Scoring and ranking the best U.S. wineries to visit, Choice Wineries focuses on helping consumers — from newbies to connoisseurs — to enhance their wine drinking experience. The site recently unveiled its list of “The 10 Best Wineries In Oregon,” and we were thrilled (and surprised) to discover that we ranked #2!
The post notes Oregon’s growing international reputation for wine and current position as the fourth-largest producer in the country (behind California, Washington, and New York). When you consider their note that there are roughly 600 wineries within the 150-mile Willamette Valley (where we’re located), being ranked #2 in the state is a bit of a stunner for us. But we aren’t exactly going to argue with them either.
The site’s authors analyze and rank wineries based on several factors, primarily focused on the type of experience a visitor can expect to have. This includes the quality of the wine served; the atmosphere, ambiance, and setting; the service; and other intangibles.
Additionally, the Choice Wineries team crunches the numbers. They manually collect data from numerous sources, such as customer reviews, expert wine reviews, social signals, and more. After cleaning and analyzing their data inputs, they rank each winery relative to its peers across multiple components, weighing certain factors more heavily than others, to yield a CW Score. These CW Scores range from 0 to 100, but certain traits can receive multipliers, resulting in scores higher than 100.
The upshot? The higher the score, the better experience a visitor should expect (relative to other wineries).
What Choice Wineries Says About Us
A score of 96.3 put Bells Up in the second place position. They write:
Perched on the side of the Chehalem Mountain is this micro-boutique winery, only producing 500 cases of wine per year! Experience a private, winemaker hosted tasting (by appointment only) that’s relaxed, unhurried, and overlooks amazing scenery.
This little slice of Heaven rests on 9 acres of vineyard, growing 5 different grape varieties including Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Seyval Blanc, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
(To clarify, we are still producing Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon, both sourced from Summit View Vineyard in Milton-Freewater, Oregon, but we aren’t growing them.)
As always, it’s an honor to be recognized for what we’re doing here. As the smallest producer on the list, it’s a huge endorsement to be ranked #2 in the state.
