POLK COUNTY, Ore. (AP) -- Singer Vicki Stevens' band already had been entertaining Emerson Vineyards visitors with several tunes by the time the singer walked into the tasting room at 12:25 Saturday afternoon.
"Oh! Right on time," Emerson proprietor Tom Johns kidded the entertainer.
"They always start out first and get it rolling for me," Stevens quipped.
Stevens, of Springfield, likes visiting the rural Polk County site. She had entertained at several functions at Johns' young establishment. The bucolic setting is a bonus for Emerson, and Stevens ticks off a list of reasons why she gives the place a double thumbs up.
"Tom is a hoot and a half, and he's so great at (hosting)," she said. "This is a family place, and he always has awesome people here, and awesome food and, of course, the wine."
Set amid a backdrop of rolling coast-range foothills, Emerson's surroundings are a draw in themselves.
But it's the wine that's bringing people to the Willamette Valley's rural roads this weekend, the traditional time for the Thanksgiving weekend wine tour events.
Emerson is one of the more far-flung, located barely more than a mile from the Benton County border. Close enough that Johns recently was named as chairman of the Benton County Winery Association. In that neck of the woods, Airlie Winery and Olsen Family Vineyards/Viridian join Emerson in holding respites for wine tourists.
"For many years we were alone out here," Airlie owner Mary Olson said of her 23-year-old winery about seven miles west of Emerson. "Now there are several more, and that is nice."
Two friendly Irish setters, Riley and Rocky, greet Airlie visitors, of which there were around 200 on Friday, roughly the same number Emerson saw. Both were seeing steady traffic Saturday as well. In lieu of a tasting fee, Olson accepts donations for local dog shelters and food banks.
Emerson is more than 10 miles south of Monmouth, but collectively the vineyards offer a select variety to make the tour worthwhile. Emerson is sampling six and Airlie 11, while Olsen serves up several Viridian varieties.
Closer to Monmouth and Dallas, a number of newer vineyards have sprouted up to create a winemaking valley through Bursell, Ballard and Whitaker roads.
Amalie Robert Estate co-owner Dena Drews prefers that visitors travel over Mistletoe Road to Bursell Road, affording them a pleasant panorama en route to the winery's tasting room.
Farther up the road, the Ford family's Illahe Vineyards and Winery is perched perfectly for views of Mount Jefferson, Mary's Peak, Western Oregon University and, on clear days, the Three Sisters. Logan and PowPow, a black lab and a golden retriever, greet Illahe visitors in much the same welcoming fashion as the Airlie pooches. Brad Ford is also training two hefty Percheron steeds to work the grape fields.
"The idea is to make things as pure and natural as we can," he said. "We make small batches. We don't use enzymes; we don't use concentrators; we don't fine our reds, and we don't filter."
