Beer, Wine & Spirits in Corvallis

Five flat-screen televisions, including a 60" flat-screen TV, surround Legend Sports Lounge’s diners, who can take in a game while sipping seasonal beers from local breweries. Before grabbing the microphone and singing karaoke at the eatery, which is located in the Red Lion Hotel, patrons snack on appetizers in the lounge and take bites of burgers or fish ‘n’ chips between shots at the pool table. A special menu is available during happy hour, and the lounge stays open until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

The accolades accorded several of LaVelle Vineyards' wines in the pages of Wine Enthusiast magazine serves as evidence of the diligent work of founder Doug LaVelle and his son, Matthew, who tends the vines today. After taking over the winery—then one of the oldest in Southern Willamette Valley—in 1994, Doug took it upon himself to make a number of improvements to its antiquated technology and distribution network. He started the wine club in 1995, the same year winemaking began, and also opened the LaVelle Wine Bar and Bistro—now known as the Tasting Room—in downtown Eugene.

Doug's investments paid off. Today, with Matthew as lead winemaker, the winery ferments grapes both from its original Willamette Valley location and another site in the Columbia Valley in eastern Washington. The Eugene tasting room still pours out pinots, merlots, and syrahs. And at the rustic Elmira winery, visitors can recline on the sunny deck, tour the winemaking facilities, or outsmart tipsy minotaurs in the garden's labyrinth.

No strangers to the art of winemaking, the Wetzel family’s roots run deep into the vineyards that surround their winery. For four generations, they have crafted award-winning wines in Germany, and for the last 35, they have called Oregon home. Chateau Bianca Winery peeks out from the Willamette Valley, where Pinot Noir grapes flourish across the estate vineyards. These carefully cultivated grapes eventually fill bottles such as the 2002 Estate Reserve Pinot Noir, a vintage aged 5 years to a mature red with notes of blueberry, black cherry, and the loneliness of being confined to a barrel for that long.

Guests visit the tasting room to sample some of Chateau Bianca’s wines, where each day a rotating selection of 6 bottles are uncorked for swirling and sipping. On days when the summer sun dapples the fields and shimmers playfully off Bacchus’ lampshade hat, sippers relax on the outdoor patio to enjoy a glass or share a bottle while looking out across rows of vines.

After an odyssey of trial and error in a humble brewing shack, University of Oregon students Simon Blatz, Chase Drum, and Simon Spencer moved their honey-mead brewery into a facility of its own in October 2011, where batches of the fermented honey spirit swirl in vats and bottles. The Blue Dog team lauds its mead, one of the oldest drinks in history, as “the original liquid sin,” touting its sweet start, dry finish, distinct honey smell, and propensity to commit mail fraud.

The golden elixir pours into recyclable bottles with reusable tops and logo modeling courtesy of the company’s furry mascot, Jake, a german shepherd. Blue Dog Mead invites guests to tastings (by appointment) and encourages its fans to vote online each month for a charity to receive 1% of the company’s proceeds; recent beneficiaries have included Movember and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lane County.

During Bite of Benton, dozens of local restaurants, wineries, breweries, and food producers fill the nearly 4 acres of Corvallis Central Park with gourmet bites and complex sips. As guests wine and dine, the sounds of music drifts across the grounds as bands tickle the rafters of the park's famed gazebo. Previous musical guests have included Oregon-based classic-rock cover band Big Boy and the Toys, providing a soundtrack for snacks such as gelato, tacos, hot dogs, and Middle Eastern cuisine.