Natural boundaries and the Willamette River create the 100-mile long, 60-mile wide Willamette Valley, home to more than 300 Oregon wineries and many wine shops.  Coolest of Oregon's wine regions, this elongated, "V"-shaped Valley is bordered to the north by the Columbia River, to the south by the Calapooya Mountains (south of Eugene), to the east by the Cascade Mountain foothills, and to the west by Oregon's Coast Range.
 

Stangeland Vineyards near Salem in the Mid-Willamette Valley

    Considered to be a cool, marginal wine-growing region, the Willamette Valley's climate is suited to a narrower range of wine grape varieties than many other American wine regions.  Its average temperatures are cooler than 75% of Washington's wine growing areas... not surprisingly, since almost all Oregon wineries are located to the west -- the "wet side" -- of the Cascade Mountains,  while most Washington wineries are located to the east of the range.  The Valley's climate is particularly well matched to the early-ripening Pinot noir grape, for which Oregon wineries in the region are strongly identified. 

      When the Willamette Valley AVA was first authorized 1984, its geographic description included some 3.3 million acres!  Twenty years later, winemakers and wine growers succeeded in submitting applications for approval of six sub-regions within the Willamette Valley, to better describe micro climates proven over the years to be distinctly suited for the growing of wine grapes.  McMinnville Foothills, Dundee Hills, Ribbon Ridge, the Yamhill-Carlton District, Eola-Amity Hills District and the Chehalem Mountains were all authorized as official American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) in 2005 and 2006. 

   Most of the wine grapes grown in the Willamette Valley come from vineyards located on bench-land hillsides in the western portion of the Valley.  To its north, the Willamette Valley includes Oregon's largest city, the beautiful Portland, Oregon, providing travelers a wide variety of amenities while visiting this beautiful wine country and the many local Oregon wineries.
 

Navigating the Willamette Valley AVA
and its sub appellations

   Wines Northwest organizes the huge Willamette Valley AVA/appellation into three sections - North, South and East.  Detailed maps - including winery names, tasting room hours and map locations - are linked to from the map below.

Click on the map regions of your choice below
for a closer look and the locations of wineries.

To print just this map, place your cursor over the map,
right click and choose PRINT from the menu.