Cayuse Weekend 2024

Trip date: April 2024

I hadn't been to the Cayuse annual release weekend party since before Covid so I was really looking forward to it! I invited a couple of friends from our wine group to join me for the weekend, driving over on Friday afternoon, and we were all surprised to have snow while going over Snoqualmie Pass! In April!

First stop, Yakima for Mexican lunch! We chose Taqueria Rolly's for tacos inside their fun retrofitted school bus. Good stuff!

We rolled into the Marriott in Walla Walla with not a lot of time to get cleaned up for dinner and get back on the road. Our dinner reservations were at 5:30 at Bar Bacetto in Waitsburg which is about a 30 min drive away. 5:30 is not my preferred dinner time but reservations are hard to get here!

Waitsburg is so cute and very, very, quiet!

We had great seats right up at the counter and had to restrain ourselves from just ordering everything as it all sounded, and smelled, so good. In the end we had 4 dishes between 3 of us plus some dessert. I highly recommend Bar Bacatto, even after a long drive over the mountains!

Back in town, I parked the car at the hotel and we walked over to Passatempo for a couple of cocktails. I've drank here multiple times but still haven't had dinner. Will have to rectify that!

By the time I rsvp'd for my Cayuse party tickets there weren't a lot of time slots left so we ended up going at 10am. And it ended up being a great choice! It gave us time to taste everything and graze through all the small bites provided by one of my favorite Seattle restaurants Lark. And it wasn't crazy busy, or crazy tipsy yet!

When we were in line to enter we actually ran into Chef Sundstrom and he invited us downstairs to check out the catering prep and say hi to everyone. Downstairs was actually in Cayuse's barrel cellar, which was very cool!

We were at the party for a little over an hour and then hit the road for some new-to-me winery tastings. First up was Devona. It took us a while to find the entrance but we were so glad we did! These wines were just lovely! Winemaker and owner John Abbott makes wines from both Oregon and Washington. We tasted their pinot noir and chardonnays (merlot and cab are poured during the fall release) and I absolutely loved both the pinots. Highly recommend a stop here and you do need to contact them to reserve. 

Next up was Devium, not too far down the road (both of these are in the airport district), and also requires an appointment. Devium had been recommended to us by a few friends so we were excited to try. But as soon as we walked in we were all a bit put off.

As it was Cayuse weekend there were a lot of people in town ready to party, but it seemed that almost everyone at Devium was more that a bit tipsy. And loud! Now that isn't necessarily the winery's fault, except that as we started tasted we realized there were no dump buckets anywhere. And we when asked for one they seemed quite put out. So maybe it was...

But besides the party atmosphere, I honestly just did not like the wines. And winemaker/ owner Keith Johnson would not be surprised by that as he is purposefully making very different styles. Unfiltered and funky; if those words are part of your wine love language than you might be a fan.  

Back in town we grabbed delicious burgers from The Ice-Burg and then walked to the downtown area. We had a great time at new-to-me Time & Direction, the tasting room and the folks working are super fun and the wines were all interesting in a good way! 

We all bought a couple of bottles and asked if we could pick them up in the morning, as we were on our way to an early dinner in town and didn't want to be walking around with our wine all night. Turns out they offer delivery depending on where you are staying! Awesome!

It was a short walk over to Brassiere 4 for a lovely bistro dinner capped off with nightcaps before walking back to the hotel. 

In the morning we stopped by Bacon & Eggs for breakfast before hitting the road. It's always been delicious in the past but this time all of our dishes were either over salted, luke warm, or both. Not sure if that was a one-off or not. 

The required stop at Los Hernandez in Union Gap was made to grab tamales for our freezers. They had nopale which I hadn't tried (theirs) before and they were delicious!

And then we were back in Seattle with a trunk full of wine and tamales :)

All Walla Walla photos here. 

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. 

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!

Walla Walla Wine Country, Now With Cocktails!

Each spring the annual Cayuse Release Weekend happens in Walla Walla, an excuse for a brief little getaway, some great wine, and good times with friends. This year it was a girls only trip.

Friday afternoon we stopped for lunch in Ellensburg at the absolutely charming Yellow Church Cafe. We found the cafe in a quick on-line search and were super happy with our meals; grilled cheese with bacon!!

We had made arrangements to stop to taste Goedhart, which doesn't have a tasting room anymore but is being poured at Hedges, in Prosser. The problem was that I had Hogue in my head and went to the wrong winery. By the time we made it to Hedges they were closed. We felt terrible missing our appointment so we stopped in Fidelitas for a taste to help get over it. Nice malbecs here and a great view of the valley.

Arriving in town, we checked into our normal spot, the Holiday Inn, and had them call us a cab. Besides spending the days tasting wine I was employing my girlfriends to help me check out the emerging cocktail scene in downtown Walla Walla.  Freddy G showed up within minutes and was our evening driver for the weekend. He was a great sport as we went out early and came back late, sometimes requesting a bottle stop on the way home!

The first night we had wonderful drinks at Whitehouse Crawford before a good, but not exceptional, dinner at Saffron. Afterwards we had nightcaps at the Public House 124 where owner Matthew Price-Huntington was kind enough to give us tastes of unique spirits and mix us up a few rounds. 

The next day was all about the wine. We tasted mainly in the south and downtown area, repeat favorites included Cayuse, Rotie, and Mark Ryan (and an incredible taco bar they had set up). We also went to Isenhower and had a very nice semi private tour and tasting, and also had an appointment at Doubleback which is delicious juice but very spendy. Our weekend favorite was tasting at Maison Bleue's new room right downtown. This wine is absolutely amazing, if you are a fan of granache you want this on your 'do-not-miss' list.

That evening, after dropping the wine and the car off and calling our buddy Freddy G, we had more delicious cocktails at The Vineyard Lounge before having dinner at Brassiere 4, which is perhaps my favorite Walla Walla restaurant.

Heading home on Sunday, we stopped in Prosser to have lunch at Wine O'Clock. Horrible name, very good lunch. It is actually a winery, though we thought the wines a bit simple. And besides the good food the cafe had vintage Julia Child television shows playing on their tv. Very cool.

You can read the full write up that I did about the cocktail scene on World's Best Bars.

Cheers!

Walla Walla Wine Weekend Redux

And speaking of wine tasting, we spent a very enjoyable weekend recently in Walla Walla during Cayuse Release. Dayne and I left Friday morning so we could make a few leisurely stops along the way.

Our first stop was in Selah where I had made arrangements to stop and taste the wines at Southard Winery. We made our way up the hills and found the Southard's gorgeous home and small vineyards. Scott Southard is 34, but looks 28, and has just been making wine since 2008. His winery, cave and tasting room are all in a dedicated building constructed next to his parents house.


I'd been reading about his wines, and reviews from some respected wine sellers promoting his talent. The wines are light Rhone styles mainly, all at excellent price points. Without having a formal tasting room, Scott just happily opened what I was interested in, which was very nice of him. If you're passing through the north Yakima area, I highly recommend you call and see if he's available to give you a tasting. In Seattle you'll an find his wines at Picnic, Hot Cakes, Esquin, etc.


Hungry for lunch we took Sonja's recommendation to try the burgers at King's Row Drive In. A tiny, local joint, walls adorned with every school's sports team, and a big menu of drive-in classics. We declared ourselves first-timers at the order window and took their advice- Dayne chose the Garbage Burger. Bad name, great burger. The chocolate shake and onion rings were delish. Not as big, burgers or actual space wise, as Minor Burger, this was a bit more my speed.

Back on the road we stopped just outside of Walla Walla at L'Ecole. We've stopped here every time we've visited the area but always on the way out of town. Mixing it up by making it our first stop, we tasted through their current release scored a few bottles from their library collection on sale.


After checking in at the stylish and budget friendly Holiday Inn Express (my eye teeth for a Kimpton Walla Walla) we headed out for some pre-dinner drinks. We haven't always had the best luck with cocktails in town but I was pleasantly surprised by my Pear Amoré with pear brandy, Benedictine and an absinthe rinse at Public House 124.

A short walk down the street, past the lovely park and boutiques, we arrived at Brasserie Four for another delicious dinner, as we'd eaten there the last time.


Our friends Gary and Elisabeth drove over Friday night and we all met up in the morning, starting our day at Bacon & Eggs. This adorable converted, convenience store serves up breakfast, breakfast cocktails and lunch. Hipster and delish. There's usually a bit of a wait but they'll give you some complimentary scones to tied you over.

We then made our way down to state line to Cayuse's cellar, or The Box as they call it, for our release weekend tasting and wine pick up. After our tasting we headed into Milton Freewater to check out a wonderful chocolate shop, Petits Noirs. Oh this chocolate is good, really good! Worth the short drive for sure!

Back on the wine tasting trail we made stops at Feliciana (great grounds, nice folks, but I wasn't especially keen on their wines) and Sleight of Hand (always in my favorites list, especially happy to grab some of their rose). Another mid day diversion was the Walla Walla antique market where we picked up some gorgeous new cocktail coupes.

We finished off the afternoon by parking in downtown and walking between Rotie, Mark Ryan and K Vitner tasting room. All "do-not-miss" stops in my opinion.

Dinner that night was at the Marc where we had been for drinks in the past, but not for dinner. A friend of ours sent a note to the chef, who she knows, and magically a few lagniappes arrived on the table. It's always fun to get a little extra. The somm was also happy to let me know about his last bottle of an older Pedestal that wasn't on the list anymore.

All our food was good, but the dishes (a foie gras course and a crab salad) that the chef sent out were the best.

The next morning we tried to eat at the new and highly recommended Maple Counter Cafe but the wait was a crazy (1hour 30 mins) so we had some average egg dishes at a downtown diner and then headed out to perennial favorite, Gramercy Cellars.

We bid farewell to Gary and Elisabeth and took a quick detour to check out the new winery, Foundry, just next door. It's a winery and an art gallery with this amazing patio. I highly recommend you check it out if you haven't before.

While driving home we decided to stop in Union Gap to try some tamales from Los Hernandez. For $16 you can get a dozen chicken or pork. We got a mix and strangely both of us liked the chicken better. But these tamales are damn good! We were sad to learn that we were a week early for his seasonal asparagus and cheese, limited edition tamales. Next time I'm bringing a cooler and coming home with some frozen ones for quick and delicious dinners.

Another great weekend in Walla Walla, already looking forward to the next trip!

Not mine...

Walla Walla photos here.
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