Create The Perfect Holiday Gift Basket With These Uniquely Salem And Willamette Valley Goodies

If you’re looking for a gift that reflects the bounty of Salem and the Mid-Willamette Valley, a gourmet gift basket is a five-star pick. Everybody loves artisanal treats that both taste incredible and support local makers, right?

12/7/2023

Cristom Vineyards

This roundup of regional small-batch artisans will help you mix and match a fully customized gift basket for all of the culinary inclined on your list. Whether you’re shopping for a tea lover, a craft-beer drinker or a die-hard sweet tooth, these gifts are sure to be devoured quickly.

TOP OFF YOUR GIFT BASKET WITH WINE

No regional gift basket is complete without a bottle of Willamette Valley wine but, since it’s the holidays, why not make it a few bottles? Salem’s Cristom Vineyards offers small tasting bottles of their four estate single-vineyard wines and their flagship Mt. Jefferson Cuvée Pinot Noir. The second-generation family-owned wine producer is globally recognized for its distinguished Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and each small bottle holds 375 milliliters, enough for two generous glasses. You can buy them online or visit the vineyards and pick them up in person.

BRING ON THE HOLIDAY BEER CHEER

The Willamette Valley is the second largest hop-growing area in the country and you can barely drive five miles without passing a craft brewery. That said, the family-owned Gilgamesh Brewing is a regional standout and every beer lover on your list would love to crack open a six-pack of this handcrafted brew. The brewery’s Salem and Independence locations both offer the year-round flagship brews and limited seasonal concoctions in 12-ounce cans, ready to pop into a gift basket. If you need help choosing, the award-winning Mamba ale has hints of tangerine peel, the classic lager is crisp and refreshing, and the DJ Jazzy hefeweizen has a floral jasmine kick. Better yet, taste them yourself and then pick.

OREGON-GROWN TEA FOR THE SIPPERS ON YOUR LIST

Considering hops and wine grapes flourish in the Mid-Willamette Valley, it may not be a huge surprise to learn that tea plants, or Camellia sinensis, flourish here, as well. But it was a surprise to Rob Miller and John Vendeland, founders of Salem’s Minto Island Tea Company. When the duo planted their first half-acre of tea plants back in 1988, they didn’t expect the plants to survive – but they thrived. Today, their small-batch organic green, white and black teas might be the freshest leaves you’ve ever tasted. If you can’t decide which tea to gift, the variety pack is a practical pick.

A BERRY DELICIOUS GIFT IDEA

It doesn’t get any more local than Oregon’s own marionberry. A cross between Chehalem and Olallie blackberries, the marionberry was bred at Oregon State University in the early 1900s and is still grown exclusively in Oregon. If you’ve ever tasted the exquisite tartness of this coveted dark-purple gem in a pie or plucked fresh off the vine, you know how unique it is. Spread the marionberry love, literally, by adding a jar or two of marionberry preserves from Salem’s family-owned E.Z. Orchards to your gift basket.

A FRESH-ROASTED GIFT THEY’LL GO NUTS OVER

When Dennis Melcher took over his parent’s St. Paul hazelnut farm in 1984 and founded Ken & June’s Hazelnuts, his small business roasted, salted and chocolate-coated the farm’s hazelnuts mostly for his nearby community to enjoy. Twenty years later, and you can find Ken & June’s absurdly delicious hazelnuts in grocery stores, specialty gift shops and wineries throughout the Pacific Northwest. Each of the 10 special holiday tins is the perfect gift for a nut lover, offering a tasty assortment of dry-roasted, chocolate-covered and butter-toffee hazelnuts.

VEGAN CHOCOLATE YOU CAN FEEL GOOD ABOUT GIVING

The chocolate lovers on your list will rave about the dairy-free vegan treats crafted at Salem’s own Chomp! Chocolate. All of the chocolate bars, cups, nibs and drinking chocolate are completely cow-free and made with fair-trade or direct-trade cacao beans. In addition to the company’s sustainable practices, the chocolate itself will blow a chocoholic’s mind. Pick up the classic oat-milk-chocolate bar for purists or shop the holiday treats for seasonal creations such as chocolate-covered peppermint “Pucks” and white-chocolate peppermint bark.

HANDCRAFTED TREATS FOR YOUR SWEET TOOTH

After driving to every candy store within a 100-mile radius to find a soft caramel that wouldn’t stick to their teeth, Jamie Mata and her husband finally decided to create their own recipe — and Monmouth’s Maui Melts was born. Named after the Hawaiian sea salt that Mata brought back from vacation and sprinkled on the first few batches, all Maui Melts caramels are handcrafted daily and come in mind-blowing flavors like bacon-topped sea salt and toasted coconut. Order online to nab a holiday gift set with a generous caramel assortment or shop the brick-and-mortar store and indulge in the tantalizing in-house sweets menu.

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