12 Pacific Northwest Wineries That Pour World-Class Wine With a View

I will let you in on something I picked up over years of chasing good wine country. The best wine trip in America might not begin in Napa or Sonoma at all.

It begins where the rain does, up in the Pacific Northwest, on green hillsides that vanish into fog every morning and burn off into gold by noon. Once you have seen that light fall across a hillside of vines, everything else feels a little ordinary.

Washington and Oregon have quietly become two of the most exciting wine regions on the planet. They grow everything from silky Pinot Noir to bold Bordeaux blends, and they pour it all with a view. That is the cool-climate magic worth crossing the country for.

Below, I have rounded up twelve wineries across Washington and Oregon worth planning a whole road trip around. Some are grand estates, some are old schoolhouses, and every one of them earns the drive. Grab a designated driver and let’s go.

1. Chateau Ste. Michelle, Washington

Start where Washington wine started. Chateau Ste. Michelle traces its roots to 1934 and has poured under this label since 1967, which makes it the oldest winery in the state and a fair place to begin any Northwest wine tour.

The chateau you tour today went up in 1976 on 105 wooded acres in Woodinville, just twenty minutes from downtown Seattle. Come in summer and the manicured grounds turn into an outdoor concert lawn, glass of Riesling in hand.

Wander the formal gardens, the trout pond and the tree-lined drive before you reach a single tasting bar. It is the kind of place that makes you want to linger, and the crisp Riesling it helped make famous is the perfect excuse to do exactly that.

Where: 14111 NE 145th St, Woodinville, WA 98072.

2. Domaine Serene, Oregon

If Washington gives you history, the Dundee Hills give you glamour. Domaine Serene sits high on its Winery Hill Estate, and the drive up alone tells you this is Oregon’s answer to a European wine estate.

Ken and Grace Evenstad founded it in 1989 and named it for their daughter, Serene. They built the whole place around one belief, that world-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay could come from this red volcanic soil. The hilltop view over the vines proves the point.

The Clubhouse tasting lounge feels like a fine hotel, all stone and warm wood, with terraces built to catch the light as it slides down the valley. Order the flagship Evenstad Reserve Pinot Noir and let the whole afternoon stretch out.

Where: 6555 NE Hilltop Ln, Dayton, OR 97114.

3. Maryhill Winery, Washington

Some tasting rooms have a nice patio. Maryhill has a stone terrace perched on basalt cliffs, looking straight out over the Columbia River with snow-capped Mount Hood floating on the horizon. It is one of the great wine views anywhere.

Craig and Vicki Leuthold opened it in 2001, and it has grown into one of Washington’s largest wineries, pouring around 80,000 cases a year. More than 75,000 people find their way here annually, and every one of them stops to photograph that Gorge.

Down the road sit the quirky Maryhill Museum of Art and a full-size replica of Stonehenge, so a tasting here easily turns into a whole day out. Claim a spot on the terrace, order a flight, and let the river do the entertaining.

Where: 9774 Highway 14, Goldendale, WA 98620.

4. King Estate, Oregon

Down in the southern Willamette Valley near Eugene, King Estate crowns a hilltop like a country manor. The estate rolls out below the tasting room in a green quilt of vines and gardens, and it happens to be the largest biodynamic vineyard in North America.

Founded in 1991, King Estate earned its Demeter biodynamic certification in 2016 and built its name on Pinot Gris, once voted the top domestic wine in its category. Pair a glass with estate-grown cuisine and settle in for the afternoon.

The estate spreads across more than a thousand acres of vineyards, orchards and gardens, much of which feeds the kitchen. Grab a seat on the terrace, order a Pinot Gris, and watch the hills roll away toward the Coast Range.

Where: 80854 Territorial Hwy, Eugene, OR 97405.

5. L’Ecole No 41, Washington

School was never this fun. L’Ecole No 41 pours its wine inside a stately 1915 schoolhouse in tiny Lowden, in the heart of the Walla Walla Valley. The name is French for “the school,” a nod to old district number 41.

Jean and Baker Ferguson founded the winery in 1983, only the third in the valley, and their daughter and son-in-law run it today as a third-generation family business. The old Frenchtown building on the label is the real thing, and you can walk right into it.

L’Ecole is known for its Bordeaux blends and one of Washington’s finest Semillons, poured in rooms that still feel like old classrooms. This is history you can drink, right down to the schoolyard drawing on the label.

Where: 41 Lowden School Rd, Lowden, WA 99360.

6. Sokol Blosser, Oregon

Back in the Dundee Hills, Sokol Blosser is one of Oregon’s true pioneers. Bill Blosser and Susan Sokol Blosser planted their first five acres here in 1971, back when almost nobody believed Oregon could grow serious Pinot.

The modern tasting room rewards that gamble with floor-to-ceiling windows and a front porch that frames the whole Willamette Valley. Book a seated tasting, watch the light move across the vines, and you will understand why they stayed.

The family farms organically and built one of the country’s first LEED-certified wine cellars, so there is real substance behind the pretty view. Try the estate Pinot Noir, or the easygoing Evolution blend if you like a little mystery in the glass.

Where: 5000 NE Sokol Blosser Ln, Dayton, OR 97114.

7. Cave B Estate Winery, Washington

Cave B might have the most dramatic setting on this whole list. The vineyards sit 900 feet above the Columbia River on a sweep of high desert cliffs, right next door to the famous Gorge Amphitheatre.

Founded in 2000, the estate farms about 86 acres and grows some twenty grape varieties in that sun-baked canyon country. Sip a glass of estate red on the edge of the bluff, and the river far below does the rest of the work.

Make a weekend of it and stay at the on-site Sagecliffe Resort, where cliffside cottages and yurts hang right over the water. Few wine-country stays anywhere feel this wild or this quiet after dark.

Where: 348 Silica Rd NW, Quincy, WA 98848.

8. Abacela, Oregon

Here is a bit of wine trivia for your next dinner party. Abacela, tucked into the Umpqua Valley of Southern Oregon, was the first winery in the Pacific Northwest to grow and bottle Spain’s Tempranillo grape.

Earl and Hilda Jones founded it in 1994 after hunting the country for a climate that matched Spain, and the gamble paid off spectacularly. In 2001 their Tempranillo took first place at an international competition, beating nineteen Spanish entries at their own game.

Today Abacela farms seventeen varieties across a 76-acre estate and pours it all from a hilltop tasting center with long views over the Umpqua Valley. Come for the Tempranillo, then stay for the Grenache and Syrah.

Where: 12500 Lookingglass Rd, Roseburg, OR 97471.

9. Pepper Bridge Winery, Washington

Pepper Bridge is built right into a Walla Walla hillside, three levels of it, framed by rows of estate vines and the Blue Mountains beyond. The view from the tasting room is pure eastern Washington wine country.

Established in 1998 by three families, it built the first gravity-flow winery in the state, complete with cool subterranean caves under your feet. The estate cabernet and merlot here are what put the Walla Walla Valley on serious collectors’ maps.

Everything poured here is estate-grown and sustainably farmed, and the small production means these bottles rarely travel far from the valley. Book ahead, take the cave tour, and taste why collectors make the pilgrimage to Walla Walla.

Where: 1704 J B George Rd, Walla Walla, WA 99362.

10. Willamette Valley Vineyards, Oregon

You cannot miss this one. Willamette Valley Vineyards sits atop a hill right off Interstate 5 south of Salem, its gated entrance climbing to a palatial tasting house with a 65-foot lookout tower.

Jim Bernau founded it in 1983 on an overgrown pioneer plum orchard, watering his first vines with lengths of garden hose bought on sale. Today it is the leading producer of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, so climb the tower and toast the view.

Here is a fun twist: thousands of wine lovers own a piece of this place as shareholders, which gives the whole estate a warm, come-on-in feeling. Climb the tower, order a cheese board, and toast Oregon Pinot right where it grows.

Where: 8800 Enchanted Way SE, Turner, OR 97392.

11. DeLille Cellars, Washington

Back in Woodinville, DeLille Cellars pours some of Washington’s most celebrated Bordeaux-style blends inside a building with a great backstory, the old Redhook Brewery in the Hollywood District.

Founded in 1992, DeLille helped pioneer Bordeaux blends in Washington, marrying Cabernet, Merlot and Cabernet Franc into wines that turn heads. Come for a seated tasting, then stay for dinner at the restaurant in that handsome old brewhouse.

Its flagship Chaleur Estate blend has been a Washington benchmark for three decades, elegant and built to age. Settle into the handsome tasting room, order a flight, and see for yourself what all the quiet fuss is about.

Where: 14300 NE 145th St, Woodinville, WA 98072.

12. Argyle Winery, Oregon

Save room for bubbles. Argyle, in the heart of Dundee, is Oregon’s sparkling-wine standard-bearer, and its Tasting House is one of the friendliest stops on the whole valley trail.

Rollin Soles founded it in 1987 inside a former hazelnut processing plant the locals still call the Nut House, making it the first commercial winery inside Dundee’s city limits. Order a flight of sparkling, Pinot and Chardonnay, and end your Northwest tour on a high note.

Argyle’s vintage sparkling wines have poured at White House dinners and still cost a fraction of Champagne, which feels like a small miracle. Toast the end of your trip on the patio and start plotting the next one before you have finished the glass.

Where: 691 Highway 99W, Dundee, OR 97115.

Start Planning Your Northwest Wine Trip

Twelve wineries, two states, and enough beauty between them to fill a long, lazy week. Whether you point the car toward Woodinville’s chateaus or the Dundee Hills’ golden slopes, the Pacific Northwest pours generously and asks only that you slow down.

So map a route, line up a driver, and go chase that fog-and-gold light for yourself. The view from every terrace is worth the trip, and the glass in your hand is even better.

Featured image: @ Sokol Blosser Winery