Discover Walla Walla

Do you remember back in school when the first essay of the new year in English Comp was themed, "How I Spent My Summer Vacation?" For me, 2010 was the first summer I have had off in over 12 years and also one of the first where I didn't travel too far from the area.

It was a summer of taking in many local events, as well as working a wine bottling line, attending winemaker dinners featuring the skills of our local chef's and their favorite food and wine pairings. I took in a geology "terroir" tour, went out wine tasting and even hung with my siblings at our tri-annual family reunion camp-out. The Summer of 2010 will be marked as one of the most memorable events for me as 200 of my wine blogging peers arrived in Walla Walla. Finally, my blogging buds now understand what I have been blogging about now for years - Walla Walla.

I even took in non-wine events, such as the hometown Walla Walla Sweets baseball games (a fine example of why baseball is one of America's favorite pastimes) and an evening of Shakespeare Uncork'd at the Fort Walla Walla Amphitheater. Uncork'd was an evening of an adapted classic, but with fresh air and a view of the stars. Even if wine isn't your forte, there is still plenty to do in the Walla Walla Valley. If you want to see my "feathers ruffled" all I have to hear is the phrase, "There is nothing to do in Walla Walla" and I will figuratively stomp of the perp's tiny little head.

Summer is now just a memory, but the autumn crush is here. Wineries around the valley have prepared their cellars for their annual harvest. The year 2010 will go down in Eastern Washington vineyard history as one of the coolest years since the crush of 1999 - meaning a late start for many of the wineries. However, last week many of the area wineries were finally able to start bringing in their fruit such as Amavi, Gramercy Cellars, L'Ecole #41, Long Shadows, Three Rivers, and Woodward Canyon to name a few. The word on the street, I mean the word in the vineyard is "The 2010 vintage will either be the best or the worst in Washington State history." All bets are on it will be one of the best. Cheers!