Wine Tasting in the Yakima Valley

21 August 2016.  Spent yesterday, August 20th, delighting in one of my favorite pastimes, wine tasting in the Yakima Valley of Washington State.  While we centered our activities yesterday in the Zillah area, I can assure you that the entire Yakima Valley offers some outstanding wine tasting opportunities.  The weather cooperated with a "fine and dandy" day, warm, but not overly so, and, as George Strait would sing, with "blue, clear skies."  Although, I'd submit not clear enough to take a pic of Mt Rainier and Mt Adams in the distance.  Following the old Yakima Highway offers one some spectacular views of both mountains at several points.  Unfortunately, the far skyline was just a wee bit too hazy for a clear pic -- I didn't even try to catch a shot.  Oh well, there's always next year.

But back to our wine tasting mini-tour.  I'm a fan of port, or even what they call "port-style" dessert wine, and I know there are several favorite wineries of mine in the Zillah area that would offer such tastings. So, we set out late morning for not only some wine tasting in the Lower Yakima Valley, but to also seek out and find some ports. First up was a new winery for us, the Tanjuli Winery, and we came away quite impressed.  We ended up buying three bottles: one each of a 2014 Picpoul Blanc (sweet and crisp); a really sensational 2013 Orange Muscat Sherry (and I'm not a true sherry fan); and a fairly expensive (yes, I splurged) bottle of a 2004 Orange Muscat Sherry. This superb sweet sherry can only be described as "magic in a bottle."  An added plus: it comes in a 500ml specialty bottle shaped like a violin. Will save this one for that really special occasion. 

Check out that alcohol content.....

Our next stop was just across the road (Highland Drive), Bonair Winery, where we bought a couple bottles of wine: Sunset -- made from only premium varietal grapes -- was a really nice little wine, not too sweet and just a little tart; and a Bonnie Bonair, an off-dry Rosé of Pinot Noir grapes, with a hint of raspberry, but without any raspberries, of course. Bonair also offered small food plates and since it was lunch time we opted for a smoked salmon plate and a couples glasses of that Sunset to wash it all down. Nice little mid-day intermission. 

After lunch we moved on to one of my favorite wineries for ports, Maison de Padgett Winery.  Over the years I've visited this winery quite often and have never been disappointed.  They are famous for their landscaped gardens, which are often booked for weddings and anniversary celebrations.  I would highly recommend checking out their website and even visiting this winery if you have the opportunity.  And I just LOVE their wine labels -- very original, very artsy.   I'll include a couple labels in the pics with this post. Anyway, like I said, I love their ports, and once again, we came away with four: a Naked Raspberry Port; a Pillow Talk Vanilla Port; and two bottles of their Smoking Gun Coffee Port -- one for me and one for our youngest son, Jamie, who also fancies a good port.  Should make a nice Christmas gift, me thinks.   

View of the beautiful grounds and landscaping at Maison de Padgett Winery 

And here's some of their colorful labels I mentioned.  Excellent marketing.

 

Maison de Padgett Winery has a "sister" winery (same owner) a bit further down Highland Drive called Horizon's Edge Winery -- and, once again, known for their ports. We bought a bottle of Naked Raspberry Port-Style Dessert Wine and a delicious bottle of Wishful Thinking Chocolate Port. The owner of both Maison de Padgett and Horizon's Edge, David Padgett, was the one who poured our samples at Horizon's Edge, and, since it was just Lynette and I sampling wines, we spent about 30 minutes just chatting about ports.  He gave us a tip on another winery known for its ports, Thurston Wolfe Winery in Prosser.  Maybe next year..... 

Our final wine tasting for the day was at another of our favorite wineries, Paradisos del Sol Winery, where we bought a bottle of their tasty Riesling and a bottle of 2012 Zort, a Ruby Angelica wine based on their Zinfandel grapes. I've had the Zort many times and love the flavor.  Paradisos does wine tasting a bit differently, and if you ever get the chance, please do yourself a favor and take in a wine tasting at this small, but delightful winery. The owners -- Paul & Barbara -- believe in a mantra of SIP, SIP, BITE, SIP! There's a $10 tasting fee that they rarely collect, since the fee is not charged if you spend at least $20 on anything. The owners believe that wine should go with food, so, along with the wine tasting a small morsel of a food pairing is offered for each wine, usually seven or eight samplings. They recommend you first sip and swirl the wine around in your mouth. Then take another sip, followed by a taste of food, and a final sip to take notice of any difference in taste by eating a tiny morsel of food. This all takes a bit longer than normal wine tasting, but well worth it. And believe it or not, each wine does taste slightly different AFTER you take a bite of whatever small morsel is offered with that wine. Again, a bit different, but loads of fun! And maybe a bit educational.  We always enjoy it.

The small food morsels offered with each wine -- very different, but fun!

So, all in all, a great day of wine tasting and searching for delicious ports in the Yakima Valley. To top it off, we stopped at one of Yakima's famous eateries, Miner's Drive-In, for their HUGE cheeseburgers and fries on the way back to our campground.  Great day in the Pacific Northwest!