Wine | Where Sasha Went

Baldwin Saloon – The Dalles, Oregon

March 6, 2019

If you ever find yourself around the Gorge in Oregon you will likely have been in or near The Dalles. It is often pronounced, much to our amusement here in Oregon, like the city in Texas, but is not and I am not a linguist so have no clue how to write out how to properly say it.

Regardless of pronunciation it is one of the larger towns along the Columbia River, having been established in the 1840s as a major rail and river depot for families coming into the area via the Oregon Trail. It was featured in ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ as the home town of Cheif. Bobbie the Wonder dog trotted through the area on his way home to Silverton Oregon. It had a US Mint and was home to the single largest bio-terror attack in US History. Moral of the story it is a much more interesting town than it may look upon driving by it on the freeway with quite a few nice establishments to go along with its rich history.

But my favorite thing about The Dalles is The Baldwin Saloon. Situated just off the main road downtown it can be hard to find but it should not be missed. The saloon originally opened in 1876 over the years it has also been a restaurant, a steamboat office, a warehouse, a coffin storage site, and a saddle shop. In 1991 it was finally restored back to its original state and reopened as a bar and restaurant. The owners have taken great pride in bringing it back to life by keeping the old that was worth keeping and decorating it with antiques of all kinds.

Not only is it quite a lovely little place the food is outstanding. They offer lunch and dinner with a large variety of sandwiches and filling entrees as well as vegan options a plenty. And given their location their wine menu is of course impressive and extensive. So if you ever find yourself near the area I highly suggest you stop in, it is in my opinion the best place in the area by far.

Pike Road – Carlton, Oregon

December 6, 2017

Let me start of by saying I am totally biased. Oregon has the best wine tasting in the country. It probably mostly has to do with the fact that I can drive 10 minutes in any direction and hit a winery. And a lot to do with the fact that for now at least, it is not a horribly expensive outing.

Last summer for a town event I visited a new tasting room in one of my favorite small towns. The winery/tasting room being Pike Road, the town being Carlton. Carlton is known locally for producing the best pork that is distributed farm to table style to most restaurants in the area. But it also happens to be one of my favorite places to spent an evening.

Pike Road is a somewhat new addition to the town located in an old bank building, the vault which is still in use stores the wine bottles. The manager was pouring for us the night we were there. An extraordinarily kind and knowledgeable man who gave us the history of the winery, the sustainable practices they continue to maintain, the types of grapes and fermenting used to create their unique wines. I don’t think I have ever walked away from a tasting with more information and the wines we outstanding.

Cuvée – Carlton, Oregon

November 22, 2017

There are a lot of really great restaurants in the Yamhill/Willamette/Tualatin Valley area thanks in part to our robust wine industry. Up until recently I had focused most of my time dining at restaurants in the Portland area, there are so many great places there you could go out every night and never run out. Having recently moved out of the area has given me the excuse to branch out a bit and boy was I ever happy to have given that chance after enjoying an unforgettable meal at Cuvee in Carlton, Oregon.

The restaurant resides on the main street of Carlton, about half through through the one stop sign town in the heart of Oregon’s wine country. It offers dinner on a prix-fixe menu, letting you decide soup/salad, a main entrée and a dessert or a starter. I had been wanting to go for a while. So when I happen to be in town for an event with a friend we jumped at the chance to eat dinner there.

Everything looked too amazing to choose. So we chose to share, I chose the asparagus leek soup (hot) it was amazing. We shared pomme frites, even more amazing. Then we split the salmon and lamb stew, saying the entrees were a religious experience would be an understatement. The sauce on the salmon was quite literally the best thing I have ever eaten. And the lamb stew was so tender and full of flavor I think both of us nearly passed out from sheer ecstasy.

By the time our entrée rolled around we were already full but we pushed ahead anyway because it was too good not to, and then we pushed ahead again for the dessert we chose to share which was a crème caramel. I have never tasted anything so rich and so light at the same time. It was gone in an instant and we have both been dreaming about going back ever since.

Aside from the exquisite food, the waiter was incredibly kind and friendly. The dining room was bright and quiet. I could not recommend a better French Restaurant in Oregon and think even a drive from Portland is worth it.