Fine People, Fine Wines, Fine Views Beyond Baker City

In our Nash travel trailer staying in the Keating Valley at Copper Belt Wines, somewhere in the desert, north of Baker City, Oregon

You have to want to be there to get there. I did. The Professor had his doubts, but I cajoled and he relented. Usually, he’s not sorry for listening. Turns out he wasn’t this time either.

We had a hard time getting on the road in Boise. Since it was our initial shakedown cruise we kept thinking of things we needed to do that kept us from actually going out the door, so it was noon when we finally left and 4:30 pm when we rolled down the dusty driveway of Copper Belt Wines. Daylight lingered until 8:30 though so, it wasn’t a problem and the place was worth it. The desert has a way of filling the soul and Copper Belt, the glass.

“Let’s do it! It’s a winery way out in the middle of nowhere by Hells Canyon! It’s 20 miles off Interstate 84! Six of them on a well-maintained gravel road on the other side of a tiny ranching community. Today's Wednesday! No one will be there but us,” I wheedled until he was persuaded.

On the heels of our purchase of a 2017 Nash 23D last month, I signed us up for Harvest Hosts (HH). If you haven't heard, HH has agreements with thousands of farmers, ranchers, wineries, breweries, local attractions, and regular Joes all over the US that will allow members to stay for free. In exchange, members pay a nominal annual fee to HH and agree to make a minimum donation of $30 to the host. Many hosts operate small businesses that benefit. There are hosts that sell produce, sides of beef (how would I get that home?), alpaca wool caps, and such.

I like the business model but was attracted by HH because I have an affinity for wide open spaces, agricultural landscapes, and have an aversion to crowds. The Professor shares these. This was our maiden voyage with HH too. Most hosts listed on the HH website have just a handful of spaces and may not even offer electricity, let alone sewer hookups and cable tv. Copper Belt had none of these.

They made up for it with good wines, an uber friendly host, and views like most never see. The Eastern Oregon high desert might seem like a strange place to grow grapes and make wine, but I wasn’t biased. Immediately after we married in 1982, we moved north from California and the Professor worked for a winery in Spokane at another with a similar landscape and climate in Prosser, Washington. In a way, geographically and lifestyle wise, Copper Belt was familiar.

Leaving I-84 at Baker City, we followed the old Oregon Trail, passing miles of ranches surrounded by hay fields just starting to grow. It wasn’t long before we started climbing and got into the sage brush. We looked down on immense valleys painted with sagey greens and browns, orange dirt, and in the mountains above, the Blue Mountains, forests. Now and then miles away we saw curtains of dust hanging in the air behind fast-moving ranch trucks. Narrorw two-track roads led off the main highway and pointed toward eternity. I would have loved to drive them all but we were late and Copper Belt’s owner, Travis Cook, was waiting.

The highway we traveled, 86, is part of the Oregon Trail Scenic Byway. It follows the route taken by pioneering emigrants headed for a new life in Oregon. The Bureau of Land Management's 23,000 sq ft Oregon Trail interpretive center perched atop Flagstaff Hill, overlooking “nearly seven miles of well-preserved Oregon Trail ruts that extend across Virtue Flat southeast of Flagstaff Hill…, where emigrants fought their way through shoulder-tall sagebrush...” Next trip, I promised myself. That day, Copper Belt was the destination.

Most HH stays involve a presentation/tour of the host’s business with an opportunity to purchase their products. We were looking forward to tasting and buying (and Travis’ kids needed to get home for dinner - the school bus drops them off at the winery) so we didn’t even set up the trailer. Since it was our first night out, we seized the chance to relax before trying to level the trailer. So, Travis started talking and pouring. We relaxed and listened. He was friendly and engaged, like we were family or old friends.

Travis produces about 5,000 gallons of wine a year, most of it from vines in his immediate area. And they’re good. First, we had the Gewurztraminer. His is on the dry side with a nice fruity taste. Travis says his wines are “fruit forward”. That describes everything we tasted. We followed on with Chardonnay or Riesling, I don’t remember, and Pinot Noir (“a light red aged in French oak barrels”) that was got a decent 92 pt. rating by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. The Professor’s favorite was a really nice, spicy Syrah (“reminiscent of the Rhone Valley’s and which received a 91 pt. rating). Nice too were Travis’ bold Tempranillo with “rich, dark cherry flavors and silky tannins - another 92 pts.), Copper Belt Reserve, a Bordeaux-style red made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Frank. Though the Reserve got only 91 pts, at $90+ a bottle (wouldn’t you know it?), it was my favorite.

We walked away with 3 bottles: the Syrah, Tempranillo, and a nice bottle of Rancher’s Red, their every day red blend. As we tasted, we admired the historic items on display there. Inside and out, history is everywhere you look. Old farm equipment, corals and fences, and water troughs are sprinkled across the landscape.

In 1894, Travis’ great grandparents Thomas and Cora Cook and their sons were among the weary emigrants. Winter came early and they only got as far as La Grande, Oregon (a little past Baker City) before turning around to try again in spring. Fortunately, Cora was pregnant that spring so they settled instead into the Keating Valley east of Baker City where Travis’ grandfather Walter was born and later homesteaded. The winery was established in 2010 and named for the rich veins of copper found in the area. Travis planted his vineyard in the same place. He proudly displays Walter’s sheepskin chaps and other historic artifacts on the wall of the tasting room.

After Travis left to make the kids dinner, we drove out on an overlook of the Valley below and a beautiful field of alfalfa. Our nearest neighbors were at least a mile off and in the distance were jagged, snow covered peaks that reminded me that Thomas and Cora waited for spring. Good call. Really good call.

Except for the birds, it was quiet. So quiet.

“You may hear wolves tonight,” Travis told us. There are three packs in the Keating Valley area and it’s mating season for them and coyotes. Young males recently kicked out of packs are on the move, looking for mates.”

Despite that, cattle and horses were grazing and Travis’ kids had walked home alone after tiring of winery-talk about subjects they’d no doubt heard before. We did hear coyotes in the morning but no wolves and saw one small, wary herd of mule deer in the alfalfa.

A sharp wind came up in the evening and buffeted the trailer but we were cozy in our Nash. In the morning, my coffee and I were up and out by 6 am taking pictures. I’m glad because a storm rolled in just after 2 other campers arrived and it pelted our roof with chilly driving rain. The experience was slightly less for having to share our Valley, but we were pleased for Travis and the winery.

So far, with one HH visit under our belts, we’re hooked. It’s so good to know that places like these, people like these, still exist in the heart of rural America. So, we traveled on, pleased with HH and our first experience.

Whether it’s your first experience with HH or you’re a veteran, if you’re traveling through Eastern Oregon, the 20-mile diversion to Copper Belt Wines is well worth it. Even more so, likely, if you are able to stop at the Oregon Trail interpretive center (though I wouldn’t know). Yet.

And if you’re just in it for the wine, visit Copper Belt’s tasting room right off the Interstate in Baker City and save yourself the drive out to the winery. I won’t judge, but it will be a pity. Trust me. For more information, visit Copper Belt Wines on the internet. And tell Travis we sent you!