Wine Tasting in Walla Walla, Washington

Walla Walla is one of Washingtons largest wine regions with the highest concentration of wineries in all of Washington. Dominated by red varieties, the wines from Walla Walla are notable for their distinctive savory profiles, full of earth, black olives, iodine, and smoked meat with Cabernet Sauvignon as the most planted variety (source). It’s no wonder it’s a perfect vacation getaway for wine-o’s both near and far. In beautiful Walla Walla, Washington, you will find plenty of places to eat, shop, see, and sip. Here are my favorites from our recent trip!

See

Of all the things to see while you are in Walla Walla, the most beautiful sights simply line the roads weaving in and out of various wineries, stretching around the hills.

The land rolls for miles and miles, with beautiful skies that go on forever.

Don’t forget to grab a selfie – the landscape is stunning!

And everywhere you look the land is covered with vineyards! It is truly a beautiful landscape, one that would take you forever to explore but that you can take in on one long drive around the hillside roads.

Shop

Stroll through historic downtown Walla Walla to enjoy some fantastic shopping. There are plenty of wineries in the main downtown strip as well, so you can sip and shop your way around town.

Trove will delight the vintage lover with home decor gifts and unique treasures littered throughout the store. Inside I found a huge charm bucket where you can make your own charm bracelet – and made one to commemorate our trip. There were hundreds of charms to choose from! Next time I am in the area I plan to make some charm bracelets as gifts.

There’s something for everyone at Thirty Fifth + Butter. This gift shop carries many locally crafted items as well as big name cute and trendy items everyone will love. It was hard not to buy everything here!

And for the foodie shoppers, D’Olivo has a vast selection of premium extra virgin olive oils and balsamic vinegars. D’Olivo is certified kosher, organic, gluten-free, and Non-GMO project verified. I enjoyed the garlic olive oil and couldn’t stop sampling it. The flavors are incredible!

Sip

First stop wine tasting in historic downtown Walla Walla came highly recommended by the locals. As soon as we sat down in Henry Earl Estates we immediately felt the warm and welcoming atmosphere. The staff was incredibly friendly and the rustic “old-timey” saloon style setting was very cozy. Small plates were available for purchase to nibble on with the wine. The reds here stood out and we picked up a couple bottles to go.

Next in downtown was another local recommendation, Trust cellars. The staff here was very attentive and happily shared the history of the winery without being prompted. We were very inspired by the motivation behind the label and loved the intense flavors of the bold cabs – and took a few bottles to go!

When your ready to venture out of the downtown district and head south out into the vineyards, a stop that is not to be missed is Slight of Hand Cellars. Their motto is “Great wine, great music, and lots of fun—that’s our recipe for the Sleight of Hand lifestyle.” And with over 2,000 albums and turntables in both of their tasting rooms, its no wonder Seattle Magazine named them “The Next Cult Wineries.” According to wine makers, Trey Busch and Jerry and Sandy Solomon, their only goal is to make “world class wines while having the most fun that is legally possible.” Besides just being outrageously cool, their wine is top notch. The winner on this trip – the 2014 Levitation Sarah.

If your looking for a tasting room with a view, arguably the best view in the area south of downtown Walla Walla, stop at Amavi Cellars. Step out onto their patio and look as far as the eye can see while you taste their wines. The wines themselves are produced from their estate vineyards in Seven Hills, Pepper Bridge, Les Collines, Octave, Goff, Stone Valley and Summit View and are some of the most sought-after grapes in the state according to the winery. Amavi also dedicates themselves to “being stewards of the land and are leaders in the practices of sustainable agriculture.” Everything about this winery from the grapes to the glass is just beautifully crafted and not to be missed. 

The view from Amavi cellars was definitely one of the best during our visit to the wineries of Walla Walla.

Another must-see winery in the south region of Walla Walla is Basel Cellars, if not for the estate grounds alone which are both expansive and breathtaking. You can grab a glass and stroll the grounds or sit on the patio and enjoy the peace and quiet and let the day go by. We opted to share a 2901 Rosé after doing the tasting while we relaxed on their gorgeous patio.

When your ready to travel east of downtown Walla Walla, Charles Smith Wines and K Vintners is sure to please. Charles Smith, a self-taught winemaker, is the only person to earn “Winemaker of the Year” distinctions from both Wine Enthusiast (2014) and Food & Wine (2009). And with a hip urban setting and dozens of award winning wines, it is both a fun and palette pleasing tasting you must do on your trip to Walla Walla.

Continuing east, a unique tasting experience can be found at College Cellars. where students cultivate 15 grape varieties across 8 acres of teaching vineyards. The wines here are all crafted by the students, which makes for lots of unique blends! The most interesting blend I found was the Scholarship White which combines all the student projects into one magnificent blend.

Taste

Between the shopping and sipping and sightseeing, you will find a plethora of tasty restaurants to sample. In the downtown strip of Walla Walla we enjoyed taking a 1/2 margarita 1/2 prosciutto and grape pizza to-go from Olive. The restaurant is a marketplace & cafe and features rustic decor fitting of the historic downtown location. Olive proclaims that it is “a place for everyone” and a “true Walla Walla experience” – and I tend to agree. The restaurant is full of cozy couches, cafe tables, and a “people watching” patio – and the food is entirely made from scratch in-house. We brought our pizza out to the vineyards to snack on while we enjoyed wine tasting, which was a great choice since pizza fares well even when cold.

We stopped at Graze for lunch the next day. Graze “A Place to Eat” touts that you’ll find the best sandwiches in the area with the freshest ingredients and that they are “the most affordable high quality sandwich shop food you’ll find” – being the sandwich lover that I am, I knew I had to try it while I was in the area. We asked for the most popular sandwich and salad on the menu, split for sharing. The Banh Mi sandwich and Roasted Pear salad was suggested – and we went for it. The flavor was fresh, tasty, unique, and highly satisfying. The Banh Mi was loaded with thinly sliced beef, fresh cilantro, jalapenos, cucumber and pickled carrots and the Roasted Pear salad was smothered in roasted pears, blue cheese, and candied nuts. Both were incredibly tasty and satisfying – and completely live up to the hype.

After a long day of sipping wine, you might want to continue your evening with a late-night snack. Try Marcys Cafe & Lounge. You will find a nice selection of drinks and a popular happy-hour menu from 3-6pm daily and 9-11pm m-th. We did arrive for happy-hour and shared the won ton taco and bang bang cauliflower and each ordered a local craft beer. It was the perfect way to end our day, out on their beautifully lit patio after a long day exploring the vineyards.

The wine is Walla Walla is what brought us here, but the food, sights and people are what we fell in love with. Everywhere we went we were greeted by friendly faces as time passed by slowly while we sipped our way through Walla Walla. A beautiful wine country destination that we will surely return to soon.

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