Portland, OR– Drinking wine on a yacht? Wine-not!
The Maryhill Winery hosted a dinner Friday night on the Willamette Star, which is a yacht that provides dinner cruises. While walking onto the Willamette Star, I was greeted by a lively jazz band. As I settled into my spot at the dinner table, I was offered a variety of wines to choose from, and I chose a white wine to start with.
As we all settled in with our glasses of wine, Maryhill Winery owners Craig and Vicki Leuthold were introduced. This was their second cruise on the Willamette Star for their wine club members.
With their winery an hour and a half away from Portland, they wanted to do a more convenient gathering, so that a lot of people could attend. The dinner cruise was a perfect way to do just that! It provided a great time, and a way to enjoy diverse and affordable wines.
We said our cheers and before you knew it, we were winding down the river.
Craig and Vicki founded Maryhill in 1999, and it is a well-known destination winery in the Pacific Northwest. Next year they’ll be celebrating 20 years with the vineyard. The winery produces 80,000 cases annually; they produce a variety of wines that come from one or more of their 36 different kinds of grapes.
I had the pleasure of sitting across from and getting to know Vicki. I asked her about her favorite wines, and she told me that they were Albarino, which is white, and their Marvell GSM Blend (red). One of my favorite wines of the night was a Cinsault red wine.
Dinner started with freshly baked bread, and a mixed green salad. There were three choices for the entrée: Portobello Mushroom, Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breast, and Baked Columbia River Steelhead. I felt it was appropriate to choose the steelhead since we were sailing on the river, and I’m glad I did! It was so delicate and fresh.
After dinner, most people walked upstairs to the deck to enjoy the views the Willamette River had to offer. Dessert was a variety of finger foods, such as small cakes and cookies, and it was brought out on trays for people to choose which dessert they wanted to end their night with. Everything tasted amazing, and the wine made it even better.
The Maryhill Winery is planning on opening a tasting room in Vancouver, Washington by the beginning of next year. This expansion will bring their wines closer to the Vancouver-Portland area, which will make it easier for more people to access their delicious wines.
The dinner cruise provided everyone with a warm atmosphere and great views of the City of Portland. It was a perfect summer night, and as the sun set and dusk fell, we pulled back into the dock and cheered one last time to an amazing evening.
