Welcome
All Hail Thanksgiving Weekend!
Just two more weeks until Turkey Day, one of our favorite holidays. Why? The very next day, the wineries of Oregon throw their doors open for tours and tasting, and we get to welcome even more visitors than usual, which is great fun for us.
Now, toting your in-laws, kids, grandchildren, siblings, and visiting friends, you have a wide choice of wineries to go to. Some of them may want to go to the Central Willamette valley. We do hope you'll consider the Northern Willamette Valley wineries, including ours.
For one thing, we are much closer. From downtown, we are 25 minutes maximum. Secondly, there is very little traffic on our roads, compared to the mob scene around Newberg. Third, our tasting fee is a mere $2, (refundable with purchase), our tasting room is usually not crowded and our servers are friendly and personable. Bring the restless children and let them run around our fields; we'll fuel them with hot apple cider and other treats. Bring friendly dogs.
Wait, there's more! Plan your day around a trip to the village of Helvetia. (Do not look for a village, however.) Start at the Rice Museum just off Rt. 26 and exit 61. It's one of the finest gem and rock museums in the Northwest. Kids can enjoy spelunking in a rock pile, while you all enjoy stunning local minerals. Mosey up the road for lunch at historic Helvetia Tavern, serving the biggest and best burgers in the county, along with mountains of french fries. Keep driving north up Helvetia Road past the Roloff Farm, featured weekly in the tv show "Little People, Big World."
Just past the Roloffs', you'll see the most exquisite fields full of alpacas, cavorting, nibbling and making big eyes at you. Stop for a photo. They love it. Trundle on up the road to Helvetia Christmas Tree Farm, pick out something big and beautiful, then finish your tour next door at our winery. We'll also have a limited number of Christmas trees, plus wreathes, handmade jewelry, and wine-related gifts. Isn't that a great day trip?
Thanksgiving weekend, we'll be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11 to 5, with all the treats and tastes available all three days. Don't miss this great Oregon holiday tradition!
Harvest Was Fun!
Many thanks to the 14 hardy volunteers who came out at harvest time to help pick what is perhaps our best Pinot noir crop ever.Vintners all over the state are enthusiastic about this vintage, and so are we. With our bronze medal for our 2006 Pinot, we're really excited about what we can do with this fabulous grape. Our pickers were treated to Tavernburgers at lunch, and a salmon dinner feast at day's end. You guys are the best.
What's New, Winewise: Three FAVORITE Wines
Come by next weekend for a taste of four popular wines!
2006 Pinot Noir: Check that amazing color! This is our award-winning creme-de-la-creme Pinot noir.
2007 Helvetia Pinot Rose: Fans come back year after year for this wonderful off-dry, hot-pink wine reminiscent of sweet cranberies, which is a harbinger of Spring. We say harbinger, because it's usually all gone by April.
2007 Riesling: Our first-ever Riesling is the one wine almost all our visitors buy these days. We like to say it has a Red Delicious apple and honey nose, but the tasters usually say: "Not too tart, not too sweet, it's perfect. I'll take one of those."
Custom Labels
Here's a fun, unique, and easy way to thank your clients and please your friends and family. Your logo, photo, and message on a wine label, attached to a bottle of our fine wine, makes a thoughtful and impressive gift. A case of our very best Pinot noir 2004 with custom labels comes to only $315.80, or $26.31 per gift. You'd pay $28 per bottle without the custom label if purchased individually. See how sensible this is? We also have more economical vintages available. All you have to do is send us a jpeg. and some wording, or ask our creative staff for advice. Talk to Louise at 503-292-6518 and we'll get you all fixed up.
We Love Hillsboro
And so does the U.S. News & World Report, which has named our town one of the ten best places to retire. Since vineyards and wineries are an integral part of what makes life in Hillsboro pleasant, the film crew headed straight over here to Helvetia Winery to interview proprietor John Platt, who has no plans to retire anytime soon, but loves Hillsboro anyway.
The story ran in U.S. News and World Report, and here's the link to the video clip:
Click HERE to view. Enjoy!