The Costco Connection

The Costco Connection

Costco members can also travel to their local Costco warehouse and find a large variety of domestic and imported wines.

BLACK WALNUT INN
Neal and Karen Utz • Dundee, Oregon
blackwalnut-inn.com

OWNING A B&B was always on Karen Utz’s bucket list. When a real estate agent showed Karen and her husband, Neal, a former plum orchard in Oregon’s Willamette Valley with magnificent 360-degree views of vineyards, snowcapped Mount Hood and the Cascade mountains, a 45-minute drive from Portland, the temptation was irresistible.

“We didn’t even know if we could build a

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Oregon-only wine list (600-plus choices) and mushroom-tasting menu in an 1857 house. And don’t forget to taste Black Walnut’s own pinot, sold on-site only.

THE RAFORD INN
Dane Pitcher and Rita Wells
Healdsburg, California

rafordinn.com

IT’S A MAJESTIC setting: a large white hilltop mansion, flanked by tall, slender Canary Island date palm trees, across the road from a vineyard in California’s Russian River Valley. Four acres overflow with flowers and fruits: pomegranates, pears, Meyer lemons, olives, apples, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, 13 types of mint, four wine grape varieties, hops, even century-old Mexican fan palms.

It’s no surprise the owner has a green thumb: Dane Pitcher was once the guide and live-in caretaker of the Luther Burbank Home & Gardens in Santa Rosa, where the famous horticulturist who developed more than 800

B&B here. Maybe it would just be a single-family home for me and Karen. But if that was the downside, it was OK by us,” says Neal, a pharmacist and owner of a building-materials firm.

The family opened their Tuscan-style luxury B&B in 2003. Neal laid hardwood floors with son Kris, who cleared the 42-acre parcel with a tractor, and they planted pinot noir on 13 acres, after studying winemaking and hiring a consultant.

Karen, a teacher, and daughter Melissa decorated nine suites with colorful brocaded bed coverings, duvets, huge marble-floored bathrooms, antiques, ceramics and art by local artists. Karen cooks the hot breakfasts, such as Dutch baby pancakes with apples and Chantilly cream, or Mexican tortillas with local Tillamook cheese.

Winery-hopping is easy: More than 100 wineries are clustered within 20 miles. Nearby Yamhill Valley towns are chock-full of tasting rooms and restaurants fit for foodies. Popular destinations include Dayton, home of The Joel Palmer House, a restaurant known for its

Black Walnut Inn

The Raford Inn

44 ;e Costco Connection MAY 2015

By Sharon McDonnell

WOULDN’T IT BE nice, after a day of winery-hopping, to walk a few feet to your room and not worry about driving or naming a designated driver? Mission accomplished: A number of lodgings in wine country—some winery-owned—offer tastings, beautiful vineyard views and, in many cases, full-fledged restaurants with wine pairings and vino-therapy treatments so you can savor the full wine-country experience. The variety will delight lovers of the grape: posh resorts, quaint B&Bs and stand-alone houses. Here are just four of dozens of our favorite Costco-member-owned wine-country lodgings.