Tag: Wine Tasting
Closing Out August
The last few weeks of August 2023 have proved very eventful ones around the world, with the news unfortunately dominated by a host of natural disasters and their aftermaths — flash floods, wildfires, hurricanes and heatwaves. In my own corner of the world, we here in the Rogue Valley of Southern Oregon have been under a cloak of wildfire smoke from fires to the immediate south, north and west of us for a few weeks, after enjoying a mostly smoke-free summer. It has meant pulling out our N-95 masks once again when the AQI readings have climbed above 300 and keeping the house closed up tight even on evenings when the temperature outside has dropped to a comfortable level.
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New Finds in Walla Walla
For the last several years, the first weekend in November has found my husband and me (and, often, several of our friends from around the Northwest) in Walla Walla, Washington, for the region's Fall Release Weekend. It's a wonderful time to visit, as the frenzy of harvest and crush are over, and the wineries are eager to share their newest releases . . . all of this against the backdrop of colorful fall foliage, the gold stubble of wheat fields and early dustings of snow creeping down the surrounding Blue Mountains.
A Return to Almost-Normal Wine Tasting
My husband and I recently made our annual spring trek to the standout wine region of Walla Walla, Washington. In the past few years we've ventured there and found the wineries made substantial adjustments to their tasting rooms and events to keep their patrons safe in the COVID era. During this visit we found several of our old favorites had returned to pre-pandemic celebrations while also keeping some of the best innovations and changes that came out of the past two years. It seems they've learned that, like my husband and me, many of their patrons prefer to sit down at a table for a relaxed tasting rather than elbow their way up to a crowded bar for a quick pour while struggling to hear what the host had to say about the wine.
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Dancin Tastin’
Recently, my husband and I had to cancel this year's annual fall trek to Walla Walla, Washington, for the region's Fall Release tasting weekend, but we did manage to get in some local tasting at one of our favorite wineries. I enjoy visiting wineries in the late fall, when the crowds of summertime visitors have abated, the bustle of harvest and crush is past, and the vineyards have taken on the muted colors of the season.