A Wine Novice’s Weekend Information to the Walla Walla Valley

I’ve an enormous confession. Though I’ve been writing about Seattle eating places for a pair a long time now, I do know embarrassingly little about wine. I write a month-to-month column about cocktails, so that you’d assume wine could be an adjoining character in the identical pantheon, however my consideration tends to veer first towards Seattle’s elite bartending tradition — in addition to all of the distinctive booze being produced in our metropolis. Wine? Scrumptious, I’d love some, however don’t ask me for any tasting notes. Who am I, Dr. Frasier Crane?

So, though I used to be born and raised in Seattle, it took me a complete minute (er, lifetime) to get out to Walla Walla and discover Washington state’s wine nation — amongst one of the best within the nation and a real rival of Napa Valley’s. My ignorance about wine is 100% what stored me away. I assumed I’d be in over my head with all of the wine students! All of us noticed Sideways.

Nicely, after a whirlwind lengthy weekend, I’m thrilled to report that you simply don’t want a level in viticulture (and even an curiosity in wine, truthfully) to have an unforgettable trip within the Walla Walla Valley. Full of implausible eating places, patisseries, espresso retailers, vintage malls, theaters, a great deal of historical past, and even a number of crunchy outdated dive bars, the Double W by no means made me really feel misplaced for a second. I truthfully began planning my subsequent journey as quickly as I received again to Seattle.

Right here’s the way to have a good time within the Walla Walla Valley, whether or not you recognize your grenache out of your gewurztraminer — and even if you happen to don’t drink in any respect.

Getting there

It’s a 4.75-hour drive from Seattle to Walla Walla, which is the best way most folk do it, with the choice to go over the Cascades at both Snoqualmie or Stevens Move. It’s additionally potential to drive throughout by way of White Move, on the south aspect of Mount Rainier, but it surely takes slightly longer. If any of the mountain passes are closed on account of winter climate, one might hypothetically construct in a scrumptious stopover in Portland, then comply with the Columbia River east from there to Walla Walla. They’re all scenic and spectacular routes.

Alaska Airways flies twice a day to Walla Walla Regional Airport (ALW) from Sea-Tac in about 70 minutes, normally for beneath $200 round-trip, relying on advance discover. A Flixbus additionally runs between downtown Seattle and Pasco, the place passengers can hook up with Walla Walla both by way of the Amtrak Thruway bus or the Grape Line Shuttle. (The layover in Pasco is about two hours.)

Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket by way of Getty Photographs

A quick historical past of Walla Walla

One of many first areas between the Rockies and the Cascades to be completely settled by white colonists, the town of Walla Walla can also be one of many oldest cities in Washington State. The Canadian North West Firm constructed Nez Perce Fort within the space in 1818, establishing contact with the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla tribes, and the British Hudson’s Bay Firm renamed it Fort Walla Walla in 1821. In 1856, the USA Military started constructing forts there, the town and county had been based, and the navy pressured the native tribes out. Hundreds of settlers quickly flocked to the realm for farming and mining alternatives.

Though the fertile farmland of the Walla Walla Valley has by no means been a secret to its settlers, it was Italian settlers from Calabria and Lonate Pozzolo who began planting grapes within the Eighteen Eighties, and industrial wineries and tasting rooms adopted — predecessors to the acclaimed wine business discovered there at this time. It might nonetheless take about 90 years for these wineries to be marketed as vacationer locations — the primary being Leonetti Cellar, which produced its first wines in 1978. Italian emigrants had been additionally the supply of the Walla Walla candy onion, later to turn out to be Washington’s state vegetable.

Till Seattle surpassed it in the course of the Klondike Gold Rush within the Eighteen Eighties, Walla Walla was the most important metropolis in Washington Territory, and it was developed to be a future American metropolis, with grand theaters and resorts. Not like Seattle, Walla Walla additionally didn’t undergo an enormous citywide hearth or lose dozens of its vintage buildings to earthquake harm, so it nonetheless has a whole lot of cool Victorian structure for a midsized Washington metropolis.

Passatempo Taverna

Day 1

6 p.m.: Dinner at Passatempo Taverna
215 W. Essential Avenue, Walla Walla

It’s most likely a scientific impossibility to go to Walla Walla as a food-and-wine vacationer and never have a meal at Passatempo. Within the beloved former Pastime Cafe area on Essential Avenue, Passatempo’s retro neon signal — styled from the remnants of the outdated diner’s 1927 signal — is sort of a fishing lure for hungry vacationers. Walla Walla-born chef Sam Shelton brings her chops from Michelin spots in San Francisco and France, maintaining issues slightly extra informal and comfortable on her rustic Italian menu. Passatempo’s major occasion is basic handmade pasta, though the fantastic Snake River Farm pork chop and Double D Ranch tomahawk rib-eye are simply as dazzling. There’s an incredible collection of cocktails, and proprietor Mike Martin additionally owns the Partitions Vineyard, so his daring, typically experimental wines are repping robust within the beverage program, too. Don’t skip ’em.

9 p.m.: Karaoke celebration at Ming Court docket and a nightcap at the Inexperienced Lantern Tavern
1533 and 1606 E. Isaacs Avenue, Walla Walla

Meg van Huygen

Not prepared for mattress but? Thursdays via Sundays, the celebration’s nonetheless cookin’ till 2 a.m. at Ming Court docket, simply up the street from Passatempo. This old-school Chinese language American bar has the neon purple karaoke lounge of your workday fantasies, replete with a rowdy crowd, and a pleasant employees. Throughout the road, the pubby Inexperienced Lantern Tavern welcomes company with ’50s knotty pine paneling and a pleasant massive hearth. It’s the place locals go for home beers and fruity cocktails, fish tacos, wood-fired pizza, and a extremely nice patio.

Day 2

10 a.m., Espresso and a pastry at Colville Avenue Patisserie
40 S. Colville Avenue, Walla Walla

Don’t be fooled by the queue outdoors — the road strikes quick, and it’s completely value it. A look at this small bakery’s beautiful array of pastries is mainly like perusing the show case at Cartier, with flawless apricot macarons, berry-heavy almond praline cream puffs, and octagonal darkish chocolate banana muffins with caramel glaze, all shining up at you. The sheer variety of totally different treats represented right here is staggering — at one per breakfast, it’d take you months to examine off each pastry on the record. CSP’s canelé is hailed far and vast, whereas the additional buttery laminated kouign amann is so excellent, it deserves worldwide awards.

Colville Avenue Patisserie

2 p.m.: The Partitions Vineyard tasting room for mild lunch (and wine)
1015 W. Pine Avenue, Walla Walla

Hiding in a residential neighborhood, the native tasting room for the Partitions Vineyard provides pours of their conventional and eclectic vintages, alongside an expansive outside area that offers the place a laid-back Mediterranean really feel. Though the Partitions’ winery is out in Milton-Freewater’s Rocks District, one of many valley’s most celebrated AVAs, the juice is transported right here to be processed on web site, and sharp-eyed guests would possibly get a peek on the works simply off the patio. The meals menu provides tapas-like plates and oven-fired sourdough pizza, whereas wine tastings can be found in numerous sizes and permutations. The Partitions is understood for its innovation and selection, so curious minds ought to attempt the sustainable pášx̣a (“sunflower” in Sahaptin) line or their tempranillo made out of a juicy mixture of native fruit, bottled as Fantastic Nightmare.

6:30 p.m.: Vacation spot dinner at Abeja Vineyard
2014 Mill Creek Street, Walla Walla

In 2022, Erin and Mike Easton bought their multi-award-winning West Seattle restaurant Il Nido, and moved out to the nation, settling in her hometown simply north of Walla Walla. (Longtime Seattleites may additionally bear in mind Easton because the impresario behind Il Corvo, his spectacular, now-closed lunch counter in Pioneer Sq..) Mike is now govt chef on the Kitchen at Abeja, and if he weren’t purpose sufficient to go to this dreamy vineyard (he’s), the serene storybook environment could be. It’s simply so profoundly lovely right here. With an inventory of easy-drinking wines and hyper-seasonal dishes, Abeja pulls out all of the stops for the luxe eating and tasting experiences, and company who really feel like splurging can keep on the plush inn, comprising 5 outbuildings (together with a former carriage home). Three-time James Beard-recognized Easton is an exhilarating addition to the already-gorgeous program. Diners will virtually definitely want a reservation, however belief, this one is value planning for.

Abeja Vineyard

9 p.m. Pints and potential dwell music at Walla Walla Beer Parlor
14 W. Essential Avenue, Walla Walla, WA

Open since late 2023, the Beer Parlor has ramped up fast and is already a downtown Walla Walla fave with the Whitman Faculty crowd. Equal components bottle store, beer bar, and music venue, this chill exposed-brick area on Walla Walla’s Essential Avenue is conveniently walkable to and from many of the downtown resorts and B&Bs. Though the main target is indie beers, of us can even discover a wide variety of Washington wines and ciders right here, and doubtless a canine or two as effectively. The one meals out there on the Beer Parlor was once popcorn, however — breaking information! Abeja’s chef Mike Easton is now making Detroit pies for the bar, a recipe he piloted at Bacetto’s Detroit Model pizzeria in close by Waitsburg till it closed in October. They’re bought by the slice on Sundays solely.

Bacetto’s Detroit-Model

Day 3

10 a.m. Breakfast or brunch at the Marc
6 W. Rose Avenue, Walla Walla, WA 99362

Nicknamed “The Grand Dame of the Palouse” upon its 1928 opening, the stately Marcus Whitman Lodge is the tallest constructing in Walla Walla by quite a bit and may’t be missed within the downtown skyline. Nor ought to it, particularly contemporary off its fastidious 2024 architectural overhaul. Contained in the lodge’s restaurant, they’re serving zero-kilometer farm-to-table fare made out of inland components, like hazelnut custard French toast or a winery breakfast sandwich (eggs, Beecher’s cheddar, bacon, and heirloom tomatoes on challah). On the best way out, exit via the foyer and take a second to soak up all of the lodge’s restored Italian Renaissance particulars: the textiles, the carved beams, the lamps. It’s like a Venetian palace.

4 p.m.: Lunch at Tacos la Monarca
901 W. Rose Avenue, Walla Walla, numerous different places

Walla Wallans know that if you see this brilliant orange taco truck (there are literally three) round city, you pull over. A longtime fixture of WW, Tacos la Monarca has been serving up Michoacán-style tacos, burritos, and tortas since 2000, with proprietor Efrain Reyes taking up the enterprise from his dad and mom in 2012. A grad of Walla Walla Group Faculty’s culinary arts program, Reyes retains his sources native, and his taco choices cowl the fundamentals like carnitas, al pastor, and camarones; although he additionally contains some inventive selections just like the Hawaiian taco, with carne asada, ham, beans, bell peppers, pineapple, and mozzarella. Accoutrements like cactus salad, tamarind salsa, huauzontle, and prickly pear assist hold issues fascinating. Maintain an eye fixed out for specials, e.g., mole rojo con conejo (braised rabbit in pink mole sauce) or pozole de mariscos, starring child octopus, shrimp, hominy, guajillo chile broth, and habanero salsa.

Tacos la Monarca

6. p.m.: A glass of pink at File Wine Collective Tasting Room
8 W. Essential Avenue, Walla Walla

With a streamlined design and a quaffable cab sauv, File Wine Collective’s tasting room is an expensive little cease within the buzziest a part of downtown Walla Walla. Half-owned by former Seahawk Sidney Rice, File is influencing the subsequent wave of winemaking within the Valley with its fashionable, sultry wines, and its bottles have been racking up factors because the vineyard opened in 2022. With native wine celeb and grasp of wine Billo Naravane (Rasa Vineyards) on employees, it’s additionally one in all few wineries within the space — to say nothing of the entire business — with each a POC proprietor and winemaker. If company like what they style, File’s received one other location in Woodinville.

9 p.m.: Gigantic burgers on the divey Border Tavern
604 W. Elm Avenue, Walla Walla

With an accommodating employees and a chatty crowd of regulars, the Border Tavern is an off-the-cuff respite from downtown Walla Walla’s extra, ahem, moneyed institutions. The outdated Coca-Cola pole signal within the parking zone nonetheless says “Rochester Tavern,” however it doesn’t matter what you name it, this dive bar’s burgers are simply as monstrous. The petite bar menu provides two choices — patrons can select from the double hamburger or the double cheeseburger, no singles, and each are beneath 10 bucks. Wings and gizzards are strong selections, too. There are not any frills to be discovered behind the bar both; it’s bottles and cans solely. In an period the place dive bars are generally misappropriated for avenue cred causes, the Border Tavern proves that there’s nothing like the actual factor.

Grosgrain Vineyards

In your method out of Walla Walla

Frog Hole Farms
147 Frog Hole Street, Walla Walla, WA

If you happen to don’t carry fruit residence, did you even go to Jap Washington? About quarter-hour southwest of downtown Walla Walla, the picturesque, extra-’grammable Frog Hole Farms has a farm store with heirloom produce, seeds to your backyard, and jars of artisan honey, labneh, and different handmade edible lovelies. Guests are welcome to roam across the sunflower rows and the string bean tunnels too, in case they didn’t get sufficient selfies on the town. If it’s not too chilly out, you would possibly even get to fulfill the goats.

Grosgrain Vineyards
2158 Half Acre Lane, Walla Walla

Overlooking its vineyards within the Southside vineyard district, Grosgrain Vineyards’ tasting room is an unmissable pit cease on the western monitor towards residence. Pronounced with a silent “s,” the identify refers back to the structure of the vines: Grosgrain ribbon has little raised stripes on it, evoking a winery map. The main target right here is on crisp white, rosé, and glowing wines, made with natural farming practices, all refined and scrumptious. Style apart, the meticulous inside design of the tasting room is definitely worth the cease by itself, with a brilliantly curated midcentury bar, an enormous white stone fireplace, tall home windows, and sweeping views of the grapes and the Blue Mountains past them. Take a glowing herbaceous lemberger (often known as blaufrankisch) residence with you, to accompany a lamb and/or mushroom dinner — it’s a bottle of Walla Walla Valley daylight to heat you up on a wet Seattle night time.

If you happen to’re flying residence

Devium Wine
1460 F. Avenue, Walla Walla

Maybe one thing of a darkish horse in Walla Walla, Devium’s tasting room is within the little impulse-item village that surrounds the airport, simply in case vacationers didn’t get sufficient memento bottles to take residence. One of many nice upcoming skills within the Washington State wine world, proprietor Keith Johnson is obsessed with low-intervention winemaking, utilizing foot-crushed grapes, native yeast, minimal SO2, impartial barrels, and no filtering. The result’s a line of pure, minimalist wines which might be each balanced and slightly bit wild — just like the velveteen French Creek Winery bottle, a moody mix of mourvedre, syrah, and grenache. ake your decide — bottles vary from $28 to $75. Visits are by appointment solely.