We conclude the tales from the Washington wine trails with another installment from the home of the Department of Redundancy Department, Walla Walla. Touring and tasting at wineries in and around this beautiful little corner of our state is like eating Lay’s potato chips: you can’t have just one. And, after a highly enjoyable research excursion, I could not write just one column.
After our successful walking tour of the downtown wineries and tasting rooms of the previous day (let’s refer to that as “Walla one”), we thought we would continue the cardiovascular work and one arm curls at the Walla Walla Regional Airport – where there are now 10 wineries within a hop, skip and a sip.
Our first stop was at Cougar Crest Winery at 202 A St. at the airport. I thought it was a fitting address to park and begin our “Walla two” adventure. The quaint little tasting room and gift shop is in one of the barracks of the abandoned Air Force base, which is the case with most of the winery facilities in the southeastern part of the valley.
There’s no big “fluff and feathery” around these parts, just one great wine after another, and Cougar Crest is certainly no exception. It’s an estate winery, meaning all of the fruit used to make their wines comes from vineyards they own and control.
Co-owner and winemaker Deborah Hansen, with her husband, David Hansen, who manages the vineyards and winery, have produced some outstanding wines since the establishment of the winery in 2001.
We began the glow for the day with a taste of their award-winning viognier. The pronounced aromas of honeysuckle, ripe pear and mandarin orange lured me into one sip after another. The syrah, merlot, cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon that followed were just as enticing and illuminating. I realized we were going to be exposed to some pretty terrific juice on this gloriously beautiful day.
We then bopped down Beech Street to visit my old buddy “Digger” at Russell Creek Winery. Larry Krivoshein, owner and winemaker, is one of the most colorful fellows making wine in the valley. His nickname comes from the fact that he used to be a mortician. Once you get to know this character, you’ll realize that there is no shortage of tongue-in-cheek. His first label was called “Digger’s,” showing the state of Washington with a shovel in the ground near Walla Walla, with Soviet Union, Canadian and U.S. flags flying across the top to depict Larry’s cultural and economic background.
Russell Creek Winery was established in the fall of 1998 and ol’ Digger hasn’t looked back, producing vintage after vintage of award-winning, stellar offerings. We caught Digger riding his vintage bicycle, tooling around sporting his typical wide-brimmed straw hat and whistling a tune. He caught a glimpse of us approaching and quickly scurried back to greet us at his door. There also were about a dozen wines uncorked and ready to be greeted and so, greet we did. Krivoshein makes only handcrafted red wines, including syrah, sangiovese and Tributary, a blend of 25 percent merlot and 75 percent cabernet sauvignon. All exude attention to detail and can be enjoyed with a vast array of hearty meals.
The antithesis of Russell Creek must be a new winery that we visited next, El Mirador, that was just a couple of airport blocks away. We were greeted by Joe and Amy Donnow, proprietors of El Mirador Winery. We were immediately welcomed in and within a few minutes made to feel like part of the family. And that, along with delicious wines, makes this winery very special. They encompass all that is a family run winery, which makes up a big chunk of the growth in the Washington wine industry. This cozy, artfully appointed tasting room should be on your agenda when touring Walla Walla.
We uncovered a tactical blunder as we continued our Sunday stroll around the airport wineries. A slight miscalculation involving that complicated bunch of boxes called a calendar -and a fervent inability to pay attention – led to the harsh reality that most of the remaining wineries are closed on Sundays. You can avoid the depression that stems from such disappointment by scheduling your visit for a Saturday or calling ahead which, of course, this Swede was unable to accomplish.
The anesthetic component to our previous activities quickly soothed the sting of locked winery doors, and we made our way to a few of the peripheral wineries of the Walla Walla Valley.
A quick highlight reel of these wineries:
* Rulo – Awesome people, awesome wines and a definite must stop for anyone interested in really great price to value ratios;
* Three Rivers Winery – Beautiful facility (you can even hit a couple of golf balls), solid wines, impressive gift shop;
* L’Ecole No 41 – You just have to stop at the schoolhouse, and the juice is some of the best anywhere;
* Woodward Canyon Winery – Right next door to the school where Rick Small has been educating us on amazing wines from the get-go.
Man, there is way too much fun to be had in Walla Walla. No wonder they had to name it twice.
Jeff Wicklund, wine consultant and writer, is the proprietor of Colby Hospitality in Everett. He can be reached at 425-238-0722, or wick@colbyhospitality.com.
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