Youngberg Hill Vineyards and Inn in the Willamette Valley, Oregon

Where: Oregon’s Willamette Valley in McMinnville, about an hour from Portland

The Details: Eight rooms (four queen suites and four king guest rooms) offer views of the 22 acres of organic vineyards. Rooms are in the same building as the tasting room, where you’ll have the chance to taste four wines with the three people heavily involved in the day-to-day operations: the winemaker, the grape grower, and the owner. Rooms have private baths, comfy chairs from which you can enjoy the views, fireplaces, Jacuzzi tubs, Wi-Fi, and loaner iPads.

Why Stay Here: Its on-site vineyard produces organic Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, rated 90 or better by Wine Spectator. Common areas include a library, a lounging salon, and a dining room. Sipping wine on the wrap-around porch offers panoramic views of the Coastal Range, Mount Jefferson, Mount Hood, and Willamette Valley. Want to explore? Dozens of wineries are within a 20-minute drive, including Dundee, Carlton, Amity West Salem, and Eola Hills. Wake up in the morning to a two-course gourmet meal with seasonal food and local products such as homemade granola and yogurt, Pinot-poached pears, and pancetta tarts.

Best Time to Avoid Crowds: November to March

How Much: From $200 per room per night for two people

Info: tel. 888/657-8668; www.youngberghill.com

From Frommers.com
Read more: http://www.frommers.com/slideshow/index.cfm?group=1005&p=9#ixzz1sy5bXIgf

In In The News, Youngberg Hill | Tagged with oregon, Travel, willamette valley, youngberg hill

Last month we had the pleasure of welcoming to Youngberg Hill Ornithology Professor Don Powers of George Fox University, and nearly two dozen of his current and former wildlife biology students. Professor Don and his group conducted on March 17 the first ever Youngberg Hill Vineyards Native Bird Study.

It was a lucky day for bird-spotting, as forty different native species were identified in less than three hours! Highlights included a gorgeous Pileated Woodpecker, Merlins, Kestrels and a Northern Harrier Raptor. Our resident eagles made a regal appearance soaring over the vineyard rows. The students were an enthusiastic bunch, tramping through the muck of the vineyard and recording everything they saw.

We ended the experience with a hearty lunch in the warmth of the dining room. If you have been following our blogs this winter, you are probably well aware of our ongoing trouble with the non-native European starlings that eat so many of our grapes during harvest time. We were especially pleased to see that only one or two starlings were sighted, and that the avian diversity of our vineyard ecosystem looks very healthy.

Professor Don was very impressed by the species count and said that if the weather had been better (it rained, of course!) we would have seen even more native species. This initial effort was so successful that we have decided to monitor our native bird population’s health on a regular basis by conducting quarterly surveys with Dr. Powers and his wonderful George Fox students.

Upon the completion of our new vineyard panorama deck, we will also be launching a “Wet Your Beak” wine tasting, in honor of our feathered friends. Imagine spotting colorful native birds while sipping our tasty organically grown flight of Pinot noirs.

Now that’s our kind of birding!

Taken from Youngberg Hill’s Blog, April 7th, 2012 by Nicolette

In In The News, Youngberg Hill | Tagged with oregon, sustainability, Travel, willamette valley, youngberg hill