Walla Walla, Washington: Wonderful Wines In The West

Where to start your wine exploring

The growth of the wine industry over the last 10 years is the most dramatic. Since my visit to Walla Walla in the spring of 2016 when there were around a dozen wine tasting rooms downtown, there are now more than 30 wine tasting rooms available to visitors! The important thing is, “These are seriously great wines!”

The easiest way to chart your course is to secure lodging near the epicenter. The Marcus Whitman Hotel puts you within easy walking distance to over 30 wine tasting rooms, excellent restaurants, two delicious bakeries, a historic homes self-guided tour, and much more.

If you don’t feel the need to go out of the downtown area, you won’t lack for winery choices. For top-notch chardonnay, try Morell-Peña wine tasting room and art gallery at 202 E. Main Street. I tried their impressive lineup of six chardonnays and was smitten by all of them. My favorite was the 2015, but the price of 45 USD+ per bottle kept me from buying.

DaMa winery on 123 E. Main Street features a female winemaker producing a tasty lineup of chardonnay, viognier, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, rosé of cabernet franc, and a syrah and Grenache blend. We tasted the rose and liked it enough to buy a bottle to take home. DaMa occupies an artsy space that is still a bit in progress as the owners decide what to do with all the room they have.

For a tasting room with a decent outdoor patio, try Kontos Cellars at 10 N. 2nd Avenue. At Kontos, find ultra-premium Bordeaux style wines. Kontos waives their tasting fee when you have a designated driver! If you can’t come up with your own designated driver, consider hiring one of the many wine-tour operators in the area. One such operator, Main Street Drivers, will drive your car for around 35 USD per hour and can drive either your personal car or rental car and be fully insured to do so.

Gard Vintners has a tasting room at 43 North Main Street. They make excellent wines from sustainably-grown grapes in the Columbia Valley. Their 2016 white blend (Freyja) is reminiscent of a good French or Italian white table wine and won’t break the bank at 14 USD per bottle. Several of Gard’s red wines have garnered 90+ point ratings. Try their red blend (Reverence Red) with 49% syrah, 38% grenache, and 13% viognier for a good example why their wines score highly.

Time for a drive

For the more adventurous wine lovers, take a trip out of town and visit some outstanding wineries. At the airport, an old World War ll air base, find an incubator program that allows new winemakers to lease a facility for up to six years on a low-cost basis. Palencia Wine Company on 600 Piper Avenue shows off a delicious lineup of wines including a very tasty Albariño, rosé, and several reds. Best part is these wines are priced from around 15 USD to 20 USD.

On the south side of Walla Walla, find Revelry Wines in their new facility on 3978 Peppers Bridge Road. Their red wines were outstanding and I loved the Aerial series with the over-the-vineyard photos gracing each label. Try their Block 18 syrah, or 2015 Range syrah/Grenache blend—if there’s any left!

Wine with lunch and a view

Not many of the wineries serve real food on-site, but Waterbrook Winery not only serves a decent lunch, they have a beautiful patio for dining al fresco. Their burgers are delicious and pair well with a glass of merlot. If you missed the life-like wooden carvings of a male and female king salmon near the entrance of the tasting room, take time to give this sculpture a good look. These monster salmon used to swim far up the Columbia River before the dams blocked their passage to spawning grounds.

Reininger Winery has won awards for their malbec, syrah, and cabernet sauvignon wines. Chuck Reininger used to be a professional ice climbing guide who gave up his ice axe to move to his wife’s hometown of Walla Walla. The ice climbing world’s loss is the wine world’s gain as Chuck makes some of the best wines I’ve ever tasted in Washington State. Be warned that the prices tend to be 40 USD and up for these spectacular wines.

Where to eat

Along with all the great wines being produced in Walla Walla, it’s a good thing the culinary scene has followed down the path of excellence. Don’t miss the Walla Walla Bread Company for the best waffle ever, excellent bread, pastries, and entrees. Owner, chef, and baker Michael Kline has run the restaurant gauntlet and survived to open this amazing eatery in July of 2009. Michael’s yeasted waffle, called the waffle box on the menu, offers 17 sweet or savory toppings. I had the warm seasonal compote-blueberry, and whipped cream on my waffle. As a professional chef and baker, I take my hat off to this wondrous waffle creation and highly recommend you try it too. Their sandwiches, wood-fired pizza, and take-out menu are worth a visit.

For fine dining, the Marcus Whitman Hotel’s restaurant, the Marc, has a chef’s table dining option for those looking for the ultimate dining experience. Another fine dining option is Saffron Mediterranean Kitchen, in their new location at 330 W. Main Street. The biggest surprise in Walla Walla dining has to be Andrae’s Kitchen in an unassuming gas station. Chef Andrae Bopp worked in some of the finest restaurants in France, and then came back to the U.S. to shine a light on Walla Walla dining. The Halal style chicken is served like a salad with greens, pita bread, and perfectly spiced chicken for a memorable meal.