Northern California/Oregon Road Trip August 2015

Did You Know? - Town founder William T. Newby joined the Great Migration of 1843, later claiming land in 1844 on the present site of McMinnville in what was then known as the Oregon Country. He built a gristmill in 1853 at what would become the west end of Third Street. In 1855 Newby platted a town and named it after his hometown of McMinnville, Tennessee.

McMinnville was incorporated as a town in 1876 and became a city in 1882. County residents voted to move the county seat of Yamhill County from Lafayette to McMinnville in 1886.

Since the 1990s, the majority of the vineyards of the Willamette Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA) are in the area surrounding McMinnville, thus giving this city a claim to the title of the capital of Oregon's wine industry.[citation needed] In January 2005, a McMinnville AVA was established after an application from Youngberg Hill Vineyards. The AVA includes 14 wineries and 523 acres (2.12 km2) within the Willamette Valley AVA.

The Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum is located in McMinnville and is best known as the home of the Spruce Goose, the world's largest propeller-driven seaplane, built by the famed aviator Howard Hughes. The museum, home to another 80 historic aircraft and exhibits, is a pair of large symmetrical buildings with glass facades, a local landmark which can be seen for miles. Additional major exhibits include a SR-71 "Blackbird", a Titan II SLV Missile (with its launch control center), and a Grumman F6F3 "Hellcat."

Did You Know? - Forest Grove is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, 25 miles (40 km) west of Portland. Originally a small farm town, it is now primarily a bedroom suburb of Portland. Settled in the 1840s, the town was platted in 1850 and then incorporated in 1872, making it the first city in Washington County. The population was 21,083 at the 2010 census, an increase of 19.1% from the 2000 census (17,708).

Did You Know? - Plum Hill Vineyards is a small, family owned winery built on a historical dairy farm in a pastoral setting, nestled between the cities of Forest Grove and Gaston, Oregon. We feature quality hand crafted wines in limited quantities. Currently we grow and/or have available for tasting Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Rose', Riesling, Müller-Thurgau, and Schönburger.

Come visit our warm and inviting tasting room and gift shop featuring wine-related gift items as well as arts and crafts created by local artisans or enjoy a picnic with views of Mt. St. Helen's and Mt. Adams from our covered picnic area.

Plum Hill Vineyards is a small, family owned winery built on a historical dairy farm in a pastoral setting, nestled between the cities of Forest Grove and Gaston, Oregon. We feature quality hand crafted wines in limited quantities. Currently we grow and/or have available for tasting Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Rose', Riesling, Müller-Thurgau, and Schönburger.

Come visit our warm and inviting tasting room and gift shop featuring wine-related gift items as well as arts and crafts created by local artisans or enjoy a picnic with views of Mt. St. Helen's and Mt. Adams from our covered picnic area.

We believe that to make good wine you must first start with great fruit. We want to put only the best possible fruit in our wine. In order to achieve that goal, we started with a prime vineyard site in the northern end of Oregon's Willamette Valley, northwest of Forest Grove. The site is comprised with very deep weathered, uniform Kilton soil, at an ideal elevation (above the frost and fog) and exposure (south facing). Another plus is the close proximity to our house (it's right next door). Our Second site is located north of Gaston on Old highway 47. The soils at this site are from the Melbourne Association. Melbourne soils are well drained and they have a surface layer of dark-brown silty clay loam. The upper part of the subsoil is dark yellowish-brown silty clay loam, and the lower part is brown silty clay. Effective rooting depth is more than 60 inches. However, we have dug to a debt of 7 feet and found no change in soil texture

However site selection is only part of a larger picture of making a great wine. You need a lot of friends (Scott, Al, Bob, Henry, Joyce, Tom, Kathy, Joyce (Demo Diva), Jerry, Larry, Judy, Toby, Chuck, Kelly, Allison, Randy, Henry, Joyce, Mike, Russell, and Keith) to help you plant and you also need great wine makers and mentors, enter Keith, Trudy, and Kim Kramer, to turn the fruit into wine. To bring premier Pinot Noir grapes to their full potential, we are adopting sustainable vineyard practices that emphasize flavor over production volume. These practices — such as high density planting, shoot thinning, cluster removal, avoidance of the use of harsh pesticides and herbicides, — increase cultivation costs and reduce the amount of fruit that can be harvested. For sophisticated wine lovers, however, such a tradeoff will be well worth the effort.

Our goal is to grow the best fruit possible and be personally involved with each plant. The small size of the plot allows this goal to be met and the site to be maintained by one person, if needed. It is so personal that the early growing vines were given names such as:

John Wine, Cork Douglas, General Cluster, Albert Vinestei, Alexander the Grape, Sir Wineston Churchill, Oprah Winefrey, Wine Oh, Winenona Jug, Wine Newton, The Grape Santini, The Grapeful Dead, The Grape Gatsby. Sergio De Burgundy, Wine Gretzky, Babe Root, Viney Testaverde , Jonathan Vintners, Root Busby, Fermento Llamas, Grape O Marx, Pinotcchio, Mama Cask, Mel Tokay, Marilyn Merlot, Milton Barrel, Minnesota Vats, Johnny Casks, Crush Limbaugh, Gregory Pick, Vats Domino, Omar Carafe, Barrel O'Connor, Clark Grapel. Betty Grapel, Vine Scully, My Cousin Viney, Fermento Valenzuela

Our locations are in the northern reaches of the Willamette Valley, the first vineyard is sited on a hill with views of the expanding cities of Forest Grove and Verboort. The vineyard site starts about a quarter of the way up the hill, normally above the fog line, at an elevation of approximately 400 feet facing due east, topping out at approximately 500 feet with exposures bending from the southeast through the southwest. The larger Vineyard is located north of the city of Gaston with elevations from 250 - 350 feet.

RJ and Juanita Lint

Did You Know? - The origin of Carlton's name is disputed. An ex-county commissioner claims that the name was derived from Wilson Carl, whereas A. E. Bones, postmaster at Carlton, stated in a 1925 letter that it was named for John Carl, Sr., at the request of R. R. Thompson. These men may have been part of the same family.

Carlton post office was established in 1874, with F. J. Fryer serving as its first postmaster.

Did You Know? - In one word, our wines are decidedly uncommon. We are making Pacific Northwest wines with Oregon sensibilities. Be it our blends, our stand-alone varietals, or our vermouth, our wines are varied and unique. We make wines from varietals originating in the regions of Piemonte, Tuscana, Puglia, Bordeaux, Southern Rhone and of course, the Bourgogne (yes, we make Pinots!). While our wines are definitely inspired by their "Old-World" origins and traditions, they are also unique expressions of the Pacific Northwest environment where they are rooted, and the frame of mind that characterizes our life in Oregon. Some of our wines are light, expressive & easily approachable, while others are less restrained, showing great depth and ageability. Whether they are bright & quenching or juicy & full, all are accessible.

Did You Know? - The town was established between 1848 and 1849 by Joseph and Ahio S. Watt, two brothers who had immigrated to Oregon over the Oregon Trail. Part of Joseph's land claim became the community's townsite. The name "Amity" came from the name of a school that was built by two rival communities after the amicable settlement of a dispute.

Ahio, the first teacher, named the school.

Amity post office was established in 1852.

Joseph established the first woolen mill in Oregon, and in 1868 shipped wheat to England in the first instance of Oregon wheat being sent around Cape Horn.

The community was incorporated by the Oregon Legislative Assembly on October 19, 1880, originally as a town.