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October 2023 by Betty S.
Paul is awesome at making wine and he has a great personality ! His Orange/chocolate and the black raspberry are my absolute favorites!!! I picked berries for a while for Paul. He was a pleasure to do business with.
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July 2022 by Joe Austin
Visited this winery about 12 years ago the owner was great the first visit was with my sister. We was so impressed we went back the next day with my wife so she could get the same experience. Sorry to see it close
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June 2022 by Monorail
went years ago, the orange chocolate is amazing. Hope the owner finds an apprentice.
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May 2022 by Misti Davis G
I went to this winery years ago and fell in love with it because of the wonderful gentleman who runs it. I want to go back again someday when I visit but have never forgotten it even a decade later!
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January 2022 by Gerardo Arnaez
{ 2005 03 30 }The Shallon WineryI have to tell you about one of my favorite places and people. It’s Mr.Paul VanDerveltd‘s Shallon Winery. Born in Seaside(!) because his mother wanted him born there, he went to school in Astoria and eventually graduated from Astoria High School before going on to Reed College. He had to leave after his first year when his father found out that Reed was red1 and left to serve in the Navy during Korea and eventually came back to Astoria to take over his father’s construction company. He proceeded do to many things, one of which was to spend over a million dollars of grant money from the University to make a whey wine.Paul says,Whey wines: As far as I know, I had the first good tasting commercially produced whey wine in the world and still produce the only whey wine. These wines should be good for you; they should have the vitamins, minerals, and some of the protein that milk has. Several universities have in the past spent a great deal of grant money trying to make wine from the whey, and have essentially failed (I don’t get any grant money).If you come to his winery, he will give you the full tour, practiced and rehearsed to perfection.So practiced that if you come a few times, you will start learning your role and play it as well as you can. Sometimes he will tell you about the Black Raspberry wine and sometimes he won’t. Sometimes he will offer it to you and sometimes he won’t. Its a rare treat – he will take out consecrated silver cups and pour a tiny bit of wine that is inky black and unfathomably deep.Paul says,Wild BLACK Raspberry: A dessert wine too precious to even mention, the berries picked one at a time in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest! Talk about precious desert wines like Chateau d’Yquem at $200 a bottle, but they are available. This you can’t get. If I ever have any, it’s $85 for 375 ml.And then depending on his mood, maybe reflective or maybe a bit sad, he will tell you about his close friend (“an out of work fisherman like so many of them here”) that would go into those woods alone for weeks at a time and bring back those black raspberries and tell you that he was murdered two years ago(2) and how the cops* thought he was just a vagrant and let him go and how he (Paul) will keep his picture on his mantle to remember him and will never make that black raspberry wine again. Go back and look at the mantle on the far left.1. The old sense of red as in commie red (funny how words change their meanings) [↩]2. it’s always two years [↩]
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January 2022 by Joseph Salomone
Best Wine Shop I've ever visited. The owner is such a gem. He is very passionate about his product.
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March 2021 by Richard Scott
Paul is a vocal autobiography of his unique talent, personality, and winery. the product is remarkable, the environment unique, and Paul is a special vocal purveyor of HIS craft. I enjoyed and appreciated the adventure, and the wines are perfection to many. love the blackberry too, miss the peach from once upon a time.
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August 2019 by Suzz B.
Amazing place, fascinating owner, delicious wines. This will be unlike any experience you have ever had at a winery or with a wine. If in or near Astoria, this should be at the top of your list.
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July 2019 by Don Oelsner
This was an amazing experience. Give yourself a little time and enjoy this man and his knowledge. His wines are so unique. Stop in whole you still can!
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June 2019 by Shawnda
A rare winery that makes only fruit based wines. Paul is a wealth of knowledge and humour that made for one of the most interesting wines tours I have even been on. A "must do" in the Astoria area. Thanks Paul !!!!
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April 2019 by fierce melon
Shallon is an aquired taste. We were not prepared for the "experience". Call first and read all the reviews. We visited his establishment about 2 years ago but after reading the reviews I felt I must give my two cents. The first hint I recieved that this tour was not going to be ordinary was just trying to gain entrance to the building....
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March 2019 by Steve Polzel
Being native Oregonians, my wife and I chose to spend the weekend experiencing Astoria. After reading the unique story of the local business, we started our trip off by visiting Shallon Winery and were VERY pleased that we did.
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February 2019 by Steve P.
Being native Oregonians, my wife and I chose to spend the weekend experiencing Astoria. After reading the unique story of the local business, we started our trip off by visiting Shallon Winery and were VERY pleased that we did. I see by the published reviews that the few people who wrote poor reviews are from those who didn't choose to honor and respect Mr. Shallon's plan-- his demonstration that he's fine-tuned and repeated over 77,000 times for visitors! Being a one-man operation, guests need to understand and appreciate that--in order to receive the full, uninterrupted "show"--visitors who arrive while Shallon is finishing his free demonstration to the previous guest(s) may need to wait a few minutes before he can give you his full, undivided attention as he desires. The wait is well worth it, as are the wines-- only $23 to $42 per bottle. I admit that my wife and I are not very experienced when it comes to wine-tasting, but Shallon's unique style of classic wine production is like no other that we've experienced or even heard of before. I'm not going to give away the content of Shallon's presentation, but I'll just say it's definitely worth scheduling during your next trip to Astoria. Regarding ADA access, the main entrance to Shallon requires guests to climb a 10-step exterior staircase. If you need assistance--like those who use a walker, cane or a wheelchair--call Shallon ahead of time so he can clear a path inside the upper doorway off Duane St.
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January 2019 by meco08
If you're in Astoria you must visit this winery. It is as valuable to history as any of the more well-known sights and locations. Paul is a rare gem. Much like his wine, you should not gulp his knowledge down in one gulp but savor it slowly allowing all of its nuances to bloom fully.
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January 2019 by Heidi Q.
This is a very interesting and unique place. Completely different from all the new wineries/tasting rooms popping up. An older man produces all of the wine and runs the shop. He has a kind of Sheldon personality (Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory show). Every time I'm in Astoria I stop by this winery and he has never charged a tasting fee. Paul the man who runs it, is very inquisitive of his guests and gives great customer service. Tips: make sure you read the sign on the door and follow the instructions, don't just knock. You must have at least an hour to spend here, as Paul likes to give you a tour and explain the wines in detail, don't rush through it.
