Washington Wine Country - Day 2

We took our time waking up today enjoying the nice scenery and setting aside time to relax. Plus, there is something that seems so wrong with wine tasting at 10am.

We headed downtown Walla Walla to walk around, window shop, and pick up some lunch. We stopped off at Salumiere Cesario, a little gourmet grocery with everything! Gourmet meats, cheeses, breads, oils from all over the world, nuts, olives, wine, teas... you name it, it was there. We got a little $8 "lunch box" which included 1 oz emmenthaler cheese, .5 oz of their homemade salami, a demi baguette, and a small sampling of dried fruit and nut compote. Delicious!!!! Best lunch ever! We popped it in our cooler and headed off to our tastings.

We only made it to 5 wineries today. I was really disappointed at our lack of tastings. It's not that we didn't have the stamina to keep going, but my taste buds were just dying! You know the feeling you have about an hour after you've just burnt your tongue on some hot food? That's how my poor tongue feels, even now, 2 hours later. :( All the red wine will fry your taste buds I suppose.

Spring Valley Vineyard was our first stop. Wines were ok but very expensive. We got a great family history lesson of the 7 generations of wine makers. Very interesting and educational. Seven Hills Winery was our next stop. The wines were really really good, loved them all! We walked out with a refreshing Pinot Gris. Canoe Ridge Vineyard was next on the list. Also fantastic wines but managed to walk away with only a Malbec. We stopped off at Three Rivers Winery (pic on the left) where we enjoyed our "lunch box". The view was just breathtaking and we had the entire outdoor deck to ourselves to have a nice long lunch. We just stared in awe at the giant Blue Mountains and looked over at their private 3-hole golf course. The wines were ok, nothing that took me by surprise but definitely worth coming for the view, a little afternoon golf, and a fun gift shop. At this point our pallet was about finished so we ended our wine tasting at Reininger Winery where they had incredible wines. They had so many wines to taste that we only made it through half before I had to call it quits. It's never a good sign when all the wines start tasting the same. Darn all those tannic reds we had! At any rate, we headed out with a Sangiovese and promises to return once our taste buds had time to rest.

The rest of the afternoon included some little R&R. A took a nap, I blogged. Then we went out to the fresh salt water pool for a little dip and lounged on the chaise lounge chairs to replenish our Vitamin D.

For dinner, we chose to go to CreekTown Cafe. The restaurant uses all local ingredients; from their meats to cheeses and produce. The atmosphere is not as upscale as the food and prices reflect but once I got my food, I didn't even care! A got a King Crab Salad and I got a Strawberry Almond salad. Both pretty good. The crab on A's salad was mouthwatering; like butter! I choose the Roast Pheasant with Morel Mushrooms. No words... really, I just sat through my whole dinner shaking my head in disbelief! It was perfect, like I was eating a piece of Heaven. Seriously the BEST pheasant I've ever had. A had the Kobe Beef which was also very good. Both meals were packed with flavor, very juicy, and prepared like an upscale homemade meal. I would LOVE to pay another visit at this restaurant before we leave.

Anyone who knows A, knows he loves his sweets...especially ice cream! So after dinner we went and got ice cream cones and walked around downtown. Most of the shops were closed by now but there were still tons of people out walking and taking a leisurely bike ride around the town. Suddenly, something caught the corner of my eye. It was one of THE most BEAUTIFUL sunsets I have ever seen! Literally left me weak in the knees. We rushed back to the car to head West to see if we could get a better view. I will attempt to take a picture of the sunsets here to show you.; so many colors and you can see the horizon for MILES and MILES. *sigh* It was a great end to a fantastic day.

Wine Bottle Count: 6