Wheelchair Access
Increasingly wine tasting rooms throughout the Pacific Northwest are wheelchair accessible. Being wheelchair friendly denotes that the winery designates special parking spaces for cars bearing wheelchair placards, no stairs to impede access, wide doors for easy access and restrooms meeting ADA standards.Oregon wineries in particular are sensitive to this issue and a big chunk of them design or re-design their wineries to accommodate disabled travelers. Throughout WineTrails of Oregon we have identified wineries that are wheelchair friendly.
Still, even if the winery indicates that they are wheelchair accessible, we believe it is a good idea to call ahead if you have concerns. For example, if you have a van that is specially equipped for wheelchair loading and unloading, you might be concerned about room in the parking lot to accommodate this. There also might be a concern if you are attending a special event such as a winemaker dinner or a wedding—you might have wheelchair access to the tasting room but what about the rest of the winery, bathroom facilities and outdoors among the vineyards. Call ahead or email the winery to find out.
For general information to assist disabled travelers, check out these websites:
Access-Able Travel Source (www.access-able.com) Global Access Disabled Travel Network (www.globalaccessnews.com) Mobility International (www.miusa.org)