Washington Winery Question

I am going on a car tour this summer to the Washington Idaho border. She-who-must-be-obeyed declines to do the trip in one shot and wants to indulge in a few peregrinations along the way, and make it a 2 day trip. Given that, the only reasonable way to add interest is to drop down below I-90 and go through Yakima and Tri-Cities area on the way.

It's been some years since I have been down that way and many new wineries have popped up. I wouldn't mind some advice about which ones are must-see and which ones are a waste of time, if anyone knows the area.

Hi Bill, there's not too much of interest in Yakima, IMHO, but near the Tri-Cities I'd visit Red Mountain. First just to check out the best AVA in WA (agin, IMHO), and to check out a few wineries there. Most are only open Fri-Sun, though. Tapteil and Hightower, right at the top of the road, are worthwhile visits. Kiona should be making better wines, but they are certainly a different and more Eurocentric style than most others (e.g., also, they don't release many reds until 5 or more years after the vintage). Fidelitas' top level wines (e.g., Champoux cab) can be quite good, but aren't often open for tasting (some of their lower level wines can be solid too). I find the Cooper wines to be way too OTT. Hedges only pours their low level wines, but maybe if you make an appointment that would change. I don't know much about the Chelam area, but there may be a few wineries to check out there on the way south. It's a small, emerging area. Walla Walla is the top place to visit now, and it's only about an hour from Tri-Cities: tons of wineries there, and a very nice town with good restuarants. Can you talk SWMBO into spending a night in Walla Walla?

What John said.

Walla Walla is the place to go.

Can you talk SWMBO into spending a night in Walla Walla?

Yeah. We just need to get to Clarkston the next afternoon so would have most of a day to tour. I can as easily stay in Kennewick and hit Walla Walla the next morning (a Thursday or Friday).

Bill, as Hoke says, Walla Walla is the place to go, but if you have another overnight, and it falls on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, you might also consider Birchfield Manor, a B&B just east of Yakima. I haven't been there in years, but I see the same people are still running the place and their three-day-a-week dinners used to be superb, their selection of local wines very good, and their guests were all there to visit the wineries, so everybody had that in common and the talk across the tables was all about the local wines. Now that I think of it, I'd kind of like to make the trip over the hills to Yakima just to stay there and find out if the B&B and meals are as good as they used to be. It's out of town, though, so there's nothing to do or see. The link to it is http://birchfieldmanor.com/