Posts Tagged ‘winery’
Posted on July 6, 2010 - by Nadia
Out of the woods, into the winery
Waters Winery: Welcome to Washington
Day 33: July 6, 2010
Elgin, Oregon to Walla Walla, Washington
48? Miles
I wanted to leave the highway and cut across the mountains and wheat fields to Walla Walla, but my map just hints at the possibility, the hunting guide serving as convenience store clerk said No and I’m feeling a little risk-averse after the Hell’s Canyon adventure. I shared the highway with lots of nice but large timber trucks. A 20-mile climb was followed by a descent of about the same, the down steeper than the up but tangled with cross winds, a harbinger of my coming days. And yes, this marks my entry into the last state of my journey.
In the mid-70s a machinist planted some grapes in Walla Walla and started what has today become a center for American grape growing and wine making. The last five years have seen a bit of a boom of new vineyards being planted and new wines produced and I have staked out a spot for the night at one of them: Waters winery and vineyard. It’s a gorgeous spot with young vines staked out on a rolling south-facing hill.
Waters had its first crush in 2006 and its grand opening in 2007. Although the tasting room is closed today, Robbi and Christa welcomed my arrival and left me at the end of the day with a variety of wines to sample. After serious consideration, I decided the 2008 Syrah paired nicely with my fresh corn tortillas and peanut butter dinner, though I’d like to come back and try the whole selection again with some of my more discriminating friends. Thanks for setting me up, Bucky. Waters is terrific and everyone working here treated me better (even) than family.
Frazier Museum in Milton-Freewater, Ore.
My highway route to Walla Walla took me through the town of Milton-Freewater. I spent much of the morning forgetting its name and thinking of it as Milton Freeman. As I rolled into town I screeched to a halt at a genuine tortilla factory. I have pretty much lived on tortillas this trip and there was no way I could pass up the chance to buy them hot off the griddle. But I didn’t need five dozen.
Today's movers & shaker in M-F
The guys who were bundling them cheerfully packaged up two dozen small tortillas for me. When I asked how much, they waived off my money and kept up their clowning for my camera. I ate several then and there, had more for dinner, and am regretting not buying the standard five dozen pack – I’ll be done with my two dozen by the time breakfast is through.
