Friday, August 10 2007

On the Road With Wine

I haven't updated the blog for a week, as I was on holidays--yep, they let me off the ranch once in a while. I'm always on a short leash, however, as I wound up touring Yakima Valley wine country with my wife.

Washington state is a beautiful place, and the image most folks have of the damp, cloud-shrouded, caffeine-fueled city of Seattle is completely belied by the desert just on the other side of the Snoqualmie pass. Take a left at Everett, snag the 405, through the pass on 90, take a right at Ellensburg and you're suddenly in dry sagebrush, rutted mountains and brilliant fields of grapes, apples and corn as high as an elephant's eye (I had no idea those were the units used for measuring corn growth).

Word is, there's practically no new investment in Napa and Sonoma, or even Oregon--the good sites are taken, bulk-grape valleys don't deliver enough quality to justify putting in vineyards, and California environmental regulations are very difficult to deal with. Washington has some fabulous untapped hillsides, a wonderous climate (summer sunshine hours like you wouldn't believe, heat units to spare, but cold nights--all perfect) and some great, unpretentious wines for tasting.

Our personal favorite winery is Kestrel Vintners, based in Prosser, about 50 km from the Oregon border. They have no affiliation with Winexpert and I'm not getting an endorsement, I just think they make wonderfully balanced wines--a gorgeous, lush Viognier, robust but not overbearing Syrah, silky Sangiovese, and a Cab for the ages--a brooding block of blackberry and blackcurrant.

We picked up a bottle of Viognier and enjoyed it on Kestrel's front lawn, with some cheese and sopraseta and crackers (all from the winery's tasting room/deli). Fortunately it was warm enough for a nap on the lawn until lunch wore off and I could drive again!

If you're thinking of touring the area, drop in on the Yakima Visitors and Convention Bureau. Not only do they have great maps and suggestions, the day we dropped in they were giving away produce, and we wound up dining on peaches and apples down the road.

Back to work now--conferences and seminars abound for August, so I'll be blogging from the road, in between meetings. I'll try to keep up!

Posted by Tim AT 11:24PM

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