A Great Oregon Wine Tour — Local services in Portland

This was our first time visiting the Willamette Valley and my husband and I had no idea where to start. We wanted to make the most of our time and booked a private tour with A Great Oregon Wine Tour. Wayne, one of the owners, reached out to us immediately and asked about the wines we liked and what we wanted most from the tour. We told him that we enjoyed Pinot Noir and our goal was to learn more about it and find some really great bottles to send home and enjoy. We also said that we preferred quality over quantity when touring wineries and wanted a relaxing day visiting places that would provide a more personalized experience.

Camille, the co-owner of A Great Oregon Wine Tour and Wayne’s wife, was our guide for the day. She picked us up at our hotel in McMinnville in a nice minivan and shared information about the area on our way to the first stop, Patricia Green Cellars. The winery was expecting us and we were welcomed with a glass of wine to enjoy while we got settled and enjoyed the breathtaking views of the vineyard. Our tasting included a lovely cheese and snack tray that we enjoyed while tasting different wines that were discussed in detail by our amazing tasting consultant. We did not pay a tasting fee because we had a number of bottles shipped to our home, but I believe it would have been $50 per person had we not made the wine purchase.

Our second stop was to taste wines from Moffett Vinyards. I’ll start by saying that meeting Trent Moffett was probably our favorite part of the day. We sat with the actual vintner and winemaker and tasted a selection of his wines while learning so much and hearing his amazing stories. This stop was not what one might expect–it was a mini trailer that was situated on a gravel parking lot and didn’t have much of a view at all. It did not have running water and used a generator or battery to power the lights and the restroom was a port-a-potty. I may have raised my eyebrow when we were pulling up, but I really must say that our time with Trent was unmatched. He is so knowledgeable and kind and humble–and his wines are absolutely wonderful! The tasting fee here would have been $20 per person had we not purchased the wines we enjoyed most.

After our Moffett Vineyards wine tastings with Trent, Camille brought out lunch to eat while we were there. We had turkey sandwiches, chips, fresh fruit, roasted hazelnuts, and cookies. It was very nice and Trent poured us glasses of wine to accompany our meal. I will say that I thought our picnic lunch would be at a more scenic location where my husband and I could enjoy lunch while looking at Oregon’s beautiful countryside or vineyards. However, I did not communicate that to Camille. Based on our lovely treatment the entire day, if I would have asked to eat elsewhere, she likely would have gladly taken us to a more scenic location for our picnic lunch.

Our third and final stop was Alexana Winery. The building and vineyards were absolutely beautiful and we were greeted with a glass of wine to enjoy as we looked around and made our way to a reserved table that was set up for us. Our tasting consultant was Sophia. She was incredibly knowledgeable, so personable, and it felt like we were sitting with a friend rather than an employee of the vineyard for the tasting. She walked us through our tasting and based on our likes brought in additional wines for us to taste. The tasting here would have been $50 per person but was waived based on our wine purchases.

After our final stop, Camille brought us back to our hotel. The day was seamless and we thoroughly enjoyed our experience. Though all our tasting fees were waived, we felt they would have been reasonable had we not purchased wine. We felt that Camille and Wayne at A Great Oregon Wine Tour had provided exactly what we asked for on every account. When we visit the Willamette Valley area again, we will not hesitate to contact A Great Oregon Wine Tour for another...

Had an exceptional weekend with Wayne "the Wizard" Oppenheimer from A Great Wine Tour - celebrating my wife and my 10 year anniversary and my brother in-law and his wife’s 11 year anniversary in Willamette Valley.

Wayne is passionate about wine and loves teaching people about Oregon wine. Wayne knows the entire valley well.

Wayne is more than a tourist - he became our friend and we look forward to the next time we go to the Oregon region. He catered our trip to our preference and what he thought would give us the best experience.

Wayne and I spoke months prior and immediately I knew the trip to Wine country would be entertaining based on our conversations. We had to postpone our trip to Oregon in January to March due to Omicron and flight cancellations - Wayne was very understanding and accommodating because we were flying in from Orlando, FL.

Wayne picked us up at the Willamette Bed and Breakfast with his Silver nails, ready to begin our two day wine adventure - exploring seven wineries. The choices of the wineries was a collaborative effort with me giving my suggestion with an itinerary, adjusted with winemakers and vineyards that Wayne believed we would enjoy - which he was correct. We started off on a hilltop in a Trailer with Trent Moffett - totally different than any other wine experience, but probably one of the best experiences. Very knowledgeable winemaker who grew up in the industry in Napa, then brought his skills to Willamette. The entire trip Wayne was describing the topography, plants, wineries, the history, and provided very funny stories. Later we spent time at Ayoub - a winery that we have been to before and Wayne reminded us how much of an experience it is to visited Mo Ayoub in his own home. We were scheduled to go to one of the bigger wineries, but made an audible - decided to go to Hyland Vineyard is deeply rooted in Oregon Wine history. Great choice by Wayne - winery is one of the oldest and best places we went during this trip.

Our first day was incredible; however, Day Two was an experience that we have never participated in the past. We spent all morning with Ryan Sherman who is the winemaker of Communiquè - spent hours learning about the wine process, tasting wines from the barrels in the storage room, and created a friendship that should last forever. Afterwards we continued our travels to Bethel Heights, which was the most gorgeous of all the wineries and the wine complemented the beauty of it’s surroundings. We finished the day at Cristom winery and it was a perfect ending to our wine adventure with Wayne.

Thank you Wayne for an exceptional...

We've toured with Wayne and his team FOUR times -- twice in 2018 and twice in 2020. The experience is consistently excellent -- curated to our tastes, warm, welcoming, informative, entertaining, and a wonderful picture-perfect postcard showing the beauty and depth of the Willamette Valley.

Wayne is a great guide - knowledgeable, friendly, and pivoted beautifully when we had an unexpected power outage that took out some of our planned stops! We loved spending time with him and will be booking this tour again as soon as we need to replenish our wine cellar!

Lunch was consistently yummy (fruits, veggies and hummus, smoked meats and cheeses) and plenty of special touches! The van was scrupulously clean (we felt very safe in spite of COVID) and lots and lots of water to keep us cool in the height of summer!

Wayne also provided great advice about lodging and dining and I'm convinced that his outgoing personality and advocacy for the region is what convinced all the wineries that we toured to give us the royal treatment!!!

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Wayne and Camille and their entire team to anyone looking for a fantastic experience -- if you love wine, you will LOVE this tour and these...