Edgefield Winery [August 2019]

Our first [winery] stop as we’re heading on our Portland/Multnomah Falls/Mount St. Helens Road trip is Edgefield Winery. It is actually in a little town outside of Portland called Troutdale. Founded in 1990, the winery has quite an interesting history, but let’s start with the name. McMenamins… is a family name and the brothers Mike and Brian, opened their first bar together back in 1983. It wouldn’t be long until the duo soon started an explosion of chains throughout Oregon and Washington. This includes pubs, restaurants, hotels, breweries, and other places of entertainment.

The timeline of their growth on the website is really fun to follow if you have a minute o take a look!! The McMenamins brothers added this popular, historic hotel complex siting on about 74 acres and a winery to their portfolio!! Okay, so now you get why we have the name McMenamins, now let’s discuss the Edgefield part. In 1911 Multnomah County built what they call a poor farm, including housing for the county’s poor. Over the next several decades the farm grew with as many as 600 residents, working together to support themselves while raising livestock and tending to their crops.

Again, over the next several decades the farming decreased, and the facility was turned into a nursing home. It was renamed Edgefield Manor and closed permanently in 1982. Fast forward back to 1990, this is when the McMenamins brothers purchased the farm, and they retained the Edgefield name. Brian and Mike transformed this place into a European-style village with their signature whimsy. They restored all the original buildings and added so much more. The main hall has over 100 guest rooms, rooms that do not have TV’s or phones. They want to encourage their guests to take a step back in time to enjoy some peace and quiet!!

In addition to several restaurants, they offer multiple gardens with towering trees to wind your way through, a day spa, soaking pools, a golf course, a movie theater, a distillery, a brewery, and most importantly [to me anyways hahaha] a winery!! You can also watch a glass blower or a potter... each crafting their wares on site. I had no idea when Katie and I were tasting wine that all of this was going on around us!! WOW!! I thought the tasting room was lovely and the “either give me wine or leave me alone” printed on the top of the menu seemed to suit us just fine!! LOL

They offered a wide range of wines to choose from, such as big bold Washington Cabernet Sauvignons and Syrahs, to elegant Oregon Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. They also served Pinot Gris, Riesling, Rose, and even dessert wines!! If I remember correctly there were several wines here we really enjoyed. Maybe it was the Black Rabbit Red, or the White Rabbit??  However, due to our road trip status, I do not believe we bought any to take along with us. I mean we have places to go, things to see and do, and [of course] more wine to taste!! Haha!!

This region of the Pacific Northwest is world renowned for its wine. Something that gives Edgefield an edge [see what I did there!? Hehehe!!] is that they run the winemaking operation in the middle of their public space. This simply means that you can watch the winemakers do their thing as you sit and enjoy your wine!! I honestly do not remember seeing this, but our schedule is usually so jammed pack full of fun, beautiful, and interesting destinations and activities that I am sure if we didn’t catch the winemaker, he wasn’t there in our "allotted" amount of time for this winery!! HA!!

At next weeks wine bar, [The Portland Wine Bar to be exact...] Wine with Wixy will be in the heart of downtown Portland. You're gonna want to tune in because Katie did not disappoint... she is keeping it very weird!! LOL Sadly, this will be the last wine tasting that is on our itinerary of the "weeklong wine tasting extravaganza" we embarked on.

Join us as we try to navigate and find parking in the giant looking [next to Steele anyways] red 4-door pickup truck that we are using for this road trip. I guess it was much more comfortable to accommodate three, [Shawn, Katie, and myself] especially with the miles we were putting on!!

Cheers to you my wine loving friends, and TTFN!!