The coolest summer travel destinations for wine lovers (that aren’t Napa)

“If there’s a more adorable Willamette Valley town than McMinnville, we’d like to hear about it. The small college town boasts historic Third Street, home to wine bars, hotels, Michelin-starred restaurants like ōkta, James Beard Award winners like Nick’s Italian (set to reopen soon) and Hayward, and working wineries. Countless wineries reside within a 20-mile radius of the city of 35,000, including standouts like Remy Wines and Archery Summit in the Dundee Hills and The Carlton Winemakers Studio in nearby Carlton. Do an overnight at The Atticus Hotel in town or sleep amongst the vines—and in an old farm silo, no less—at Abbey Road Farm. McMinnville is just an hour’s drive from Portland and the best-situated town in all of Willamette Valley wine country. Pinot Noir is still king here, but the latest generation of winemaking talent is working with a whole lot more, reviving classics like Chardonnay and crafting lesser-knowns like Savagnin.”

By Mark Stock | Photo by Andrew Davey | The Manual, 2024
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Eco-concrete is Cementing Itself as a Climate Solution

Eco-concrete is Cementing Itself as a Climate Solution

“Vintner Remy Drabkin, the owner of Remy Wines, knows a lot about grapes, particularly rustic varieties that originated in Italy. But until Drabkin converted a barn into a winery last year just outside McMinnville in western Oregon, she didn’t know much about concrete, which also originated in Italy — being invented 2,500 years ago by the ancient Romans.”

Concrete is responsible for 7-9% of CO2 emissions worldwide. Melissa Rossi writes about the Drabkin-Mead Formulation, the carbon-neutral concrete mixture invented at Remy Wines, for the Outrider Foundation.

“We need to demand not only a shift in global building industry practices but in customer expectations,” Drabkin said. “And that includes involving our local and state governments, who are routinely making decisions about the types of products that will create the world in which we exist and the infrastructure on which humanity relies. Sequestering carbon into our built environment is literally ‘a concrete solution’ to addressing climate change.”

Article by Melissa Rossi | Outrider, 2023
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Future 40 Tastemaker Awardee: Remy Drabkin

Three photos of Remy Drabkin holding a bottle of black heart sparkling wine

Future 40 Tastemaker Awardee Remy Drabkin

Call Her Madame Mayor.

Community organizer, winemaker and now Mayor, Remy Drabkin is breaking glass ceilings. After making wine all around the world, Drabkin, a self-identified queer winemaker, returned to her hometown, McMinnville, where she opened Remy Wines in 2006. The 29-acre property (with 7 acres planted) in Willamette Valley specializes in northern Italian varieties grown in the Pacific Northwest.

Photos by Matt Sayles | Wine Enthusiast 2022
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A Force for Good: Dundee Hills Dynamo Remy Drabkin Won’t Be Denied

Remy Drabkin standing at the doors to her new winery

A Force for Good: Dundee Hills Dynamo Remy Drabkin Won’t Be Denied

“Accomplished winemaker; dedicated public servant; advocate for acceptance; environmental educator — in the Pacific Northwest wine industry, Remy Drabkin commands unicorn status.”

Eric Degerman writes about Remy for Great Northwest Wine, including her trailblazing advocacy, mayorship, her affinity for Italy, and the inaugural Queer Wine Fest.

“Drabkin is a woman, she’s queer and she’s Jewish. Any one of those might make her stand out in any industry. While she’s seen as a lightning rod for her many causes, she’s content to embrace the current.”

Photo by Richard Duval Images | Article by Eric Degerman
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Wine’s Most Inspiring 2023: Remy Drabkin | A Universal Drive for Holistic Equity

Remy Drabkin standing in between the vines at her Three Wives Estate Vineyard

Wine’s Most Inspiring People 2023: Remy Drabkin – a Universal Drive for Holistic Equity

The Wine Industry Advisor named Remy one of Wine’s Most Inspiring People of 2023, one of 10 individuals from within the wine industry who showcase leadership, innovation, determination and inspiration.

“It’s all about equity,” Remy Drabkin says of her mission as a winemaker, mayor and co-founder of a nonprofit LGBTQ+ advocacy group. “That encompasses everything from how we interact with our environment as individuals, companies and cities, to how we interact with each other.”

Drabkin’s self-appointed task is to address issues of pervasive inequality in her place of work, her city and the broader community of rural Oregon, while also combating climate change.

Photo by Zachary Goff | Article by Kathleen Willcox
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