Robin and I have been searching for the Oregon equivalent of The Tides Tavern. The Tides is a bay front bar in Gig Harbor with outdoor seating and an amazing view of Mount Rainier. Whenever the weather turns nice we think fondly of the Tides. Now we think we've found it! It's The Fresh Palette Cafe just west of McMinnville. They have a beautiful outdoor seating area which sits up and away from the highway. We were in the mood for some Pinot Noir, and the waitress brought us out three to try, two from the McMinnnville AVA, and one from Zenith Vineyard. Since we've had the McMinnville wines we tried the Zenith, and it was wonderful. Just their second vintage with a beautiful, rich, dark fruit presentation. And, as you can see, the size of the glass and the size of the pour were very generous. We now need to add Zenith Vineyards to our "go and see" list.We went out to lunch to try and escape all of the construction activity around the house (under the house?) I love The Fresh Palette because they always have locally grown foods, and often times have fresh fish from the Oregon coast. In the photo above Robin is having the special artichoke and cream of tomato soup. It was outstanding and paired beautifully with the Zenith Pinot Noir. I had a crab sandwich made with fresh, Oregon Dungeoness crab. Yummmmmy! They have a wonderful focaccia bread that I just love. After your meal, as you are climbing down the steps look up and to your right. There is a power pole that is telling you something. It's
leaning in the direction you should be driving your car. Take this beautiful Muddy Valley Road back to McMinnville. You can follow the directions of that pole to some wonderful wine tasting. Coleman Vineyard is just down the road and around the corner. Coleman is only open major weekends and by appointment, so call ahead if you want to go for a taste. They have amazing hospitality, and their son is the apprentice winemaker, but can't really make wine until he at least gets out of middle school.Follow that power pole for about two miles and you come to my favorite winery, Maysara. I've talked a lot about them, so scroll down for more information. Maysara is open most days from noon until 5.