Mathieu
07-29-2010, 02:16 PM
Wineries, something I have never experienced yet, but once I move to California, I am heading to Napa for a week-end to check it out for myself. In the meanwhile, since this is the Food, Wine & Dining section, I figured I would share an article about Wineries from Washington's 2 Vineyard Regions. Enjoy!
http://www.endlessvacation.com/Controls/LoadImage.aspx?ID=177
A sunset view of the Columbia River.
You can go to Napa and muscle it out on Highway 29—standing five-deep at every tasting bar—or you can come to eastern Washington, and relax,” says Scott Williams of Kiona Vineyards. While his opinion isn’t exactly unbiased, he does have a point. Even with more than 400 wineries, Washington’s burgeoning 11-million-acre Columbia Valley wine region still provides ample elbow room for travelers and tasters to spread out and experience a sense of discovery. Here you can fill your trunk with countless award-winning Bordeaux- and Rhône-style wines that your friends back home have never heard of, chase the horizon under boundless desert skies and trace the wind-scoured cliffs overlooking the Columbia River.
THE DRIVE:
From Seattle, it’s just 150 miles up and over the shoulder of Mt. Rainier. As you enter the Yakima Valley, the landscape erupts into apple and peach orchards, high-trellised fields of Cascade hops and, increasingly, wine grapes. (In the last five years alone, the number of wineries in the region has doubled to 75.) Since the first vineyards began popping up in the early 1970s, winemakers have gradually learned to coax deeply concentrated red wines from the silty soils.
At exit 40, take the Yakima Valley Highway to taste your way through more than a dozen vineyards in the Rattlesnake Hills. Though much of this richly agrarian valley remains short on tourist amenities, there are excellent taco stands along the way. (A case in point: the pork tacos at Garcia’s in Grandview.)
Take exit 96 to reach Red Mountain—the state’s first wine-growing region to produce a wine rated a perfect 100 by critic Robert Parker. The staff at Kiona Vineyards’ tasting room (509-588-6716) serves up extraordinary late-harvest dessert wines. From here, continue on Highway 124 east across the Snake River. Well-groomed orchards give way to rippling wheatfields and rolling hills. Turn south on Highway 125, and follow the railroad tracks into Walla Walla.
In this flat college town, a wealth of tasting rooms can be found on or near Main Street, making for a day’s worth of on-foot wine tasting. Standouts include Waterbrook, Forgeron and Spring Valley Vineyards. Plan to end your day at the elegant Whitehouse-Crawford Restaurant, over a plate of the cider-braised pork shank (55 W. Cherry St.; 509-525-2222; dinner for two, $100).
Departing Walla Walla, head west on Highway 12, stopping along the way at l’Ecole 41, one of the area’s oldest wineries. (509-525-0940) Soon after, you’ll meet up with the broad waters of the Columbia River at its massive final westward bend. Cross the river at Umatilla to drive the less-traveled Highway 14 along the north bank. The wide-rim rock canyon slowly narrows into cliffs of black basalt, and Mount Hood rises in the distance.
http://www.endlessvacation.com/Controls/LoadImage.aspx?ID=177
A sunset view of the Columbia River.
You can go to Napa and muscle it out on Highway 29—standing five-deep at every tasting bar—or you can come to eastern Washington, and relax,” says Scott Williams of Kiona Vineyards. While his opinion isn’t exactly unbiased, he does have a point. Even with more than 400 wineries, Washington’s burgeoning 11-million-acre Columbia Valley wine region still provides ample elbow room for travelers and tasters to spread out and experience a sense of discovery. Here you can fill your trunk with countless award-winning Bordeaux- and Rhône-style wines that your friends back home have never heard of, chase the horizon under boundless desert skies and trace the wind-scoured cliffs overlooking the Columbia River.
THE DRIVE:
From Seattle, it’s just 150 miles up and over the shoulder of Mt. Rainier. As you enter the Yakima Valley, the landscape erupts into apple and peach orchards, high-trellised fields of Cascade hops and, increasingly, wine grapes. (In the last five years alone, the number of wineries in the region has doubled to 75.) Since the first vineyards began popping up in the early 1970s, winemakers have gradually learned to coax deeply concentrated red wines from the silty soils.
At exit 40, take the Yakima Valley Highway to taste your way through more than a dozen vineyards in the Rattlesnake Hills. Though much of this richly agrarian valley remains short on tourist amenities, there are excellent taco stands along the way. (A case in point: the pork tacos at Garcia’s in Grandview.)
Take exit 96 to reach Red Mountain—the state’s first wine-growing region to produce a wine rated a perfect 100 by critic Robert Parker. The staff at Kiona Vineyards’ tasting room (509-588-6716) serves up extraordinary late-harvest dessert wines. From here, continue on Highway 124 east across the Snake River. Well-groomed orchards give way to rippling wheatfields and rolling hills. Turn south on Highway 125, and follow the railroad tracks into Walla Walla.
In this flat college town, a wealth of tasting rooms can be found on or near Main Street, making for a day’s worth of on-foot wine tasting. Standouts include Waterbrook, Forgeron and Spring Valley Vineyards. Plan to end your day at the elegant Whitehouse-Crawford Restaurant, over a plate of the cider-braised pork shank (55 W. Cherry St.; 509-525-2222; dinner for two, $100).
Departing Walla Walla, head west on Highway 12, stopping along the way at l’Ecole 41, one of the area’s oldest wineries. (509-525-0940) Soon after, you’ll meet up with the broad waters of the Columbia River at its massive final westward bend. Cross the river at Umatilla to drive the less-traveled Highway 14 along the north bank. The wide-rim rock canyon slowly narrows into cliffs of black basalt, and Mount Hood rises in the distance.