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Anne Amie is a pretty large winery by Oregon standards: about 15,000 cases per year.  Our friend, Anissa, had recommended them and suggested we take the tour, so we decided to give it a go.

The Anne Amie winery sits on top of a large hill, surrounded by vineyards.  As we drove up, we could see that almost all the grapes had been picked, but there were a few blocks that still had grapes, protected by netting.

Anne Amie sits on top of a hill amidst beautiful vineyards

The winery has a beautiful tasting room with many displays of their vineyards, their soils, and of course, a tasting room bar.  We had set up a tour and were met by our guide Erin, wine glasses and bottles in hand.

Anne Amie Vineyards has a beautiful tasting room.

Our first stop was out on the terrace where we took in their amazing view of the Willamette Valley.  Erin shared the winery history and  the various vineyards they own.  Next we went out into the vineyard where we saw how they manage their vines.  The Pinot Noir grapes at the home vineyard had already been harvested, but we did taste a few stragglers.  These weren’t on the primary bunches so they are ripe but sometimes they’re still tart.  These were great!

After a brief talk in the tasting room, Erin took us out into the vineyard.

Erin explained that some of the white grapes: Riesling and Muller-Thurgau were still finishing up their ripening.  We found these vines on our way out after the tour; they sure look ready!

Some Muller-Thurgau grapes, almost ready to pick at Anne Amie.

After the vineyard, we toured around the winery.  During crush, it is a really busy place.  There’s activity everywhere.

As we toured the winery, we met lots of busy workers. We recognized the hydrometer for testing sugar levels in the juice.

In a bigger winery, the equipment is similar to smaller wineries, just bigger and more of it!

Cleaning seems to be a constant job at a winery.

Anne Amie typically uses around 25% new oak in aging their wines.  We saw a huge stack of new barrels, ready for use.  The used barrels on the opposite wall presented an equally large facade, except they were also 3 barrels deep.

90 new French oak barrels, over $1000 each!

Next we met the winemaker, Thomas Houseman.  Most of the discussion was on their barrels, French oak in general, and Thomas’ favorites – these”Elegance” barrels.   He likes their “winemaker’s approach to barrel making” with barrels monitored, sampled, and tested for their readiness to age wine.

Thomas Houseman, the winemaker explained the careful process of selecting barrels. He particularly likes this barrel maker.

We finished up the tour back in the tasting room, where we tasted a couple of special wines and also their dessert wines.  Erin was a wonderful host, and we really enjoyed the tour.  We took home a bottles of their L’Iris Pinot Noir reserve and a very lovely Prisme’ Pinot Noir Blanc!  The Prisme’ will be our introduction to  white Pinot Noir, regular Pinot Noir grapes vinified like a white wine.

An amazing view from the top of the Anne Amie vineyard.

If you’re in Willamette Valley, I  highly recommend visiting Anne Amie Vineyards.  The tour is well worth the $30 cost as you get an in-depth tour, tastings of a wide variety of wines, and a Riedel Oregon Pinot Noir glass as a souvenir.  Thanks, Anne Amie, and thanks to Erin our guide!

Happy visitors at Anne Amie Vineyards.