Last Saturday (March 16th) was a really fun day. In the Fall of last year, a Facebook ad for “WineryHunt Washington” caught my eye, and I ended up joining the club (1-year membership). For those not familiar with this opportunity, once you join, you are given a short list of approximately 4 wineries each month from a different region in Washington State where you can taste wine for free! Last Fall, the fee was in the range of $50 to join, and with all the tastings I do, it was well worth the price. Since our weather in Eastern Washington was really bad this winter, I wasn’t able to get out much beyond our regional area until this month. As it turned out, the wine region for March 2019 was Walla Walla! Right in my own backyard. The four wineries on the WineryHunt list included:
- Reininger Winery (Westside of Walla Walla)
- Kontos Cellars (Downtown Walla Walla)
- Revelry Vintners (Southside of Walla Walla)
- Isenhower Cellars (Southside of Walla Walla)
So I ventured down to the town so nice they named it twice, and proceeded to take advantage of this new wine club. On my way however, I realized I needed a tune-up for my palate, so I stopped in to Woodward Canyon tasting room to charge my batteries! What a good call. I love this place. Ended up buying a great Cabernet Sauvignon there before I headed to my first port of call. Reininger provided me with an OUTSTANDING tasting experience. It had been awhile since I’d visited, but they had some really good wines representing both the Helix and Reininger labels. I couldn’t leave without a bottle of the Desiderata 20-year anniversary wine. It was amazing! Kontos was next. 4 of the 5 wines on the tasting list were really approachable, but the 2016 Syrah from Les Collines vineyard was simply delicious! I had to walk away with a bottle of that stuff. And as a bonus…I bought a stemmed and logo’d wine glass to add to my collection! SCORE!!! After a brief jaunt to the Southside of Walla I ended up at Revelry Vintners. I have a long history enjoying their wines and this time was no different. Their 2015 Block 19 Syrah was amazing. I had to take a bottle of that home with me. For what I thought was my final stop, was a very enjoyable tasting at Isenhower Cellars, just down the road from Revelry. I am never disappointed when I come here. It’s a small production winery that makes you feel right at home and strives to put out high quality wines over high quantity. I really enjoyed their 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon…so much so…I had to buy a bottle!
By this time, I was getting hungry, but I had to kill about an hour before dinner would be served at Passatempo Taverna (one of my favorite places to eat in Walla). So, I walked up the street to Mark Ryan winery and decided to do a final tasting. It’s always a pleasure to enjoy some elegant wines. By this time I started to realize that if I buy one more bottle of wine, my wife will certainly provide me with a Game of Thrones like ending to my life….so I saved some money and went to dinner. Stay tuned….the Passatempo Taverna wine and food pairing experience will be out shortly! Stay thirsty my friends!
