Liquid Love Letter: Pacific Northwest

Cathy

I plead geographical ignorance.

About the Pacific Northwestern United States, that is, and all that it offers to us as wine lovers. Yes, we see wines on the shelves from, say, Oregon’s Willamette Valley and Washington’s Walla Walla and maybe even Red Mountain.

But do we really KNOW these places, the way we know other, better-trafficked wine routes in more densely populated regions up and down the state of California?

This is where, for me, ignorance comes in. And also geographical distance: Washington state in the northwest, for instance, is as far away in the contiguous US as it’s possible for me to get from Atlanta, where I live, in the southeast.

Oregon and Washington state are, by comparison, the wine world’s version of Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken.” But when we take that road less traveled by — as Matthew will be doing several times before the end of the year — we see that it makes all the difference.

It helps that Oregon and Washington have been crashing into my news feed recently. A recent “readers’ choice” award list named Oregon wineries as having three of the top four must-visit wine tasting rooms in the country. And just last week, an auction of Washington wines raised $4.25 million to benefit Seattle Children’s Hospital, and the state’s wine industry including Washington State University’s Viticulture and Enology Department. Vital Wines is also a beneficiary of the auction as an Industry Grant Partner, as it shepherds much-needed medical care and resources to vineyard workers. Vital Wines is a crowd (and personal) favorite from winemaker Ashley Trout, who also owns and runs Brook & Bull Winery in Walla Walla.

Since the Auction of Washington Wines was founded in 1988, it has raised more than $67 million and helped to raise much-deserved awareness and appreciation for local wines. Clearly wine lovers in the Pacific Northwest know they’ve got a good thing going. I wish more of us did too, myself included.

Enter Matthew, stage right!

Matthew

I am writing this from Woodinville, WA where I slept last night and get to spend the next 36 hours. It's my first time in WA State, as it took me over 41 years to get up here. As embarrassingly as that may be, the good news is now I am working to tame my blindspot.

I've visited Oregon many times, both to Portland and the Willamette Valley. While there's a lot more to explore in OR wine regions, I have dug my feet in and seen the landscape. Breathed in the air and been on its ocean. I feel like I have a good bearing for what Oregon offers.

Washington State, however, has been a bit more tricky for me to dive into.

For no good reason, I hadn't visited Seattle prior to yesterday. Now I am about to see a large percentage of the wine regions that make up this fine state!

I love tech, I love coffee, I love baseball, I love seafood and fish. There's no good reason why it took me so dang long to get up here! BUT I AM MAKING UP FOR IT.

Today I'm tasting at Chateau Ste. Michelle , a famed winery in Woodinville, WA just about 40 mins northeast of Seattle. Tonight I get to check out a concert at their venue that is booked and promoted by Live Nation ! Seeing my boy Gary Clark, Jr. which excites the hell out of me! This year they are celebrating 40 years of concert programming onsite so it's truly momentous.

Before the end of the year I also get to travel to Red Mountain & Walla Walla Valley , two of the most important AVAs in Washington State. If you're going to fix blindspots, you may as well rid the band-aide off and get to it post haste!!!!

Stay tuned as I will naturally become a huge WA State maxi, taking in all this beautiful state has to offer. It only took me 41 years, but I'm planning to make up for lost time.