Description
Join us for the Truffle hunting experience at beautiful Cartwright Truffiere nestled in the Willamette Valley, on Sunday, Jan. 22nd, 2022. This event runs from 10:30 am to 2:30/3 pm officially (but we often stay out harvesting, eating and drinking- having fun until 4 or 5 so plan accordingly!) This is designed for advanced-level teams and our alumni to hunt on the Truffière, under guidance, with their own trained truffle dogs.
About the Truffiere
Cartwright Truffiere, nestled in the Willamette Valley, is one of the most productive truffle Orchards in the US, ranked #1 or #2 by volume for Perigord truffle (Tuber melanosporum). Productive truffle orchards often do not allow outside dogs on the property, so this is a very rare and special occasion we are excited to share with you, our students, and our alumni!
Only 4 Dog teams are allowed on the property per event. This is one of the 1st opportunities of its kind for us to bring teams onto this very special place to hunt and find truffles in an extremely productive orchard. It’s a rare opportunity!
Details
During the hunting portion of the day, you’ll be hunting for 2x 15-20 minute sessions, or 1x 30-40 minute sessions depending on how your dog is doing and your experience level- as well as the weather. You will be accompanied by an advanced handler (Alana or Linnet) during your hunts to help guide you and prevent damage to the truffles. Your dog will be on a long line during the hunt- no exceptions.
Hunting on a truffle orchard is a bit different than hunting in the wild. We will walk you through what it looks like when finding truffles on an orchard- as you “tag” them to be dug up later. After all dogs have hunted, we’ll go back through the truffière and you can practice digging out a truffle that your dog found if it’s ready to be extracted! There are situations where we may not dig up what your dog has indicated on- and we’ll go through that at the Truffière, why that might happen, primarily it is if the truffle might not be quite ripe yet.
You get to keep up to a 50g truffle that your dog finds, or go home with an equivalent amount as part of this experience.
We will also chat about the farm and its history while enjoying some light truffle bites and sips from a local Oregon winery.
All in all, it is a magical day on the Truffiere. Please budget about a 3-4 hrs for your experience or about a ½ day- full day for this experience.
This is a farm, and it may be a bit wet and muddy, so plan your clothing and footwear accordingly.
Accommodations
Accommodations are not included in this experience, however, we do have recommendations and a special relationship (depending on the time of year) with a local BnB that happens to also have a white truffle forest behind their property!
