Carlton wineries and tasting rooms
Carlton exists because a handful of farmers refused to haul their harvest to the nearest depot by wagon. When the Portland-to-St. Joe rail line went through in 1872 without stopping on their land, they petitioned the railroad for a station; it started as a flag stop, then became a real one, and workers took to calling the place "Carl's town" after a local farmer, a name that shortened to Carlton by the time the post office opened in 1874. The city incorporated in 1899, built entirely around getting crops onto a train.
Ken Wright saw something else in the ground. He'd toured the Dundee Hills in 1976 and come away convinced "the finest Pinot noir in North America was being grown" in the Willamette Valley; by 1986 he'd moved his family and 10 barrels of wine to Carlton to prove it. Wright didn't stop at winemaking: he sat on the city's Visioning Committee, picked the trees and lamps that now line Main Street, and in 2003 bought and restored the town's 1923 train depot into his own tasting room. He also authored the petition for the Yamhill-Carlton AVA and served as its first president.
Wright wasn't the only one building something collective. In 2002, Eric Hamacher, Luisa Ponzi, and Ned and Kristen Lumpkin opened the Carlton Winemakers Studio, the Pacific Northwest's first alternating proprietorship: one LEED-certified building where more than a dozen small producers share a crush pad and case-goods room instead of building separate wineries apiece. 00 Wines has poured out of the Studio for years now, one of the longer-tenured names in a lineup that keeps rotating.
Carlton's ground has since drawn global attention: when Maison Louis Jadot went looking for its first project outside Burgundy, the storied French house staked its claim in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA around Carlton, building the Résonance label from the ground up. The bet paid off in 2023, when Wine Spectator ranked Résonance's Willamette Valley Pinot Noir No. 9 on its Top 100 Wines of the Year. Wineries here cluster within an easy walk of each other, alongside Carlton Bakery and Carlton Coffee Company for the stretch between tasting rooms, and forty-three percent of them welcome dogs. Start at the depot Wright restored and walk from there; the rest of the list is below.
- Wineries
- 43
- Top varieties
- Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Rosé
- Wine labels since 1999
- 1,819
- New labels, last 12 months
- 116
Distinct in Carlton
A few specifics that set individual Carlton wineries apart.
- Chris James Cellars
Carlton's most decorated winery at the 2026 Oregon Wine Awards, with 8 medals.
- Anne Amie Vineyards
Anne Amie Vineyards released more new labels than any other winery in the Chehalem Mountains AVA in the last 12 months, with 23.
- Stone Griffon Vineyard, LLC
Stone Griffon Vineyard, LLC released more new labels than any other winery in Carlton in the last 12 months, with 43.
00 Wines
Carlton · Willamette Valley
Abbey Road Farm
Carlton · Willamette Valley
ChardonnayPinot GrisPinot Noir+4 more
Abbott Claim
Carlton · Willamette Valley
ChardonnayPinot Noir
Andrew Rich Wines at The Carlton Winemakers Studio
Carlton · Willamette Valley
Anne Amie Vineyards
Carlton · Willamette Valley
23 new labels this year
Müller-ThurgauPinot BlancPinot Gris+5 more
Asilda Winery at The Carlton Winemakers Studio
Carlton · Willamette Valley
Aubaine
Carlton · Willamette Valley
ChardonnayPinot Noir
Barking Dog Wine
Carlton · Willamette Valley
Pinot NoirRosé
Belle Pente
Carlton · Willamette Valley
Labels back to 1999
ChardonnayPinot GrisPinot Noir+3 more
Big Table Farm
Carlton · Willamette Valley
ChardonnayGewürztraminerPinot Gris+3 more
Black Dog Vineyard
Carlton · Willamette Valley
Cabernet FrancCabernet SauvignonChardonnay+12 more
Cana’s Feast Winery
Carlton · Willamette Valley
Cabernet FrancCabernet SauvignonMerlot+6 more
Carlo & Julian Vineyard and Winery
Carlton · Willamette Valley
Carlton Hill Vineyard and Winery
Carlton · Willamette Valley
Pinot NoirRosé
Cathedral Ridge Winery, Carlton
Carlton · Willamette Valley
Cabernet FrancCabernet SauvignonChardonnay+9 more
Celestial Hill Vineyard
Carlton · Willamette Valley
ChardonnayPinot BlancPinot Noir+4 more
Chris James Cellars
Carlton · Willamette Valley
8 medals, 2026 Oregon Wine Awards
Cabernet FrancChardonnayGewürztraminer+16 more
Craft Wine Co.
Carlton · Willamette Valley
Cabernet FrancChardonnayMüller-Thurgau+12 more
Dominio IV Wines
Carlton · Willamette Valley
ChardonnayPinot NoirRed Blend+5 more
Flâneur
Carlton · Willamette Valley
ChardonnayOtherPinot Noir+1 more
Ghost Hill Cellars Vineyard and Tasting Room
Carlton · Willamette Valley
OtherPinot NoirRosé
Gypsy Dancer Wines
Carlton · Willamette Valley
Pinot Noir
Ken Wright Cellars Tasting Room
Carlton · Willamette Valley
ChardonnayPinot BlancPinot Noir+2 more
Laurel Ridge Winery
Carlton · Willamette Valley
Cabernet SauvignonChardonnayMerlot+11 more
LAVINEA in Carlton
Carlton · Willamette Valley
ChardonnayPinot Noir
Lazy River Vineyard at The Carlton Winemakers Studio
Carlton · Willamette Valley
Cabernet FrancChardonnayGewürztraminer+9 more
Lemelson Vineyards
Carlton · Willamette Valley
ChardonnayPinot GrisPinot Noir+2 more
Lonesome Rock
Carlton · Willamette Valley
ChardonnayOtherPinot Noir
Lytle-Barnett
Carlton · Willamette Valley
Sparkling
Marshall Davis Tasting Room
Carlton · Willamette Valley · Tasting room
Cabernet SauvignonChardonnayPinot Noir+1 more
MonksGate Vineyard & Wines
Carlton · Willamette Valley
Pinot NoirRieslingRosé+1 more
PROJECT Wines at the Carlton Winemakers Studio
Carlton · Willamette Valley
ChardonnayPinot NoirRiesling+2 more
Quintet Cellars at Carlton Winemakers Studio
Carlton · Willamette Valley
ChardonnayPinot Noir
ROCKY POINT CELLARS
Carlton · Willamette Valley
OtherPinot NoirRosé+1 more
Résonance
Carlton · Willamette Valley
ChardonnayPinot NoirRosé
Scott Paul Wines
Carlton · Willamette Valley
Soter Vineyards – Mineral Springs Ranch
Carlton · Willamette Valley
ChardonnayPinot BlancPinot Noir+3 more
Stone Griffon Vineyard, LLC
Carlton · Willamette Valley
43 new labels this year
Cabernet SauvignonMerlotPinot Noir+5 more
Tendril Wine Cellars
Carlton · Willamette Valley
Cabernet SauvignonChardonnayPinot Noir+2 more
The Carlton Winemakers Studio
Carlton · Willamette Valley · Shared facility
Shared facility, 5 labels
ChardonnayGewürztraminerPinot Blanc+11 more
Violet Vines Tasting Room
Carlton · Willamette Valley · Tasting room
10 new labels this year
ChardonnayPinot NoirRosé
Wahle Vineyards & Cellars at The Carlton Winemakers Studio
Carlton · Willamette Valley
WildAire
Carlton · Willamette Valley
ChardonnayPinot Noir
Region
Other cities in Willamette Valley
Top varieties in Carlton
Frequently asked questions
How many wineries are in Carlton?
43 wineries and tasting rooms are in Carlton, including 00 Wines, Abbey Road Farm, and Abbott Claim.
What are the best wineries in Carlton?
Best depends on what you're after. For a different kind of visit, Ken Wright Cellars Tasting Room is the 1923 train depot its founder bought and restored into a tasting room after moving his family and 10 barrels of wine to Carlton in 1986.
Is Carlton worth visiting for wine?
Wine Spectator ranked Résonance's Willamette Valley Pinot Noir No. 9 on its Top 100 Wines of the Year in 2023, the label Maison Louis Jadot built after staking its first project outside Burgundy in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA around Carlton. Wineries here cluster within an easy walk of each other around Ken Wright's restored 1923 train depot, with forty-three percent welcoming dogs on the patio.