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    • Walla Walla Valley Wine Industry – History, Walla Walla AVA
    • Growing Grapes in Walla Walla – Climate, Soil, Weather Factors
    • Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance – Winegrowers Sustainable Trust
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    • Wineries in Walla Walla – Wine Tasting Rooms, Airport, Industrial Park
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    • Museums in Walla Walla – Children’s Museum, Fort Walla Walla Museum
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    • City of Waitsburg – Dayton, Milton-Freewater, Pendleton Oregon
  • Activities
    • Walla Walla Hiking – Umatilla Trail, Whitman Route, Rim Trail
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    • Flights to Walla Walla – Greyhound Bus, Driving to Walla Walla
Home Archives for Wineries

August 17, 2014 By John Von Lossow

Best Wineries to Visit in Walla Walla

Kirkland, Wash. – Over the weekend of June 18 my wife and I visited 21 wineries in and around Walla Walla over four days. My advice to those preparing for their own wine adventure? Better toughen up in preparation!

We had taken a Walla Walla trip before, but not for several years. Since our last visit the number of wineries has grown exponentially making it difficult to decide on wineries to visit. We certainly have a list of favorite wineries, and wanted to visit those, but we also wanted to discover a handful of hidden gems – to find some new favorites.

With all that being said, here are my ‘must visit’ Walla Walla wineries, many of which make fantastic whites, as well as late harvest Rieslings and dessert wines:

1. Woodward Canyon
*Note: they have a Reserve Room, too, that requires a reservation.
2. Reininger
3. Long Shadow (must call and see if they will grant you an appointment)
4. aMaurice (only open Saturday)
5. Walla Walla Vintners (Saturday only)
6. Trust Cellers
7. Va Piano
8. Forgeron
9. Chateau Rollat
10. Pepper Bridge
11. Northstar
12. Cadaretta
* Open by appointment only!

Now, I want to hand out some special praise.

Best Tasting Room Experience

Cadaretta because of the uniqueness of their facility and the quality of their wines. Additionally, their sales director was a true delight, brimming with energy, knowledge, and passion.

Walla Walla Vintners for their knowledge of their wines, offering their outdoor grounds for a picnic, and being fun and engaging.

 

Standout Wines

It’s tough to single out one wine or varietal; I was impressed with many of the Rose’s being poured (aMaurice) and late harvest Rieslings (Forgeron, Woodward Canyon).

If you are planning your own trip to Walla Walla, here’s Some advice to consider. Plan on a 3-day excursion since there are distinctive areas and you need to spend 3-4 hours minimum in each one!

Combine the Airport and East Walla Walla wineries in the same day. Note that some of the eastern wineries are only open on Saturday so plan accordingly.

Downtown is another day’s worth or roaming, sipping and searching.  South of WW is another day in itself, plus you can venture to Milton-Freewater, Oregon, if you’re adventurous and have a designated driver!

Finally, on your way or out of town you’ll find another series of wineries on the west side. Good grief, there are a lot of wineries!

Tasting Room Hours

Most winery tasting rooms open at 11am, some at 10am, and still a few others don’t open until noon. Many require an appointment or ask that you call ahead to make sure someone will be there to host you.

Here’s a quick, partial schedule of tasting room hours I put together based on the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance map. I’ve also noted whether the winery charges a tasting fee.

West of Walla Walla Wineries

L’Ecole daily 10-5/ Fee
Reininger-open daily 10-6/ Fee
Woodward Canyon- daily 10-5/ Fee
Three Rivers-daily 10-5/ Fee – they have a three-hole golf course too!

Downtown Wineries

Cadaretta- by appt.
Chateau Rollat-10-5 Fri-Sun Fee
DaMa- Fri-Sat 11-6, Sun 11-2 Fee
Fort Walla Walla-Thurs-Mon 10-4:30 Fee
Otis Kenyon-Thurs-Mon 11-5 No Fee
Stephenson-Tues-Sun 11-5 Fee
Nicholas Cole M/F 1-6, Sat/Sun 10-5 Fee
Flying Trout-Fri/Sat 12-6 No Fee
Forgeron Cellars-daily 11-4 No Fee
Morrison Lane-Fri/Sun 12-5 No Fee
Sweet Valley-Mon/Sat 11-5 No Fee
Yellow Hawk-Fri/Sun 11-5:30 No Fee

South of Walla Walla Wineries

Beresan-Fri-Sat 11-5/ No Fee
Northstar-Mon-Sat 10-4, Sun 11-4/ Fee
Pepper Bridge-daily 10-4/ Fee
Trust-Thurs/Fri 11-4, Sat 11-5 or appt, Sun 11-4/ Fee
Va Piano-Fri-Sun 11-5/ Fee
Dusted Valley-Thurs/Mon 12-5 No Fee
Gifford Hirlinger-Fri/Sun 11-5 No Fee
Saviah-Fri/Sat 11-5 No Fee
Watermill-daily 11-5 No Fee

East of Walla Walla Wineries

aMaurice-Saturday only 10:30-4:30/ No Fee
Walla Walla Vintners-Saturday only 10:30-4:30/ No Fee
Five Star-Saturday only 10-4:30/ Fee

Filed Under: Wineries Tagged With: wineries

June 19, 2014 By Mary Studt

Walla Walla Terroir – What Makes This AVA’s Dirt Special

Walla Walla onions…wheat…grapes???

Despite the fact that the Walla Walla area of Washington state has always been known for its onions and wheat, the vineyards now in the area have definitely made a home, a place where a grape can go beyond good and become great. While vacation enthusiasts and wine enthusiasts alike are enjoying an adventurous trip to Walla Walla, they may look around and marvel at the vastness of the eleven million acre Columbia Valley AVA, the high desert area established in 1984 where nearly 17,000 acres of vineyards are planted. The Walla Walla AVA (American Viticultural Area) is small enough to be actually contained within the much larger Columbia Valley AVA.  Actually, there are seven AVA’s nestled within the Columbia Valley AVA. Along with Walla Walla Valley, there is Yakima Valley, Rattlesnake Hills, Red Mountain, Horse Heaven Hills, Wahluke Slope and lastly, the newest of the areas, Snipes Mountain.

The same enthusiasts that are enjoying their sightseeing adventure, may also taste some of the most stunning, elegant, ultra-concentrated, award winning wines they will ever place in their mouths and wonder what makes the Walla Walla wines so amazingly complex and different?

You need more than just the passionate people that are involved in every facet of the grape growing and wine making industry to make these wines reach their potential. Although it’s very important to have passion in your craft, it takes more than passion to make a great wine. It takes money, hard work, long hours, artistic talent, money and oh yes, money. I know this because I too share the same passion with these people and have on occasion purchased the grapes to make wine myself. They are expensive because they have the “perfect” terroir.

Great wines start with the terroir of the region itself. Terroir isn’t just a French word for “soil” or “soil flavor” in the wine. It includes so much more than that. The soil by itself creates a good vineyard for a good wine. However, with the influence of the added geographic factors of this little area,( such as altitude, sun position, rainfall, wind, day and night temperatures, water drainage and hours of sunshine), “great” wines become possible.

The Walla Walla area terroir actually began about eighteen thousand years ago, with the great cataclysmic Missoula flood. During the flood, miles of top soil was dragged to this area and mixed with all the other geographic factors that make Walla Walla what it is today. It is a closed basin that extends about 30 miles from east to west in southeastern Washington state. This area has the Cascade mountain range to the west which acts as a rain shield, and to the north it is bordered by the wheat fields of the Palouse. The Blue Mountains stand rigidly to the east and supply water when needed. It only receives six to eight inches of rainfall annually and is a windy area. Because of the northern latitude it also receives about 2 extra hours of sunshine a day during the growing season than the vineyards in the Napa Valley. The area has warm days and cool nights. Sometimes a difference of 50 degrees in a single day is common. This anomaly helps the grapes retain their acid.

From one area to another, the soil content varies tremendously. One area of a vineyard may contain a huge gravel bar and next to it may be soil with fine silty layers. Because of the floods, massive amounts of alluvial deposits were carried to the area and precipitated to form the base of the soil.  After the floods were over, for many years the winds picked up huge amounts of the lighter soils and layered them on top. Layered soils are usually very deep and well drained. Good soils for growing great grapes.

The deepest layer of soil in this area is mostly basalt, which is a dark dense to fine-grained igneous rock usually formed from volcanic magma. On top of the basalt there are layers of glacial sediment. Covering the glacial sediment is a brownish layer of clay, silt and sand called loess. Loess was probably carried and dropped by the winds. On the top layer of this soil there is usually volcanic ash, which was also carried there by the wind. The wind played a very important role in the development of the Walla Walla dirt.

Ultimately, the confluence of the protective Cascade mountain range, temperatures and sunlight conducive to near perfect growing seasons, and the integrity of the well drained soils allows the Walla Walla AVA to produce world class grapes and generate world class wines.

Filed Under: Terroir, Wineries Tagged With: terroir, wineries

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