New Finds in Walla Walla

Trip date: November 2021

Last fall the ladies from the wine group I'm in decided a return to Walla Walla was in order. Covid was still wreaking havoc so it wasn't a normal Walla Walla trip but it was still incredibly fun!

Sarah and I decided to fly over, while Lorraine, Sandra, and Sonja drove. I had actually never flown to Walla Walla before; it's a quick 1 hour flight on a small prop plane, very similar to the flight into Santa Rosa wine country. 

When we landed we found out our friends, who were to be picking us up from the airport, were running a bit late. We tried to find an Uber or Lyft, thinking we would just meet them at our first wine tasting appointment, but Walla Walla still doesn't have car share services. When we found out the only restaurant in the airport didn't serve wine ("we don't want to seem like we are playing favorites" was the reply when I asked why not!) Sarah and I took the advice of the cashier and wheeled our suitcases down the street to Cavu Cellars and had a glass until our friends made it into town. 

Our first tasting of the weekend was at Grosgrain Cellars. It's in a beautiful location and the wines here are very very good. They even have a gorgeous vacation rental if you want to stay! 

We checked into our own Airbnb afterward; a HUGE 5 bedroom, 4+ bathroom house directly across the street from Pioneer Park. This was a great rental for a group with a super well stocked kitchen, lots of comfy seating, and big tv for movie watching. 

After a quick tasting at El Corazon, we had a stellar dinner at Hattaway's.  It was my first time here and I loved it! The food was great, our table in the wine cellar was perfect, and the wine selection was awesome. Highly recommend!

The next morning we called in salad orders from Graze -as we had a full day of tasting appointments and didn't want to have to worry about finding a lunch spot- and hit the road. Except for El Corazon, all the wineries we had lined up for the weekend were new visits for me and I was super excited! 

First up was Devison where we tasted in their working cellar. The reds here are absolutely delicious! I also recently had a chance to try their rosé which is super solid as well. 

We didn't have far to go for our next appointment at Rasa as they share the same building. They have a small tasting room set up with comfy lounge chairs and poured us through quite a big line up. I think the group had mixed opinions on the wine here but I did buy a couple of their QED which is a nice Rhone blend. 

Our third stop was at Dillon which is near the airport. Dillon specializes in Chardonnay and Syrah and although domestic Chardonnay does not tend to be my favorite varietal I absolutely loved Marc Leahy's! This is one talented winemaker! They were also kind enough to let us eat our salads as we tasted. Another stellar stop!

We were all very excited for our final tasting of the day. Alton Cellars has been getting a lot of press since opening their new tasting room in 2020. The building, by Architect Jon Gentry of GO’C, is simply stunning. Sitting in the middle of rolling hills, the steel/glass/wood structure manages to look both completely out of place and somehow natural in it's setting. 

And that's the end of my positive experience at Alton. As we walked inside and were seated we all commented on the VERY strong scent of what we assumed was someone's cologne. So strong was the smell that I could actually taste it in the back of my throat. This is obviously something that you don't want while wine tasting.

One of my friends finally asked/commented about the smell to the woman pouring for us and she responded excitedly that it was actually a scented candle that they had burning. And in fact they consider it their signature scent.

WTF????? What winemaker has scented candles burning in their tasting room?? Especially one called Cowboy's Camp? Did I also mention that their tasting fee was $30? Utter bullshit. Enough said.

We decided to have dinner at home that night and picked up an order of Greek food from Yamas, which had been recommended to us by one of the (better) winemakers, and to-go cocktails from Passatempo. Both were absolutely delicious! 

The next morning, after some mimosas and pastries, we had our first tasting. The winemaker of Tempus Joe Forest was great and took us through a tasting in the cellar room. The wines here are super approachable, very well priced, and the staff were all great. I think everyone bought a few bottles!

Down the road and very near the airport we stopped at the incubator area. These cute little buildings are part of a program to help growing wineries and winemakers get a foothold in the industry. We had an appointment to taste at itä where winemaker Kelsey Albro Itämeri charmed us while pouring some absolutely delicious rosé, semillon, and pinot noir. 

This was such a great stop! Kelsey is from Seattle and does club pick up parties both in Walla Walla and Seattle making joining her wine club an easy choice for all of us. 

So enamored by the incubators we headed next door to Hoquetus (rhymes with lettuce) and tasted through the three wines that winemaker Robert Gomez was making. You may know Robert as he worked at Montana bar and Dino's Tomato Pie in Seattle before moving to Walla Walla in 2017. His wines are crunchy and lovely.

Before leaving the airport region we stopped at Prospice where they were holding tastings outside under a big tent. Sarah and Sonja went to the nearby taco truck and brought over lunch while we tasted some gorgeous syrahs. Jay Krutulis (former cellarmaster at Tranche) and Matt Reilly (former cellarmaster at Gramercy) aren't new to wine making but this is their first venture together and they just started in 2019.

The wines are great, well-priced, and they made it very easy to join their cellar club :) 

We headed back into downtown after this and Sandra, Lorraine, and I did a final tasting at House of Bones which is in the old Rotie space. I was pretty excited about trying the "French-style" chardonnays here but they only served one and the other 3 tastes were Proper Syrahs. All good, but I somehow thought we'd be tasting all Chard.

They did pair the wines with some delicious chocolates though!

We met everyone at Brasserie Four and had a cocktail out on the patio with some oysters & escargot while waiting for our delicious to-go order which we thoroughly enjoyed back at our home.  

The next morning the car-crew headed out fairly early as there were reports of snow in the pass. Sarah and I called every "taxi" driver in town before finally getting hooked up with some random guy and his SUV. 

I headed across the street to Pioneer Park to take a little walk in the sun while Sarah packed up. It's a gorgeous park with huge trees, a pond, and an aviary.

We picked up another order from Graze and headed to the airport. After checking in (1 case of wine free per person flying out of Walla Walla!) we found an area upstairs in the airport where we could have our lunch away from other people. 

It was a great weekend, with some great ladies, and a chance to taste some really lovely wines! 

All Walla Walla photos here. 

Westport WA Beach Vacay

Trip date: August 2021

A few friends and I decided to head out to the Washington Coast for a little summer get away, I'm always up for a beach even if sand in the PNW is colder than most places. After looking at a few rental options (we wanted a house with a room for everyone and pet friendly so one of the pooches could join) we decided on a house in Westport. A pretty easy drive and a new destination for me! 

Our drive would take us past Olympia, which we decided was a good place for lunch. We had a great meal at Chelsea Farms, outside on their cute covered and heated patio. Luckily all of us love a seafood tower, and the one here was so huge that four of us could barely finish it! I also had an amazing clam chowder. I highly recommend this spot if you are passing thru the area. 

Another little gem in Oly was Left Bank Pastries. We stopped in after brunch on a Sunday so they were pretty picked over, but we still ended up with some delicious Kouign Amann and lemon tarts. 

We drove out towards Aberdeen, which is where I have always headed north to go up to Ocean Shores or Lake Quinault, but this time we turned south and were quickly in Westport. We found our house, a big A-frame with a huge deck running the width of it. 

Since the house had three levels, we each got one to ourselves, as well as a private bathroom. We immediately went about setting up the kitchen and the bar. Happy Hour was had out on the deck, and some of the neighbors sauntered by which was very exciting to pooch Selah.

We could hear the ocean but we didn’t have a view which was a little disappointing. But the next day we drove to the public beach access and realized just how close we were. We had a great time walking along the shore, and Selah especially loved all the smells of the beach!

Afterwards, our lunch at Merino's Seafood was exactly what a beachtown seafood lunch should be; absolutely fantastic fish and chips, crab melt, crab cocktail, chowder, fries, and beers. Highly recommend this spot if you are in the area.

That evening we took our happy hour drinks down to the beach, having found the path that cut through the seagrass and was just a short walk from our house, and toasted to the beautiful sunset.

After a bit of work the next morning for most of us, we decided to do some tasting at the Westport Winery. The winery is very popular in town, and also has a restaurant, a distillery, and some very cool gardens on the property.

The wines however are a bit unique, as are the tasting notes. We had a good time here but I don't think anyone was overly impressed. Bottle purchases do benefit a variety of charities which I thought was great.

We were cooking all of our dinners at the house for the week and had brought most everything that we needed. I was going to be making a crab boil for dinner this night though so we stopped into Brady's Oysters for our cleaned Dungeness crab. Brady's has an amazing selection of fresh and canned seafood and we found their crab to be the best of our trip!

Later that day we drove to another beach access location that was right near Westport proper. It was a lovely long walk along the shore and then exploring the town. 

While in town we stopped at Seafood Connection, which is a floating seafood shop in the marina, for some prawns for the crab boil.

My friend Leslie lives fairly close so she drove out the next day to join us for lunch at the Tokeland Hotel in nearby Tokeland. My gawd what a cute spot this is! 

We had a delicious lunch followed by a nice walk around their property which goes all the way out to the bay. The hotel also has a farm with goats, pigs, rabbits, pheasant, bees, etc. Us city kids had a ball!

We stopped at Nelson Crab in Tokeland for some fresh picked Dungeness as well as some seaweed salads which are quite popular in the area. That night Sandra and Travis made two styles of crab rolls for dinner which were amazing!

Before hitting the road home, we stopped back at Brady's for some fresh picked crab. It's amazing how just a few hours closer to the sea, how much sweeter this crab was than here at home! 

I found Westport to be a sleepy town, one that seems to revolve completely around seafood which I found to be both fun and relaxing! And delicious!

All photos from Westport here.

Cayuse Release Weekend in Walla Walla

Trip date: April 2016

April means Cayuse Release Weekend, the annual pilgrimage to collect my only cult wine and taste around the charming town of Walla Walla. This time I was also on a mission to bring home a few cases of rosé for the arrival of summer.

My friend Chris and I headed east, his first time, and we decided to drive across the Columbia Gorge as it was a brilliant spring day. It was interesting to see that the makeshift campground where I spent much of my late 20's partying at is now all paved with proper fire pits, picnic tables, and tent pads.

We arrived in town and immediately stopped at Gramercy who always has a member's party that same weekend. I've been a fan of Gramercy wine for years now, the quality is amazing. If you haven't been I really recommend a visit (ask if they have any Picpoul!)

However lovely Walla Walla is, it is not without a few flaws; one of them being the lack of good, affordable hotels close to downtown. In years past I have always stayed at the Holiday Inn Express- not posh but well priced. This time we chose to stay at the newly opened Courtyard Marriott. For the same price as the HI we were within walking distance to the wineries, bars, and restaurants downtown. Very nice!

We checked out the bar and although the service was great, the drinks were made with overly sweet mixers. Stick to whiskey neat or on the rocks here I'd say.

We walked to Brasserie Four, one of my favorite restaurants, and had an excellent meal complete with escargot. I really love their escargot!

The next morning we drove over the state line into northern Oregon and onto the Cayuse property. This is the only time Cayuse does any type of tasting, and it's only for members. My friends know that I don't roll out with handcarts of Cayuse, just a few bottles to keep things interesting, such as my 2014 Cailloux Vineyards Syrah which The Wine Advocate just gave 100 points!

The folks here put on a great party and now that the new cellar is open there are beautiful views of the vineyards and much more space for everyone. They had an awesome spread of both passed small bites and stations of hand carved Iberico ham and cheeses. And of course, there was a lot of wine to taste!

Taking advantage of the warm and sunny day we headed to Sleight of Hand, got a few glasses and sat outside while listening to winemaker Trey's rock music play on vinyl from inside.

We dropped the car back off at the hotel and set out to go tasting at some new (to me) wineries.

First up, Trust. I really liked the wines here, very solid Syrahs with excellent QPR! Recommend giving them a taste!

Seven Hills, which is a classic in Walla Walla, but I had never been to a tasting there. We loved everything and ended up buying a lot! And good thing as the winery was sold in 2016 so upcoming vintages will be different. Their rosé was especially lovely.

DaMa. Nope. Overpriced, underdone. And the tasting came with some serious high-pressure sales pitch. YMMV.

Final stop at Otis Kenyon left us on a high note. Lovely wines, some which came home with me, and a fun staff and tasting room. Another one I'd recommend!

It was time for dinner and we had reservations at Whitehouse Crawford. I absolutely love the space here and my meals are always good, not fantastic but good. Walla Walla also needs more restaurants.

The next morning I had a nice visit with my friend Abra who moved to Walla Walla from Seattle to study wine making. We were able to sit outside in her garden with our tea in the sunshine and catch up. The weather can be so great over there in the spring!

Before leaving town Chris and I had a fantastic breakfast at Bacon & Eggs which is now on Main Street in downtown! So handy!

We had one more tasting, at Kerloo as I had been told they were doing a good rosé and indeed they were. Rosé goals were achieved and the trunk was just about full.

We got on the road heading west, this time going through Tri Cities and Yakima, but made a little stop at Owen Roe's new tasting rooms high on a hill in Union Gap.

This is another winery I've been a fan of since first tasting them in Willamette Valley, Oregon. The new Washington space is awesome and I had a chance to taste some wines I am familiar with as well as some new ones. Absolutely make a stop here if you are passing by!

I missed this year's Release Weekend as I was in Palm Springs soaking up some vitamin D with friends. I will most likely miss next year's as well because of the same. First world problems and all that. Here's looking to 2019!

Pssst... If you're in Seattle you can taste Walla Walla greats such as Sleight of Hand, Kerloo, Rotie, Waters, and more at SoDo Urban Works!

All wine weekend photos here!

A Romantic Dinner Where?

This month last year we headed to Punta Cana for our wedding anniversary, but before flying off we had a very nice dinner in an unexpected location.

Since our flight was a tad early in the morning, we took advantage of a deal for the Cedarbrook Lodge. This hotel is located right at the airport but the beautiful grounds and Northwest style rooms and common areas make you feel far from the hectic ways of the SeaTac airport. We checked in and were given this lovely, comfortable and serene room for the night.

 

They were providing live jazz on the lawn so we headed out with a cocktail and relaxed before dinner. The lawn, pond, and gardens really are pretty here. 

 

We then had a lovely dinner at the hotel's restaurant CopperLeaf. You don't usually find things like foie gras, duck breast, and 5-course tasting menus by the airport but that is exactly what CopperLeaf offers. The food was all very good, it wasn't earth shattering but it was very good. It was also very, very pretty. The plating was excellent and the restaurant also offers a fantastic wine list with many exceptional local wines. 

Our favorite thing was this dessert. Delicious donuts served with a hand-blended hot chocolate for dipping. Delish!

5am the next day came around much to soon but it was made easier by the complimentary airport shuttle.

I highly recommend Cedarbrook Lodge as an overnight on your next early morning SeaTac departure!

Flickr Photo Set

First Harvest Dinner, Willows Inn

Last year Dayne and I had a wonderful overnight and dinner at the Willows Inn on Lummi Island, so when the restaurant invited us to their first ever Harvest Dinner we jumped at the offer. This year we stayed in the Honeysuckle Room which was adorable and housed in one of the inn's original buildings.




Having watched the Anthony Bourdain episode of Cook it Raw in Japan with Chef Wetzel's former boss from Noma, forage and create with some of the world's best chefs, we were overly excited for this special meal. chef Wetzel told us, upon asking about the Japanese event, that he had helped to put on that first friendly competition, which made us even more intrigued. Even as we arrived to check in, there was a lot of prep going on for the evening's activities.




The premise was to invite 6 young, innovative chefs, including host Blaine Wetzel, have them fish and forage the island, and then come up with dishes to serve geeky diners over a leisurely 3 to 4 hour evening, with wine pairings by the resident sommelier. As we joined the other diners on the front porch for cocktail hour, the chefs and wait staff discussed the game plan.




The dinner started with a series of appetizers, most brought out and served by the chefs themselves.
Rhubarb and lovage, by north Belgium chef Kobe Desramaulis, was simple, tart and palate cleansing.




Wetzel presented kale leaf with truffles and rye, which was a stand out of the night. Just the aroma of this one bite wonder was heavenly.




Jerusalem artichokes with flax seed and purslane from San Francisco's Jason Fox was next up, another one bite piece of art.




And the final appetizer, from Sean Brock of South Carolina, was a smoked beet with chocolate, balsamic and woodruff. Most of you know that beets and I are not buddies, but I tried it and it was very interesting. Some may have thought it was delicious.




With the pretty little one bite's out of the way, the chefs started to bring out their protein centered foraged and found. I have to say that as each chef presented each table with his creation (where were the ladies?) they were informative, humble and appreciative of the enthusiasm.
John B. Sheilds from Philly presented us with his Shigoku Oyster with egg yolk, sea water and coastal plants. I wanted to love this as it was gorgeous but the kelp was a bit too slimy for me and the green ocean plants had a real muddy taste. Others disagreed and plates were cleaned.




Next up Jason Fox presented my favorite dish of the entire evening. Sockeye salmon as a tartare with fennel, frozen huckleberries, horseradish tapioca and sea beans. I want this again. And again.




These next dishes all came with a complimentary "side" created by one of the other chefs. Out came Chef Wetzel's smoked salmon I'd seen go in earlier in the day. We've all had smoked salmon. But this was amazing, like candy, with even the skin being crispy and flavorful. Served with only a warm, wet hand towel, it was to be eaten and enjoyed with the hands. And it was.




Next up Blaine served summer cabbage with gooseberries and coriander. Not sure what it was about this but it wasn't really my speed. Again, others disagreed.




The accompanying dish by Kobe Desramaults was a big hit however. Grilled onion with Nasturtium, goat cheese and rye.




Chef Desramaults had come around earlier to show each of us part of his next dish. He had taken the oyster shells, from the soon to be presented oysters poached in whey, and pulverized them, mixing them with salt to make a crust in which to roast potatoes in. He was sweet and excited, when he showed us the before shot.




And the resulting dish was both inventive and delicious, with the oyster being firm and the potato being soft yet having a slight briny flavor.




Nasturtium wrapped prawns with green garlic and a "head" emulsion by Chef Fox accompanied. It was nice but didn't make my top list.




It was at this time also that the customers decided on a "sunset break". If you've never seen the sunset from the inn, and even if you have before, it's a spectacular site. On this night there was an interesting cloud seeming to sink into the sea with the sun.




I'm really assuming the next dish was not truly foraged, although there seem to be an abundance of deer on the island... Chef Sean Brock served grilled venison heart (my first encounter with it) along with rhubarb, kohlrabi and shiitake. The sliver of grilled ofal was delicious and very tender




Huge "crackers" of crispy Halibut skin with razor clam was served by Wetzel as the follow up. Very interesting texture and a great flavor. Who would think of serving a shellfish on a finfish skin?




Another favorite of mine was Desramaults kerre melk stampers with spot prawns which I believe he described as a goat's milk ravioli. Whatever it all was I cleaned my plate.




Chef Shields followed with beer bread with pinenut butter and mushroom powder. Just your run of the mill bread course...Served on a log...




The final savory dish was courtesy of Kyle Connaughton. His kamado-San consisted of Kani gohan, charred leeks and seven grain, dungeness osumashi and crispy rice, sea lettuce tsukemono. I was disappointed to be so full at this point as I really wanted to eat all of this!




Desramaults presented a palate cleanser of sorrel and cucumber which even being full got cleaned from my plate.




And the. John B. Shields presented what was the most interesting dessert I've ever had. Preserved carrot with hazelnut praline, spruce and white chocolate. It rocked.




I felt that the dinner was a huge success and introduced me, yet again, to favors and products that I hadn't experienced before. This time those ingredients came with chefs who are really happy to experiment t with new flavors too. Sometimes this type of the meal can be a bit hokey but in my opinion Chef Wetzel and the Willows Inn are really doing a fantastic job. I can't wait till my next meal there!




Total dish count: 18, paired with wine. And this is why there is an inn to sleep over at.
All photos are here.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Willow Inn, Lummi Island