TASTEMAKERS
Walla Walla Beyond the Cult Names
From Spill
18 wineries
Somebody told us they already subscribe to No Girls, Horsepower and Reynvaan, and asked what they were missing. That is a good problem and a very specific one, because the answer cannot be the same three names everybody recommends.
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The wider valley
Horsepower and Reynvaan are on Spill. Foundry Vineyards, Abeja, Corliss Estates, Cotes de Ciel, Destino, Bontzu and SMAK fill in around them, along with College Cellars, which is the teaching winery for the Walla Walla Community College enology program and pours what the students make.
That last one repays an hour. You are tasting the next decade of the valley's winemakers doing their coursework.
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The Rocks District question
One reader made the point that you should cross the state line and not miss the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater. They are right, and we do not carry the Rocks as its own region yet. For now those producers sit inside Walla Walla Valley in our data, which is geographically defensible and practically annoying. It is on the list to fix.
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What the valley does
Syrah, mostly, and a Bordeaux tradition that predates it. The cobblestone soils on the Oregon side produce something savoury and unmistakable that has become the region's calling card.
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Going
Downtown Walla Walla has a walkable cluster of tasting rooms, which makes it one of the easier wine regions in the country to visit without a designated driver. The estates are a short drive out.
Hours and details for all eighteen are on Spill.
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