What a day to start a vacation! First, I think I must have been drinking too much wine when I booked my flight out as somehow I must have thought leaving from O'Hare at 6:00 am was a good idea. Then before I even left my vacation almost came to a tragic end. At 3:20 am I was loading luggage into the truck when a big black and white skunk comes walking out from under the steps! Thankfully it wasn't as startled as I was, so it didn't spray as that would have ended my vacation before it began.
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| Flying over the wheat fields in Walla Walla reminded me of an impressionist landscape! |
So I made it to Seattle where I connected to an Alaska/Horizon flight to Walla Walla, passinf over the wheat fields that looked like an impressionist landscape and finally I arrived! I took an Uber to the Holiday Inn Express (I'm not a wine industry professional, but I did stay at...those jokes will never get old). Once I got settled in I walked into downtown Walla Walla and my first stop was Seven Hills where I had a lovely tasting with Julie Titus and the gang there.
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| The tasting room at Seven Hills Winery. |
Then I was off to Mark Ryan's tasting room on Main Street, which was a very fun time with some absolutely wonderful red blends. The Lost Soul Syrah was a particularly wonderful wine that I missed in my wine club shipment, but made of for it by ordering a few bottles. Tuesdays are somewhat quiet days in the tasting rooms, so I then went off to Olive for a nice salad as a late lunch.
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| The wonderful tasting room at Mark Ryan Winery in Walla Walla |
After a hot day of more than 20,000 steps, it was time for the evening festivities, and I can't thank Julie Titus at Seven Hills enough for inviting me to an industry pre-harvest dinner at Tranche Cellars that was sponsored by the Walla Walla Wine Alliance.
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| A view of the Blue Mountains beyond the vineyard at Tranche Cellars |
The setting was absolutely stunning, right in the midst of the vineyard with views of the Blue Mountains in the background. The event was really a fun sort of wine potluck, where all the various wineries sent folks with bottles of their wonderful wines and everyone could try a number of different wines of their peers.
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| A fantastic venue for a wonderful industry event at Tranche Cellars |
With food catered by Andrae's Kitchen it was a wonderful event with delicious wine and food, but my only problem was that it was so hot and after walking all day I just could not stop sweating! I'm sure I was a fright to behold, but it was still an excellent first day of my Walla Walla vacation!
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| Some of the many fine folks who work so hard to make Walla Walla wine so wonderful! |
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