The drive to King Estate Winery near Eugene, Oregon (in the Willamette Valley) is a long, winding road through beautiful trees and pasture. Your drive suddenly breaks out of the forest to acres and acres of vineyards. In the middle of the vineyards, on the top of a hill you see an enormous, stunning Tuscan villa surrounded with lavender and multi-colored flowers. A little like the Emerald City in the Land of OZ, but with grape vines replacing the poppies. Spectacular.
Mike and I sat on the patio and enjoyed the view looking out over the vineyard while we sipped wine and waited for our lunch. I had the pinot gris and Mike had the chardonnay, both were some of the best white wine we've had in a long time. Lunch was unbelievably good--I had smoked chicken in a wine butter sauce with local mushrooms and Mike had the hamburger. Not an ordinary hamburger, the buns are baked at the winery, estate cured bacon and all the fixin's are bought locally. And get this, they make their own ketchup. I didn't want the afternoon to end. Oh, and the service was over the top--from the guy who got us our table (he ran to clear off the table!) to the wine tasting bar server (she was a hoot!). Everyone made you feel welcome, comfortable, and most of all, NEVER hurried. Of course, we bought wine!
It was my fantasy of a Tuscan afternoon in Italy. Ahhh!
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