With Christmas and Hanukkah in the past, and New Years Eve around the corner, this week is the perfect time to come out to Helvetia Vineyards and Winery. Just 25 minutes from Portland, but a world away from the Holiday hustle and bustle. We have extended Helvetia’s Holiday Hours through the New Year.
Join us in our tasting room, and relax by our wood stove while enjoying a tasting of our artisan wines while taking advantage of our after Christmas sales on gifts and wines. Or call ahead and schedule a tour. Our proprietor John Platt would love to show you around, and tell you what makes Helvetia Winery so special. A Helvetia Winery tour is the perfect way to give your out of town guests an Oregon experience. And if you take advantage of our Groupon Offer, you can save 50%.
Recharge your spirit while taking in the breathtaking vistas that our wine farm has to offer.
Our hours through the New Year are 12-5pm every day. We are closed on New Years Day, but open the remainder of the weekend. We look forward to serving you.
“The tour at Helvetia Winery was nothing short of incredible. I learned so much about the wine making process and some local history as well. Tasting wines straight from the barrel followed by an extremely informative bottled wine tasting was so much fun. WAY above and beyond what I expected. I’ll definitely be back!”~Sharissa D.
Learn about winemaking and enjoy the Helvetia brand of Oregon sunshine along with tribal-caught Columbia River salmon. The tour starts with the “dirt on dirt” an explanation of terroir, the unique characteristics of a vineyard that, when paired with a wine grape varietal, produces the grapes that constitute the wine. We also add a short history of the land now called Helvetia including an introduction to the Atfalati, the original inhabitants who enjoyed life on a rich oak savannah prior to contact with European fur trappers and then American explorers.
Discussion is followed by a short walk or ride (depending upon the weather and the mobility of our guests) to the winery where we will explain the winemaking process and taste a bit of the 2015 vintage from the barrels.
The tour concludes with a tasting of the wines we are currently offering paired with tribal-caught smoked salmon from the Columbia River.
Any questions?
“Interesting tour – great wine, nice people.”– Ann V.
We have just listed tour dates through March on our booking calendar so, once they’ve received their gift voucher, your friends will be able to choose a convenient date and time to visit. Tours will be available on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons as well as Tuesday through Thursday during Christmas week.
“What a great Living Social. We probably would have never found this gem of a winery without this special. The tour was great, the wine was even better and John was very informative and a perfect host. Looking forward to our next visit.” ~Tony and Raechill
Native American artist, Lillian Pitt, a Warm Springs tribal member, will be with us on Saturday, December 19 from 12:30 until 4:00 to talk about her art and the ancient themes and stories behind its meanings. Lillian’s work celebrates the landscape, animals, legends and traditions of her ancestors, the River People and their salmon-based economy. Many of her images were inspired by rock carvings and colorings from the Columbia River Gorge. Today her contemporary sculptures, prints and wearable art are in private collections, museums, galleries and public spaces worldwide.
To learn more about Lillian Pitt, take a few moments to watch the video below:
Helvetia Winery Pinot Noir Grapes Just before Fall Harvest
Thanksgiving has special meaning for our winery as well as for wineries throughout the United States. It truly marks a time of thanks and celebration as a new wine vintage settles down for the winter.
Unlike most farming operations, harvest is only the beginning of the end of the growing season at a winery that grows its own fruit. Following harvest, the grapes used for white wines are pressed and the juice is allowed to settle before yeast is added.
Fermentation then begins, converting sugar to alcohol and the juice to a wine preserved from spoilage by its acidity and alcohol. For red wines, the grapes are crushed and the juice ferments on the skins with the pulp and seeds for up to three weeks extracting colors and flavors. At some time before or during the fermentation process, last year’s wine is moved from barrel to bottle or another container in order to free up space to cellar the new wines.
Our Tranquil Winery
Towards the middle of November (2011 being an exception), active fermentation has either halted or slowed to the point where the wine is still and the winery is quiet except, perhaps, for the dull pop of a bung sent to the ceiling by the yeasts’ last gasps.
By Thanksgiving, we of the wine business move out of the cellar to the lights of the holidays where we can greet our guests with wine released from the cellar, news of the vintage and prospects for the upcoming year. We look forward to welcoming you to our tasting room, and sharing our bounty with you. This year’s releases include 2014 Estate Pinot Noir, 2014 Gewurztraminer, and 2014 Chardonnay. 2014 was the warmest year of the decade and the fruit was ripe yielding intense fruit but not quite the complexity that comes from a cool year’s hangtime because the ripening period was shorter than in cooler years.
Randy Settler, Yakama tribal fisher, will have smoked chinook salmon available on Friday and Sunday afternoons at the winery. Frozen or fresh-smoked, this Northwest delicacy is a perfect accompaniment as an appetizer with our pinot noir of any vintage.
Members of Portland’s Swiss community and the people of Helvetia, OR renew the medieval Swiss custom of burning an effigy of ol’ man winter with hope for a long, warm summer.
The Valentine's Day dinner was excellent. The host provided name tags for everyone at the table so we wouldn't feel like complete strangers and really helped break the ice during this intimate dinner. Chef David did an excellent job creating a wonderful 5 course dinner that paired excellently with the different wines that were provided throughout the dinner. Overall, a wonderful experience!
Sherry Joe was an awesome hostess.
John, the owner of Helvetia Vineyards, taught us so much about growing good grapes, the soil, water, sun and the temperature! He spent extra time with us and was such an amazing teacher! The history lesson of the region was incredible! I highly recommend the 2017 Pinot Noir! The art on the wine labels is beautiful!!
Great place, we've been coming here a while and always love to chat with John and his amazing staff that is so helpful. Had a great day today with our friends.
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit. I enjoyed live music. The staff was gracious. Even the drive to and from the winery was a joy. It was a lovely low key fun evening in the country ending with a spectacular sunset as I drove home.
Beautiful location, excellent hosts! We held my baby shower there, so I wasn't able to sample the wine selection, but my guests were all very happy. I will be back when I can try it out!
What I love about this place is its low-key, completely unpretentious attitude and atmosphere. It's like your favorite neighbors just happen to be really good at making wine. Come for the delicious wines, and stay to learn a lot about winemaking from John. After just one visit, you'll be treated like family.
We bought the Tour package with the goal of wanting to learn a little more about wine and we had an absolute blast. John our tour guide is the best. One of the best educations I have ever had on any subject. We spent almost 2 hours with him. It wasn't about drinking wine but moreso learning about the different wines and how they grow, the history of the Tualatin valley, it was amazing. Best part was smelling wines in the barrels and tasting the chardonnay. Mouthwatering the whole time. We had an absolute blast.
Thoroughly enjoyed our tour and wine tasting at Helvetia Vineyards & Winery this past weekend. Learned so much and tasted some delicious wines. Of course, had to bring home some bottles of our favorites! John was most informative. Everyone was so pleasant and the experience was enhanced by Winery pups, Cocoa, Pippin and the little Boston Terrier whose name I didn't catch.
The young lady that helped us was absolutely fabulous. The poor thing was shuttling several different groups but was still able to teach as well as enlighten us with the different wines and their special tastes. She even helped us with a map of all The winerys in the area and a little bit about them. The wines are very good and very affordable.
Fantastic service. Very friendly folk and an inviting outdoor seating area for a warm summer evening. I'd call it "down home" style with none of pretentious BS that so many wineries try and fail to pull off.
The wines were great and prices decent.
Now that we are locals, I'm sure we'll be back.
I'm so glad we decided to pop over here after visiting the Lavender Festival. I've never been a wine drinker, but their Pinot Gris may just have converted me. Delicious! Laid back atmosphere. Wonderful staff. Peaceful setting. Hopefully one day I'll be able to get some aerial footage (with permission of course) of this tranquil farm where time seems to stand still. Thanks again Helvetia Winery. We WILL be back.
A big thank you to John. We loved our private, informative, and unpretentious tour. You have a great staff & a first class wine selection. We will be back!
Best people to learn about the wine industry in Oregon! Was in an upscale winery. recently and no one even said hello. At Helvetia Winery we have always.been met by John or Elizabeth or Dave
Dillon has been great at the tasting room.
Wed. Hump evening has been a highlight of our summer.
Enjoyed a wonderful afternoon learning so much. I appreciated the craftsmanship of the vintner's processes! Thank you so much John and Katherine. I will continue to enjoy the fruits of your labor and the warmth of your hospitality when I get back to Minnesota. Well worth visiting!
