As the old saying goes, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Well, on a recent business trip, the next best thing happened to me. I went to Portland, Ore., for work and fell in love — again — with the Willamette Valley.

The Willamette Valley is Oregon’s leading wine producing region, featuring more than 200 wineries spread out over its six distinct appellations, including Eola-Amity Hills, Dundee Hills, Chehalem Mountains, McMinnville, Ribbon Ridge and Yamhill Carlton. This long, broad valley runs for more than 100 miles, from the Columbia River in the North and stopping just short of the town of Eugene in the South.