It’s porch pounder season!!! 🍷
With warmer weather finally here, it’s the perfect time of year to sit outside, soak up the sunshine, and enjoy a glass of wine. Summer calls for lighter, fresher wines—bottles that can be served chilled, enjoyed on their own, and shared with friends on long evenings outdoors.
Over the past few months, I’ve spent a lot of time exploring wineries throughout the Willamette Valley, tasting everything from sparkling rosĂ© to Gamay Noir. Along the way, I’ve discovered a handful of wines that stand out as ideal summer sippers.
This list includes three rosĂ©s (two sparkling and one still), four white wines, and three reds. While the Willamette Valley is best known for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, one of the things I’ve loved most about exploring Oregon wine is discovering the incredible range of varieties being grown here. Winemakers throughout the Valley continue to experiment with different grapes and styles, producing wines that showcase both creativity and a strong sense of place.
I’ve included tasting notes, pricing, and links to each winery’s website, and I’ve organized the wines from lightest to fullest-bodied.
Let’s get into it! 🙂
abbey road farm 2024 estate sparkling rosé
This wine is truly one of my favorites I’ve tried in the Valley so far, because it’s so memorable and so fun! It’s made from half Pinot Noir and half Pinot Meunier. When my friend and I tasted this wine for the first time, we were in awe at the color–vibrant, almost coral pink. It’s got notes of strawberry, watermelon candy, soft florals, and raspberry cream.
I also highly recommend Abbey Road Farm’s 2024 Estate Blanc de Blanc for another killer sparkling wine. It’s fresh and lively, with green apple, citrus, and the perfect hint of brioche!
$36 – Abbey Road Farm website
Remy nv pop! sparkling rosé
All of Remy’s wines are incredibly well done. This is the ultimate porch pounder–super light, crisp, and refreshing. It’s made with 100% pinot noir and has notes of strawberry, peony, raspberry cream, and grapefruit, with a nice acidity to balance it out. Also, the label is awesome.
$25 – Remy website
résonance 2025 willamette valley rose
This still rosĂ© is probably my favorite I’ve tried in the Valley. It’s bright and aromatic, with notes of watermelon candy (sour patch watermelon), peach, and delicate notes of rose petal. The perfect shade of cotton candy pink, it’s perfect for a hot day by the pool or a picnic.
$36 – RĂ©sonance website
de ponte 2025 melon de bourgone
Melon de Bourgogne is one of the less common varieties grown in the Willamette Valley, making this wine feel especially unique. The nose is extremely aromatic, with notes of citrus, white flower, peach, and apricot. It’s extremely light–almost clear in color and has a nice acidity to balance it out.
$32 – De Ponte website
maysara 2024 arsheen pinot gris
Y’all. You need to try this wine. It’s extremely complex and has such an incredible value. It’s highly aromatic, with notes of honeysuckle, jasmine, and lemon candy. The palate is so well-balanced. I’m typically not a Pinot Gris drinker, but I ended up bringing a bottle home after my tasting at Maysara. (Forgot to get a picture of the Pinot Gris while I was there…but all of Maysara’s wines, white and red, are worth trying).
$18 – Maysara website
degustas’ milieu 2022 chardonnay
This chardonnay is extremely easy drinking and pleasant, but still balanced so nicely. I’d describe it as humble and low-key, but still a fantastic wine–it kind of takes you by surprise! It’s got notes of fresh lemon, lemon curd, and honeysuckle, and is extremely smooth on the palate with a long, subtle finish.
$50 – Degustas’ website
white walnut 2024 white walnut vineyard chardonnay
The 2023 vintage of this wine was awarded #16 Top U.S. wines of 2025 by James Suckling…so yeah, it’s really good. This might be my favorite Chardonnay I’ve tried ever: incredibly layered and constantly changing. Green apple, lime zest, and citrus gradually gave way to golden apple and lemon curd. One of the most fascinating things about this wine is how it continues to evolve in the glass, revealing new aromas and flavors with each sip.
$60 – White Walnut website
white rose 2022 convivial feast pinot noir
This Pinot Noir from White Rose is on the lighter side of pinots, making it a fantastic red wine for the summer. Known for their whole-cluster approach to Pinot Noir, White Rose produces wines that balance elegance, freshness, and structure. It’s youthful and fruit driven, with blackberry and red fruit. It’s pretty light and soft on the palate, but still has tannin to give it structure.
Pictured above is the 2022 Explorer’s Club Yeast Series Pinot Noir, another excellent medium-bodied pinot for a summer sunset. They’re pouring through the last of the 2022 vintage now at White Rose, so make sure you grab a bottle while there’s still some left!
$70 – White Rose website
furioso 2023 L’altra pinot noir
I love this pinot from Furioso and I think about it almost every day. It’s a medium-bodied pinot with notes of bright cherry, cola, and ripe red fruit. It’s approachable but still lightly complex, which again makes it perfect for summer.
$62 – Furioso website
brooks 2024 gamay noir
This Gamay Noir from Brooks is the boldest on the list, but it’s still a fruit-forward, medium-bodied wine, so nothing too heavy at all. It’s got bold black peppercorn and pomegranate notes, and it’s well rounded and structured on the palate. As someone who gravitates toward Gamay, this was one of the standout wines from my tasting at Brooks.
$45 – Brooks website
final thoughts
Whether you’re spending the afternoon on the porch, heading to the coast, relaxing by the pool, or packing a picnic for the park, any of these wines would be right at home in your cooler this summer.
What impressed me most while putting together this list was the diversity of wines being produced throughout the Willamette Valley. Yes, Oregon excels at Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but some of the most exciting bottles I’ve tasted have come from varieties like Melon de Bourgogne, Gamay Noir, and Pinot Gris.
If there’s one takeaway from this list, it’s that Oregon wine deserves far more attention than it gets. The quality, creativity, and sense of place found in these wines is remarkable, and I can’t wait to continue exploring more of what the Valley has to offer.
What wines should I try next? 🍷
Thanks for reading 🙂
Leave a Reply