I'll be doing a self-guided tour of wineries in the Columbia Valley and the
Yakima area, but I'm not familiar with most of the wineries. Are there any
"must visit" wineries in these two areas?

Thanks

Stuart

In Yakima: Apex, Chinook, Kestrel, Yakima Cellars. If you can get
your hands on any Apex Outlook Syrah, run, don't walk.
http://www.wineyakimavalley.org/pdf/2005_AYV_Map.pdf for a detailed
area map.

In Columbia Valley: Cañon De Sol
http://www.canondesol.com/pages/220094/index.htm
http://www.avalonwine.com/Canon-de-Sol-Winery.php

Go to Walla Walla, too, and visit Rulo
http://www.wallawallawine.com/wineri...dtl1.cfm?ID=34 and Amavi
http://www.amavicellars.com/. Both are making stunning syrahs, and
Rulo's whites are exceptional.

If you'er going to be in the Seattle area on Aug. 6th, that's the date
of the Rhone Rangers Northwest Grand Tasting .

JJ


On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 21:31:45 -0700, "Stuart Goldsmith"
> wrote:

>I'll be doing a self-guided tour of wineries in the Columbia Valley and the
>Yakima area, but I'm not familiar with most of the wineries. Are there any
>"must visit" wineries in these two areas?
>
>Thanks
>
>Stuart
>

Agree about Rulo -- wonderful viognier. Go to Buty, Tamarack and Colvin
in Walla Walla -- all near the airport, and there are several other
wineries in the immediate area, none of which will disappoint, IMO.

In Tri-Cities, Barnard-Griffin and Bookwalter are among my favorites.

"Stuart Goldsmith" > wrote in message
...
> I'll be doing a self-guided tour of wineries in the Columbia Valley and
> the Yakima area, but I'm not familiar with most of the wineries. Are there
> any "must visit" wineries in these two areas?
>
> Thanks
>
> Stuart
This is on of the orgs that tracks WA wineries:
http://www.tastewashington.org/ and here is another, if you are going
through Seattle to get to Yakima: http://www.winesofwashington.com/
and the site of the Wine Commission: http://www.washingtonwine.org/
This is the site we use when we plan trips: http://www.gotastewine.com/

The food here is great: http://www.birchfieldmanor.com/

Christophe Baron's wines at Cayuse, and all of the wineries that use Red
Mountain grapes (Blackwood Canyon is trippy) are my current favorites.
Sadly, one of the best was Seth Ryan, whose winemaker was young and died in
a car accident recently. I have a friend who loves Wineglass Cellars, and
Apex is nearly always mentioned as a top wine. The tricky part about WA
wines is that many top winemakers simply transport the grapes from Eastern
to Western Washington, so that makers like DeLille, Novelty Hill, JM
Cellars, etc., make the best wines but aren't always sited in the growing
region itself.

Have fun, and let us know what you find.

>"Stuart Goldsmith" > wrote in message
...
>> I'll be doing a self-guided tour of wineries in the Columbia Valley and
>> the Yakima area, but I'm not familiar with most of the wineries. Are there
>> any "must visit" wineries in these two areas?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Stuart

In addition to the excellent suggestion you've received -

Also, as you are coming into Walla Walla from the west, Woodward
Canyon and L'Ecole 41 are right next to each other.

And Seven Hills in downtown Walla Walla.