The fertile rolling hills southwest of Portland, Oregon are home to some of the best wines in America. Lacking the masses drawn to many other wine regions, the bucolic Willamette Valley may be America’s most civilized wine region.

The Oregon wine country is the polar opposite of Napa or Long Island. It is quiet, with the wineries generally up in the hills and away from the main road. Thankfully, the signs are well marked and the traffic tends to be light, so getting around is easy even in “busy” season. You will need to allot at least two days to explore the valley with any sort of depth as the wineries tend to have shorter hours than in other wine countries and are often some distance away from each other up curving roads.

While the region is well known for its Pinot Noirs, the variety of wines produced is impressive, running the gamut from Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc to Merlot and Syrah. At most wineries, you will find some of these varietals in addition to the region’s star grape: Pinot Noir.

The small town of Dundee is the gateway to the wine region, so to speak. Right in the center on Rte 99W is Argyle Winery Tasting Room. Argyle is one of America’s top sparkling wine producers and there will be several to taste, but the winery also produces a range of underrated whites and reds. Their Nuthouse Chardonnay ($35) and 2000 Blanc de Blanc Sparkling Wine ($40) are recent standouts.

The Ponzi Wine Bar, across from Argyle in a small shopping center, is part of Ponzi Winery. The tasting room, however, has a rotating selection of wines from several wineries including Ponzi, so you can try a variety when you visit. It also has a selection of small plate dishes, mainly cheese and charcuterie style to accompany the wines. For lunch or dinner, the Dundee Bistro next door is a good choice for an inexpensive meal.

Domaine Drouhin is up in the hills, across from the Wine Country Farm B&B. This was a groundbreaking winery for Oregon when it opened in 1988. Created by Robert Drouhin, head of Burgundy’s Maison Joseph Drouhin, and his winemaker daughter Veronique, the winery aspired to levels previously unheard of for Willamette. The winery is nestled into a hill with expansive views of the valley and has a beautiful tasting room. The signature wine is a full bodied Pinot Noir called Laurene, named for one of Veronique’s daughters. The current release is the 2004 vintage, retailing for $65. Drouhin also brings in wines from the winery in France, a comparative bargain since you are not paying in Euros. One wine in the four-wine tasting will generally be French.

Sokol Blosser is another groundbreaking winery, but for an entirely different reason. The vineyard is certified organic and the winery was the first in the nation to receive the prestigious LEED certification from the United States Green Building Council. Best known for the signature Evolution, a blend of nine different grapes, the winery makes a variety of wines, including Oregon’s prized Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir.

The best place to taste wine is undoubtedly the Bellevue Market and Oregon Wine Tasting Room, located on Rte. 18 south of the town of McMinnville, about a 30 minute drive from Dundee. This gourmet shop stocks wines from 120 Oregon wineries and the staff has an incredible depth of knowledge about each of them. At any given time, they have over a dozen whites and reds open to taste. If you hang out long enough, they’re bound to open more. Just don’t expect to get out in a hurry, things move a lot slower in the country.

On your way back towards Dundee, keep your eyes peeled for a hand-painted sign on the side of the road reading “honey.” Take the turnoff and then make a sharp left up a dirt driveway for a secret treat, the Ehry’s honey stand. The yard is hardly kempt and the pickup trucks give it a decidedly downscale feel, but ignore the surroundings and make your way to a little hutch with a few jars of honey in it. Heed the “thou shall not steal sign” and deposit exactly $7 for a 24oz jar of blackberry honey. You likely won’t see another soul, but the experience is worth it. And then you get to taste some of the best honey around.

The dozens and dozens of wineries producing world-class wines may be the reason most people visit, but the Willamette Valley is the kind of place meant to be roamed for days – leisurely paced with rolling hills and small towns giving it an old fashioned feel. These days that is quite a luxury indeed.