Our trip to Oregon strategically fell on Memorial Day weekend, and I wanted to maximize on all the celebration that weekend had to offer. In my search for activities and events, I found out that Willamette Valley was a local hotspot, about an hour outside of Portland.
The drive seemed long, but it led to a glorious day of tapas and wine! Our initial goal was 3-4 wineries. Oh we were so naive.
Our first stop was Redhawk Vineyard, a family owned winery located in Salem. We nervously entered, not knowing what to expect having it been our first trip to a vineyard/wine tasting. For $10 we got 7 tastings and unlimited accesses to their hordourvs station, which consisted of cheese, meatballs, and tiny sliders.
Let me tell you, about an hour in I was having the time of my life! The wine was good, we got free food, and there was live entertainment that we were enjoying. We got to explore the vineyard, and there were seats inside the garage as well outside in the sunshine.
Although 7 tastings don’t sound like much, we were pretty tipsy after the lot of them. We could have stopped there and called it a day, but I wanted to check out one more winery. (At this point we also noticed my initial estimate of 3-4 wineries was very overstated lol!)
After narrowing down the list of wineries, I decided on a Cuban vineyard, Cubanismo.
For $15 we got 6 tastings, and let me remind you that both of these wineries were extremely generous in their pouring. (There was also a food option, but we were already full from Redhawk.) This vineyard was a lot more crowded and had the air of one giant party. There was continuous salsa dancing, and everyone was having a great time!
We walked among the vineyard at Cubanismo’s as well, enjoying the stunning view. After realizing we could in no way finish the rest of our tastings, we headed back down, mustered up our courage, and salsa danced our hearts out. In those moments, I categorized it as one of my favorite travel memories with Jarden 🙂
