasting of their pinots from 2002 thru 2009 because you could see huge differences between the wines from year to year.

I don’t know how to feel about these pinots. First of all, they are all pretty good in the sense that they don’t have any obnoxious characteristics (balanced), but they have no personality, no layers, no body, they are all very muted, no length. Sort of taste too young. At $ 50 for a bottle I expect a wine to «dance» on my palate, tug at the heart strings and leave me begging for more. Again not bad, but for this price there are so many other better pinots in oregon.

Pinot Noir Lovers… I’ve traveled all over Oregon tasting as many fabulous Pinot Noir wines as my palate can handle. I’ve even over paid just to find out the truth about some of these «famed» Pinots. Quailhurst Vineyard Estate is amazing. Cannot say enough about this boutique sleeper of a vineyard. Recently, I read about Quailhurst in the Wine Spectator (92 — points), then I joined their Wine Club. I receive their Pinot Noir and their «To Die For» Pinot Port dessert wine every 6 months. If you are a snobby Pinot lover, like me, check them out and maybe join their Wine Club just for fun.