Located about 30 minutes southwest of Portland near the city of Sherwood, you’ll find a stunning 50-acre estate with cascading rows of hillside vineyards, elegant groves of evergreens and the perfect perch to catch sunsets in any season from a rooftop terrace.
Set in the Willamette Valley’s world-famous wine country, Hawks View Winery is a family-run, sustainably farmed winery that primarily produces small lots of pinot noir, pinot gris and chardonnay. You’ll also find exceptional sparkling wines and a small planting of friulano, a white grape variety from northeastern Italy, as a tribute to the owner’s Italian heritage.
One of the many perks of its tasting room is a year-round menu and extended hours. It’s also one of the few wineries where you can enjoy yoga, winter fondue and sunsets from a rooftop terrace. Here are a few more ways to take advantage of this charming vineyard throughout the seasons.
Morning Yoga and Sparkling Wine
In the summertime, blue-sky days offer a postcard view of snowcapped Mt. Hood that you can take in while lounging in Adirondack chairs. It’s the perfect setting to toast with a glass of bubbles, and Hawks View makes two sparkling wines with pinot noir grapes. There’s the blanc de noirs with golden peach notes and a sparkling rosé with bright berry flavors.
Another prime spot to raise a flute to the long-awaited sunny season is the dog-friendly picnic area — it’s recently reopened and offers casual bar service and sensational views. Or reserve a spot for yoga on the lawn, a popular series that ends with mimosas.
Grape Harvest and Autumn Dishes
When pinot noir clusters hang heavy from the vines and the air turns brisk, there’s no place like wine country. And part of the magic here is that you can get a bird’s-eye view of the winemaking process from the tasting room through floor-to-ceiling windows that survey the grand Fermentation Hall.
In the fall you can watch trucks wheel in crates of ripe pinot clusters that get sorted into giant fermentation tanks. It’s an artful and fascinating process that’s always insightful to experience. Even though it’s a busy season, there are still occasional events that range from winery tours and wine-blending classes to the art of food and wine pairing.
Luckily, you can match the earthy estate pinots with seasonal bites from the menu whenever you visit. In addition to snacky offerings — like a charcuterie and cheese board with bites from Olympia Provisions and an array of pickled vegetables, dried fruits and nuts — there’s also a selection of seasonal soups and salads.
For an elegant, small-lot red, try the Muirfield pinot noir. It hails from the first block planted on the estate in the early ’80s. An ideal match for this single-vineyard bottling is their savory flatbread with roasted portobello mushrooms, Grana Padano cheese and radicchio drizzled with buttery olive oil from the winery’s sister estate in California.
Celebrate Cellar Season With Classic Fondue
In winter the scene features barrels stacked to soaring heights in the winery and evergreen trees laced with mist from the rooftop terrace. It’s cellar season, which brings a sense of calm and quiet beauty. It also marks the return of this winery’s most popular dish: a soul-satisfying and very shareable cheese fondue.
For a hygge moment, you can savor it on the rooftop terrace, which is covered and heated for the season. The winery also provides blankets to elevate the cozy vibes. Your winter sipper? Try a glass of Petit Coeur, which is French for “little heart.” This port-style red is a blend of three different vintages of estate pinot noir, and it has a velvety texture with notes of blackberry, cocoa and baking spices.
Live Music, Budbreak, Spring Gatherings
Early spring awakenings in the vineyard are always a welcome sight. You’ll start to see the growth of new shoots and the pop of bright-green tips on the grapevine. It’s also when winery events return on a greater scale with winemaker dinners, live music on Friday evenings and other seasonal celebrations.
Spring brings new wine releases, including a fresh and fruity Carbonic pinot noir. Made in a style that’s rapidly growing in popularity, Carbonic Maceration is the process of putting whole grape clusters (stems and all) into tanks that are filled with carbon dioxide before crushing them. In this oxygen-free setting, the grapes ferment from the inside, which leads to a peppy and ready-to-drink red wine. In the glass, you’ll taste bubble gum, juicy strawberries and the sense of vibrancy that arrives with spring.
If You Go
Walk-ins are welcome but reservations are recommended, and booking online is a breeze. There are multiple tasting venues that cater to groups of all sizes, including a rooftop terrace, an expansive outdoor deck, and the airy and light-filled Legacy Tasting Room.
