We really had a fun, educational experience at Winderlea. John greeted us warmly on arrival, and allowed us to move through the tasting at our pace, interspersing his information about the wines we were drinking with personal stories and anecdotes that made us feel like we were in a friend's living room. He even moved off the prescribed tasting menu and poured us a couple of extra wines that he thought we'd like. As others have mentioned, the tasting fee is higher than most, but since it is basically a charitable donation, it's not a big deal. We left with a couple of bottles of our favorites and will look for Winderlea wines in the future. Thanks, John, from your Texas fans!
Must see and do for summertime in Oregon. Gorgeous views, delicious wine and great local chefs providing pairing of food with thier wines. Fidays only thru the summer. Let's you get a crack at the library wines as well. Very graciously hosted by the winery owners and an intimate affair of 8 -12 depending on the week. You will not want to leave. I have taken two different groups on two separate years and it was spot on both years. You will not get any attitude just relaxed conversation with the winery owners, stories of the property and you'll feel like a VIP. Who needs date night, I guarantee that this is a home run for that special someone.
Three couples of friends on a 4 day weekend in the Portland area. We took a day in the Willamette Valley for wine tasting and were sorely received by the nasty snot with long brunette hair behind the wine bar. We had just come from Crumbled Rock Winery next door (very friendly, welcoming people). We walked through the door and promptly moved past the wine bar in an effort to clear the entrance as more people were coming in behind us when the snot behind the bar snarked, "What? Did they just come for the view?" Not ony did they have an outrageous tasting fee of $20 but they were rude on top of it. Unfortunately a couple members from our group hadn't heard the nasty comment and ponied up their twenties and even more unfortunately, they bought a bottle of wine :-( Once we explained why the rest of us ran out and waited on the grounds they were sorry to have given them the business. However, it we went on to Lange's Winery just a few miles down the road and were more than warmly rec'd....even better view and far less pretentious yet nonetheless a cool, well kept tasting room. The staff was great and knowledgable and we gladly bough a case of wine! All of Don's wines were wonderful! We couldn't decide on which one we loved more. So, Wunderless....take a lesson on hospitality...or don't. (I see a couple other similar reviews here-maybe someone should take notice.) This just happened on Saturday, August 23, 2014.
The Winderlea Winery and Tasting room is one of the coolest places in Oregon and as a bonus the wines are pretty darn cool. The architechture is crisp, clean and modern with a killer view from the massive roll up doors and patio. The tasting fee is donated to a charity providing dental and medical services for the farm workers which is a great idea.
A friend recommended Winderlea and our guide had not experienced this excellent winery. A perfect time of year for personal service from John and Reid. What a beautiful venue and great wines. Definitely worth a stop.
We picked this winery based on good reviews we'd read. This was our third stop of the day and we were getting a little hungry and decided to eat a snack before tasting their wines. We asked if we could sit and eat our cheese and crackers before tasting, but they said no. We thought that was really strange, it wasn't crowded at all and they didn't have food available for sale. So we went to our car to eat our snack. We were going to leave but we'd driven all that way. We went back in and they were more accommodating that time. The wines were nice and the views were superb. They let us go walk around a check out their vines after we tasted. We met the owner and turns out she was just on a trip to visit our area and we'll get getting their wine at a local store soon.
Cynthia,Thank you for taking the time to write a review of your visit to Winderlea from last October. We appreciate your feedback very much. We pride ourselves on providing a fun and educational tasting experience, and are always sorry to hear when we fall short of that. We hope that you will decide to give us another chance in the future. If and when you do, please give us a ring or drop me an email Reid@winderlea.com, so I can meet you to learn more about your previous, and take care of you personally during your visit.All the best,Reid OliverManager of Hospitality and Tasting Room Sales503-554-5900
I cannot deny that these wines are very good and the view is stunning. But with all due respect, the winery and people exude a bit of a better-than-you attitude. It started with a look of dismissal and comments under the breath as we entered the tasting room and were drawn to the view before the tasting. I won't repeat the comments, but they tainted our visit with a sour note. The $20 tasting fee is also the highest I think you can find in the area. Granted the fee, or a portion, go to a charitable cause, but it is still a steep price to pay to find out if their wines are even tolerable.In the end, the loss was their's. Our multi-hundred dollar case wine buying went to another winery with outstanding wines and an absolutely congenial attitude (Lange).
beautiful location and great service! we came here on a Tuesday right as the doors were about to close and the gentleman who was pouring was kind enough to let us still have a tasting. we were given lots of great info on the pinot and eventually became members. the views are spectacular and the facilities are so clean and modern.
My daughter and went wine tasting. I liked the name winder lea so that was first one we visited . The views are serene hills vines peaceful Loved it. The wine tasting was $20 for 4 separate wines. The "sips" we're fairly small but the staff was lovely. They explained the tasting fee funds the retirement fund for their workers. It was worth the price to sit and view the scenery