Photo Journey through the Wineries of Walla Walla Washington

I had the great pleasure of heading back out west to Walla Walla the week after Thanksgiving. I was scheduled to speak at the Green Wine Summit and promised myself that I would not make a trip to Napa again without flying up to Walla Walla on the way back. Yes, mothers do this when their first daughter goes off to college and Whitman College is where my daughter has landed. Predictable, yes, sappy, maybe, but either way, it brought me great happiness.

Coincidentally, this weekend after Thanksgiving also happened to be the Walla Walla Holiday Barrel Tasting weekend. So, as my daughter needed her time to study, I set out to find out what this tasting weekend was all about. And boy did I find out. The first night I arrived in town, Friday, December 2, the tasting rooms in town were buzzing. I had time to do a few visits which you'll see in the photo gallery: Morrison Lane, Tero Estates (right inside the Marcus Whitman Hotel) Seven Hills Winery, and Tru Cellars, where they produce some of the lone and lovely sparkling wines in the region.

I was then graciously invited to join a small tour group on the following day. So, on Saturday, I went with a great group of ladies out to the vineyards of Walla Walla. I ended up running out of time on my last trip so this was my first visit and what a treat. We stopped into Robison Ranch Cellars, where Brad and Ruth Riordan produce and pour a broad array of varietals from Viognier and Semillon to Petit Verdot , Syrah and Cab Franc. Next we made our way to Waters, where we had the rare opportunity to taste the special 21 Grams, followed by Feliciana Vineyard and Winery, one of the few Washington wineries producing Spanish varietal wines. We caught a most magnificent sunset on their grounds, as well. The highlight of the tour was a stop into Saviah Cellars, producer of our own Stephanie Izard's house wine served at (and named) Girl & the Goat.

Once again, I returned from the region feeling that I'd only scratched the surface but was wildly impressed with the quality and restraint on these wines. The climate is cooler than in California, making the wines lean more in an old-world direction. They are lovely and fairly widely available in Chicago. Please try them and give me some feedback. I know it can be daunting to try wines from an unfamiliar region, but Walla Walla shows some world-class wines. Let me know how your tasting experience goes.

Tagged as: wine, wine tasting, Washington State and Walla Walla Winery

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Laura Levy Shatkin served for 10 years as food and wine critic for the Chicago Reader. Later, she became an Emmy-nominated executive producer for Taste, a 30-minute food and wine show on NBC-5 Chicago, which later merged into www.WineTasteTV.com, where Ms. Levy is a partner/owner. Today, she teaches private wine classes and hosts wine parties for consumers and firms, and continues to tell the video stories of wine, girlfriends and wine travel on her TCW blog, Wine…ing Women.