The Associated Press

DUNDEE, Ore. -- After sampling wines at a vineyard's tasting room atop a hill overlooking Dundee, a traveler heads for her car in the parking lot. She stops in her tracks, drinking in another Oregon specialty: the scenery.

The view is like a Thomas Cole painting, a vision of idyllic tranquility. Off in the distance looms snowy Mount Hood and the rest of the Cascade Range. Stretching for 180 miles between the Cascades and the hilltop vineyard is the Willamette Valley, a veritable Garden of Eden with its orchards, golden fields and plantations of hazelnut trees.

"You have to see this view," the traveler says to her friend, who was coming out of the Erath Vineyard's tasting room.

Back in the 1840s, tales about the richness of the Willamette Valley lured legions of pioneers to head out on the Oregon Trail in ox-drawn covered wagons.

Still producing pinot noir

These days, that same soil is producing some of the best pinot noir in the world. Visitors travel from vineyard to vineyard to sample it -- traveling by car, with tour groups, on bicycle and in limos provided by a company that arranges winery tours for business executives.

They are drawn not just to the wines but also to the easy pace and enduring rural nature of Oregon's wine country. Dundee still looks like a little farm town. But within a 12-mile radius are about two dozen wineries.

In Dundee alone are Erath, Argyle Winery, Domaine Drouhin Oregon, Duck Pond Cellars, Dundee Springs, Lange Estate Winery, Sokol Blosser Winery. Nearby are Rex Hill, Adelsheim, Chehalem, Bergstroen and Lawton wineries in Newberg; Chateau Benoit, Cuneo Cellars, Domaine Meriwether, Hamacher and Laurel Ridge wineries in Carlton; Archery Summit and Domaine Serene Vineyards in Dayton; Champoeg Wine Cellars in Aurora, and Yamhill Valley Vineyards in McMinnville.

The area also has some prize-winning restaurants, all of which feature Oregon wines.

Twenty-five or so travelers were inside Erath's tasting room on a recent day. Most were from the Pacific Northwest. Some were from California. A South African man had just left with a few bottles tucked under his arm.

Even visitors from France admit liking Oregon's pinot wines, although some grudgingly.

"They say 'eez not bad,"' says Liz Demuch, as she pours a taste of a 2000 pinot noir into a visitor's glass.

One of Dundee's vineyards -- Domaine Drouhin Oregon -- was founded by Maisson Joseph Drouhin, a well-known wine-producing company based in the Burgandy region of France.

Some people who tour tasting rooms in the Willamette Valley know their way around fine wines. They are the ones who look like they know what they are doing when they sniff a glass of wine, swirl it around in their mouths and then spit it out, ready to try the next vintage.

Among them on a recent day were John and Barbara Calabrese of Mission Viejo, Calif. They had visited about half a dozen Oregon vineyards so far that day, and after Erath they were off to another.

Free sampling

One of the attractions of Oregon vineyards, John Calabrese says, is that here there is no charge for sampling wine.

There are also neophytes among the visitors, people dropping in out of curiosity. They needn't be self-conscious about their limited knowledge of viniculture. The people who work in the tasting rooms are just as friendly to folks who are accustomed to boxed wine as to those with fussy palates.

Some people grumble that a good Oregon pinot noir can be pricey. But you don't have too look too far to find a drinkable pinot for $15 or so.

At Erath, Liz Demuch was offering friendly advice from behind the bar.

"This wine goes nicely with shellfish," she tells an elderly woman wearing a straw summer hat.

Oregon boasts about 200 wineries, second only to California. There were only five wineries in the state in 1975. Oregon ranks fourth in wine production, behind California, Washington state and New York. Oregon wine sales were about $195 million in 2001.

"It's huge. It's a thriving industry," says Betty O'Brien, executive director of the Oregon Wine Advisory Board.

Although there are no official figures, O'Brien calculates that more than a half-million people visit the Willamette Valley's wineries each year -- many of them inspired by gushing reviews by national and international wine publications about Oregon's pinot noir.

Of course, other grapes are grown here as well -- chardonnay, Riesling, Gewuerztraminer among them.

Western Oregon's climate and geographical location make it nearly ideal for growing wine. The Willamette Valley straddles the 45th parallel, as does France's legendary Bordeaux wine-growing region. Grapes thrive here because of the valley's northern latitude, clay-loam soils, long hours of sun during the summer months and slowly cooling autumns.

But the valley has much more to offer than fine wines.

At the mouth of the Willamette, where the river empties into the Columbia River, is Portland -- a place so livable and green that it has been named one of the country's best cities by so many publications that it's hard to keep track of them all.

Portland pretty much has it all -- fine restaurants, a world-class museum, a symphony orchestra of national note, a thriving yet attractive downtown, cafes, bookstores, and a population known for its friendliness toward visitors.

The Willamette River splits Portland in two -- downtown on the western bank and residential areas on the eastern side.

Many visitors will spend a few nights in Portland and then head down the Willamette Valley.

Throngs of them visit the End Of The Oregon Trail Interpretative Center in Oregon City, just south of Portland. Exhibits there document more than two centuries of history of the Pacific Northwest -- from the arrival of the first fur traders to the building of railroads that replaced the Oregon Trail.

Oregon City is a good starting point for a tour of the valley. From here, you can take backroads that deliver you through undulating farmland and into trim little towns founded in the mid-1800s by settlers who followed the Oregon Trail.

You can also follow the backroads to more than 50 covered bridges that are scattered around the valley. Oregon has the largest collection of covered bridges west of the Mississippi.

One of the newest attractions in the valley is the Evergreen Aviation Museum, a cavernous structure that is home to the "Spruce Goose" -- the legendary flying boat built by Howard Hughes.

McMinnville itself is worth a stop. Founded by Oregon pioneers, the city of 26,000 souls has a charming downtown with a number of well-preserved buildings that date back to the late 1800s.

The Willamette Valley also offers hot-air balloon rides, boating and camping.

Beyond the Willamette Valley, opportunities for exploration are nearly limitless. You can cross the rugged Coastal Range and drive to Oregon's pristine Pacific coast, take a multiday backpacking trip in the Cascade Range, scale Cascade peaks, or try your hand at salmon and steelhead fishing.

Down the road from Erath Vineyards, a camper van with New Jersey plates pulled into the parking lot. At the wheel was 72-year-old Bill Wooding of Newton, N.J. In the passenger's seat was his wife, Marian.

They had driven across the country, stopped in Portland, and they decided to make the half-hour trip to the heart of Oregon's wine-growing country. Then they were off to the coast.

"It's gorgeous," 69-year-old Marian says of Oregon's scenery. "This is such a great state."

If you go...

Here's the information you'll need if you're planning a trip to the Oregon Wine Trail:

LOCATION

The Willamette Valley, about 110 miles long and 60 miles wide, extends south from the Willamette River's confluence with the Columbia River at Portland. Most of the valley's vineyards are clustered around the towns of Dundee, Newberg, Dayton, Amity, Yamhill and Scholls.

WHEN TO GO

The Willamette Valley's moderate weather makes it a good place to visit during any season, if you don't mind rain during the winter. The summer months are generally sunny and pleasant, as can be the beginning of fall. The rainy season comes to western Oregon toward the end of fall and lasts through the winter and into spring, but brings little if any snow to the valley and temperatures remain moderate.

GETTING THERE

All major domestic airlines fly into Portland International Airport. The Willamette Valley wine-growing region is a drive of about 45 minutes from downtown Portland. Cars can be rented at the airport.

FOOD AND LODGING

Portland is bursting with hotels and restaurants in every price range. For a listing, see the Web site for the Portland Oregon Visitors Association: www.travelportland.com/visitors/. Or, you can stay at hotels, motels or bed-and-breakfasts in the Willamette Valley. For details on lodging and restaurants in the valley, see the Web site for Wines Northwest: www.winesnw.com/will.html.

WINE INFORMATION

The Oregon Wine Advisory Board maintains a comprehensive Web site with details on the state's wine-growing regions, facts and figures on Oregon's wine industry, a calendar of events and lists of Oregon's wineries and vineyards. The Web site is http://oregonwine.org/.

The board also publishes a free winery guide, called Vintage Oregon, which can be obtained by calling the board at (503) 228-8336. The guide gives thumbnail descriptions of Oregon's wineries and vineyards, including when they are open to visitors.