While on a business trip to Portland earlier this week, I decided to break away in the afternoon and visit a few wineries in the Dundee/Carlton area. I had planned to stop by several wineries, but due to traffic, stoplights, and slower speed limits in the Willamette Valley, found the common 5:00 pm closing hour quickly approaching. My primary target had been Carlton, where the Anne Amie winery is located, but upon arriving Dundee at 4:30 pm, I realized that time would allow for just one visit.

Fortunately, a signpost appeared pointing the way to the Lange Estate Winery and Vineyards, a place I had discovered by reading The Grail. As I drove several miles from HW99 into the hills of Yamhill County, my excitement grew with every turn that brought a vineyard into view. Now this is true wine country! And it was just a beautiful site seeing rows of grape vines with leaves turning gold and their bright purple berries ready to be harvested. The Dundee Hills lived up to their reputation on this stormy day, as each sun break brought the hills to light in all of their fall glory.

The Lange Estate Winery is a picturesque place located on the top of hill overlooking the valley below. The estate's vineyards surround the winery, with rows of vines sloping gently down the hill. It's a beautiful location and a place that invites you to have a picnic or at the very least enjoy your wine outside, weather permitting. With only 15 minutes before closing time, I took in as much as I could outdoors before quickly entering the tasting room to sample some wine.

In the tasting room, I was greeted by Joann, whom I had spoken with on the phone on the way up to ensure they would remain open, as sometimes a tasting room will close early if there is no one around. Joann immediately got me started on tasting their white wines, starting with the '06 reserve chardonnay. She then offered a taste of their '06 Bricolage Blanc, an "off-dry" gewurztraminer that had 2% residual sugar. With several pinot noirs yet to taste, I politely declined the sweet wine knowing that it might throw things off with the reds. Joann then proceeded to pour their '06 reserve pinot noir, the '05 Dundee Hills Vineyard pinot noir, and finally the '05 Freedom Hills Vineyard pinot noir.

In the middle of my sampling, I noticed on the tasting notes there was a $10 fee for trying the flight. I asked Joann if the fee was refundable with a wine purchase. To my dismay, fees were non-refundable, regardless of how much wine you purchased.

I had heard about this practice becoming more of the norm in the valley from Alder at Vinography, who with good reason lambasted certain Oregon wineries for their profiteering of tasting room fees. I have to agree with Alder - this is highway robbery. I can understand why wineries might charge for a tasting, but to not refund this when purchasing wine is downright greedy. In fact, I make it a practice to try to buy as much wine direct as I can, knowing wineries get their best margins selling in this manner. But to have Lange and other Oregon wineries penalize these direct purchases by not refunding tasting fees is unconscionable.

Upon learning of Lange's policy from Joann, the bucolic image crafted by Brian Doyle in The Grail was suddenly shattered. Where once I thought of this outfit as artisans expressing their craft, I now saw them as business people pursuing higher profit. It just turned me off entirely. I can see why Alder was so enraged after experiencing this greed at several wineries in the Willamette Valley. It's just wrong, no matter how you look at it.

The tasting fee aside, I did find Lange a pleasant experience in terms of setting, service and staff. Joann was friendly and knowledgeable. However, I had hoped for some kind of connection to the people and place surrounding me. There were no vineyard maps to point to when Joann described where the wine's grapes were sourced from. There was just one story shared when I asked who Lange was and how it came about. I already knew the answer to my question, but wanted to ask anyway to see if something new could be discovered and learned during my visit.

Unfortunately, the only thing I discovered was that Lange Estate Winery is more interested in profit margins than they are in maintaining me as a customer. And the only thing I learned is that my next winery visits in the Willamette Valley will only include those who refund tasting fees with a wine purchase. Would I return to Lange? Maybe for the setting and view, but certainly not to taste wine.

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