Cathedral Ridge Winery sits at 4200 Post Canyon Drive in Hood River. It began in 1985 as Flerchinger Vineyards and took its present name when Robb Bell bought it in 2003. With Sonoma winemaker Michael Sebastiani, Bell turned the programme toward big red wines from around 15 Columbia Gorge vineyard partners, now more than 30 wines in all. A second tasting room operates in Dundee in the Willamette Valley.
Best for Big Columbia Gorge red wines from a Hood River tasting room
Cathedral Ridge Winery sits at 4200 Post Canyon Drive, five minutes outside downtown Hood River, Oregon. It takes its name from the knife-edge ridge that runs northwest off the summit of Mount Hood. The winery began in 1985 as Flerchinger Vineyards, a family operation founded by Don Flerchinger with a reputation for aromatic whites in an Alsatian style. Robb Bell, a Pittsburgh native who first hitchhiked into Hood River as a teenager in 1960, bought it in 2003 and renamed it. He brought in Michael Sebastiani, a fourth-generation Sonoma winemaker, to shift the programme toward big red wines from Columbia Gorge fruit. Bell serves as day-to-day cellarmaster while Sebastiani sets the protocols and does the blending. Wine Press Northwest named Cathedral Ridge its Oregon Winery of the Year in 2007. Around 15 local vineyard partners supply the grapes for more than 30 wines, from Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah to Zinfandel and Barbera. They are poured in a tasting room with a barrel room view of Underwood Mountain across the river. A second tasting room operates in Dundee in the Willamette Valley, and the grounds host weddings and events.
Édeske is a woman-owned boutique patisserie turning out European-style pastries and chocolates in downtown Hood River. The shop favors classic French technique over the valley's more rustic pie-and-crumble baking tradition.
Full Sail has brewed on the Hood River waterfront since 1987 and became employee-owned in 1999, a structure that kept it independent through decades of industry consolidation. Its riverside brewpub occupies a former cannery building overlooking the Columbia Gorge.
Hood Crest is a family-owned distillery and winery on Orchard Road that runs whole-fruit mash through a copper pot still in small batches. The operation sits within the same Hood River Valley orchards that supply its fermented fruit wines.
Hood River Distillers has bottled from the same Hood River facility since 1969, growing out of a 1934 business that first distilled brandy from surplus valley apples and pears. The company remains headquartered in town even as its whiskey, gin, vodka and tequila brands have expanded nationally.
Hood River Vineyards has poured wine from its Westwood Drive tasting room for close to four decades, among the longest-running wineries in the Columbia Gorge. The estate focuses on cool-climate varietals suited to the valley's volcanic soil and river-moderated climate.
Mt Hood Winery grows its grapes in the volcanic soils of the Hood River Valley within sight of the mountain it's named for. The tasting room pours estate reds, whites and rosé built on generations of family farming in the valley.
Pine Street Bakery turns out muffins, breakfast burritos and a signature peach kuchen from a 12th Street storefront, built around owner Megan's return home to Hood River from Portland. The menu shifts with the growing season, following whatever the valley's Fruit Loop orchards are picking.
Riverside Farms has grown apples and pears in the Hood River Valley since 1886 and now presses part of that harvest into farmhouse hard cider and perry under the River Cider label. Small-batch releases like Crazy Crow and Screech Owl are barrel-aged alongside the orchard's table fruit.
The Grateful Vineyard, run by Katrina and Kenny out of Parkdale, farms the southernmost vineyard site in the Columbia Gorge AVA and specializes in high-elevation sparkling Riesling and rosé. The family-owned tasting room also pours cider and beer made in partnership with nearby Golden Row Cider and Mt View Brewing.
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