Walla Walla, Washington

Our first destination in the state of Washington was Walla Walla, which, besides having a funny name, is home to some lovely wineries. We needed a place to break once more before hitting the west coast and as Walla Walla is about halfway between Butte and our next (yet to be set at the time, but on the west coast) destination, it seemed like a natural pick.

Walla Walla reminded us of Cafayate, our favorite wine town in Argentina. Both are small, originally agricultural towns that have gotten into wine in a big way. Another plus of both towns were the in-town bodegas or wine tasting rooms. As our hotel in Walla Walla was only a few blocks from the center of town, it was easy to sip to our hearts content and not worry about driving. Walla Walla does also have a university, but despite it being Alumni Weekend, we didn’t see much evidence of the school in the center of town.

Our atlas makes no mention of wine in Walla Walla, so it’s no surprise that it’s a pretty new industry. Some of the vineyards have been around since the 1970’s, but most of the wine makers (usually not one in the same in this area) got into the field within the last 5-10 years. We tasted some good wines, a few excellent wines but also the occasional bad wine, which was a bit reassuring. One of our goals on this trip is to jump start a little wine self education. Our palettes aren’t that discerning yet, but it is good to know we can weed out some bad, or at least very over priced, wines. It was a pleasant afternoon, finished off at Mill Creek, the local microbrew pub. It wasn’t the best beer we’ve had, but it was passable. Coincidentally the brewery is also for sale.l

All in all, it was a lovely stopover.