A warm autumn sun casts long shadows across the vineyards as I race down a country road on two wheels. It's late afternoon, and the synth-infused beats of an 80s pop classic catch the breeze – coming from a speaker strapped haphazardly to Andy Zissermann’s bike. The owner of Kickstand Tours is leading me on an e-bike vineyard tour through Walla Walla’s wine district – and it’s not just the sunshine that’s left me feeling a little giddy.
The state of Washington might be best known for its moody Pacific coast and counterculture cities, but on the other side of the Cascade mountains lies a very different landscape. East Washington is semi-arid, sunlit and warm: the perfect conditions for growing grapes. No wonder, then, that the state lays claim to being America’s second-largest wine-growing region, producing over 17 million cases of wine a year from more than 1,050 wineries. Sharing the same latitude as France, Germany and Italy, it’s well suited to viticulture of all persuasions.
Washington now has 20 distinct grape-growing regions, from Lake Chelan in the north to the Columbia Gorge in the south, and, while winemaking is nothing new in the state – the first recorded instance in Washington dates to 1825 – increasingly, new, independent vineyards are popping up, pushing boundaries and playing with experimentation. Grande dame wineries such as L’Ecole No.41, with its beautiful, historic schoolhouse tasting room, remain the state’s big-hitters when it comes to bins, but newer labels have started turning heads by going organic and playing with flavours.
The state of Washington might be best known for its moody Pacific coast and counterculture cities, but on the other side of the Cascade mountains lies a very different landscape. East Washington is semi-arid, sunlit and warm: the perfect conditions for growing grapes. No wonder, then, that the state lays claim to being America’s second-largest wine-growing region, producing over 17 million cases of wine a year from more than 1,050 wineries. Sharing the same latitude as France, Germany and Italy, it’s well suited to viticulture of all persuasions.
Washington now has 20 distinct grape-growing regions, from Lake Chelan in the north to the Columbia Gorge in the south, and, while winemaking is nothing new in the state – the first recorded instance in Washington dates to 1825 – increasingly, new, independent vineyards are popping up, pushing boundaries and playing with experimentation. Grande dame wineries such as L’Ecole No.41, with its beautiful, historic schoolhouse tasting room, remain the state’s big-hitters when it comes to bins, but newer labels have started turning heads by going organic and playing with flavours.
Clockwise from top left: a Washington red, grapes ready for pressing, Branden Seymour offering barrel tastings, and the VanArnam vines
The infamous rain clouds that worry Seattle snag on the sharp peaks of the Cascades, keeping this sprawling landscape of agricultural land, dramatic canyons (yes, canyons) and sagebrush scrub plains warm and dry – as dry as the funky, all-natural pet nat I find myself sipping once I’ve dismounted my e-bike steed outside the Grosgrain Vineyards tasting room.
Inside, I find myself in a modern, sunlit space offering views across rows of Nebbiolo and Grenache vines. Co-founder Matt Austin explains the winery’s experimental approach, which includes growing lesser-known Italian grape varieties across its 32 hectares, fermenting blush wines in egg-shaped concrete vessels to embolden their flavour, and experimenting with natural wines, like my pet nat. Even the labels – colourful illustrations created by an artist who also works for the clothing brand Urban Outfitters – offer an eye-catching alternative to more staid wine packaging, and the winery’s four-bedroom rental, located right beside the tasting room and featuring the same inviting, pale-wood interiors and hazy Blue Mountain views of the bar space, is another unusual innovation in a wine-growing region that’s previously focused its attention on just doing rather than catering to thirsty travellers.
The infamous rain clouds that worry Seattle snag on the sharp peaks of the Cascades, keeping this sprawling landscape of agricultural land, dramatic canyons (yes, canyons) and sagebrush scrub plains warm and dry – as dry as the funky, all-natural pet nat I find myself sipping once I’ve dismounted my e-bike steed outside the Grosgrain Vineyards tasting room.
Inside, I find myself in a modern, sunlit space offering views across rows of Nebbiolo and Grenache vines. Co-founder Matt Austin explains the winery’s experimental approach, which includes growing lesser-known Italian grape varieties across its 32 hectares, fermenting blush wines in egg-shaped concrete vessels to embolden their flavour, and experimenting with natural wines, like my pet nat. Even the labels – colourful illustrations created by an artist who also works for the clothing brand Urban Outfitters – offer an eye-catching alternative to more staid wine packaging, and the winery’s four-bedroom rental, located right beside the tasting room and featuring the same inviting, pale-wood interiors and hazy Blue Mountain views of the bar space, is another unusual innovation in a wine-growing region that’s previously focused its attention on just doing rather than catering to thirsty travellers.
A harvest experience at VanArnam Vineyards
At Valdemar Estates, a brutalist edifice of glass and poured concrete with its own 17m waterfall wall, Christopher Burns shows me around. The Spanish-owned winery is the first of its nationality to arrive in Washington, and is one of the few in the area to have a female winemaker, a 31-year-old “certified badass” with a decade of experience. “She’s got the most refined palette I’ve even seen,” Burns says.
I’d started my wine road trip in Woodinville, just outside Seattle. Despite being on the wrong side of the mountains for grape growing, the town has earned itself the moniker of “gateway to Washington’s wines”. Home to over 130 wineries, including the state’s largest, Chateau Ste. Michelle, and nearly as many tasting rooms, it felt like a good starting point before heading over the Cascades: you can taste just about any local wine, and pick the vineyards worth visiting.
From there, I head to Yakima and join a vineyard harvest experience, learning about grape growing and winemaking from some of the region’s most exciting viticulturists. The start of play, at Dineen Vineyards in the Lower Yakima Valley, is a relaxed affair. I take a seat outside a vast barn, sipping a loud Cabernet Sauvignon. Rows of vines stretch out ahead, a hazy backdrop of burnt-orange hills filling the horizon towards the Rattlesnake Hills. To the left sits the snow-capped, hulking Mount Adams.
At Valdemar Estates, a brutalist edifice of glass and poured concrete with its own 17m waterfall wall, Christopher Burns shows me around. The Spanish-owned winery is the first of its nationality to arrive in Washington, and is one of the few in the area to have a female winemaker, a 31-year-old “certified badass” with a decade of experience. “She’s got the most refined palette I’ve even seen,” Burns says.
I’d started my wine road trip in Woodinville, just outside Seattle. Despite being on the wrong side of the mountains for grape growing, the town has earned itself the moniker of “gateway to Washington’s wines”. Home to over 130 wineries, including the state’s largest, Chateau Ste. Michelle, and nearly as many tasting rooms, it felt like a good starting point before heading over the Cascades: you can taste just about any local wine, and pick the vineyards worth visiting.
From there, I head to Yakima and join a vineyard harvest experience, learning about grape growing and winemaking from some of the region’s most exciting viticulturists. The start of play, at Dineen Vineyards in the Lower Yakima Valley, is a relaxed affair. I take a seat outside a vast barn, sipping a loud Cabernet Sauvignon. Rows of vines stretch out ahead, a hazy backdrop of burnt-orange hills filling the horizon towards the Rattlesnake Hills. To the left sits the snow-capped, hulking Mount Adams.
Clockwise from top left: gardens at Chateau Ste. Michelle, Dineen grapes, Chateau Ste. Michelle’s Woodinville setting, Marisa Dineen explains the growing process
Marisa Dineen, the daughter of the vineyard’s founders, runs us through the growing process as we sip generously poured samples of various vintages. “Handpicking is important for the winemaker,” she says. “When you have a skilled crew like we do, they can sort [the grapes] in the field.” Those workers tend other vineyards in the area, too. Community spirit runs deep in the region, where many vineyards are family-owned. Winemakers are happy to recommend other wineries to try. Most share picking teams, and are happy to lend a hand – or a team, or a tractor – to a neighbour in need.
Knowing when the grapes are ready for harvest is an art, as well as a science. “We like to see plump, deep, dark purple berries,” Dineen explains. They look for visual clues from other inhabitants of the vineyards, as well: “When we get enough sugar in the grapes, my gosh, we have birds scouting them,” Dineen says. I learn that the fruit should burst in your mouth when you bite into it, too. American grapes tend to have thicker skins than European ones, to protect them from the more intense sunlight. That also means there are more tannins in the finished wines, which boosts the flavours, creating bolder, bolshier wines.
Dineen is moving towards becoming an organic vineyard – something that’s becoming more common in Washington. There’s minimal use of pesticides, with the team, instead, employing wildlife to cut down on critters, with strategically placed owl boxes – an all-natural attempt to prevent sage rats stealing grapes – and plans in place to bring free-ranging chickens in for bug-control next year. “We want to sustain the farm for generations to come,” Dineen says.
Marisa Dineen, the daughter of the vineyard’s founders, runs us through the growing process as we sip generously poured samples of various vintages. “Handpicking is important for the winemaker,” she says. “When you have a skilled crew like we do, they can sort [the grapes] in the field.” Those workers tend other vineyards in the area, too. Community spirit runs deep in the region, where many vineyards are family-owned. Winemakers are happy to recommend other wineries to try. Most share picking teams, and are happy to lend a hand – or a team, or a tractor – to a neighbour in need.
Knowing when the grapes are ready for harvest is an art, as well as a science. “We like to see plump, deep, dark purple berries,” Dineen explains. They look for visual clues from other inhabitants of the vineyards, as well: “When we get enough sugar in the grapes, my gosh, we have birds scouting them,” Dineen says. I learn that the fruit should burst in your mouth when you bite into it, too. American grapes tend to have thicker skins than European ones, to protect them from the more intense sunlight. That also means there are more tannins in the finished wines, which boosts the flavours, creating bolder, bolshier wines.
Dineen is moving towards becoming an organic vineyard – something that’s becoming more common in Washington. There’s minimal use of pesticides, with the team, instead, employing wildlife to cut down on critters, with strategically placed owl boxes – an all-natural attempt to prevent sage rats stealing grapes – and plans in place to bring free-ranging chickens in for bug-control next year. “We want to sustain the farm for generations to come,” Dineen says.
Two Mountain Winery
My harvest experience continues at Two Mountain Winery, down the road. Owned by two brothers, both fourth-generation Washington farmers, plus Cash, their welcoming black labrador, the winery’s tasting room is a laid-back, stylish space surrounded by vineyards and apple orchards. A team working below a cloudless blue sky plates up cheesy pizzas and locals relax outside the tasting room, sipping rosés in the warm autumn sunshine. Behind the curving roof of the tasting room, I find one of the brothers, Matthew Rawn, standing beside a feisty-looking “crush pad”. Here, as fresh grapes are shovelled into the roaring metal drum, Rawn lays down the nitty gritty of turning grapes into wine. We watch the plump black berries get squeezed by the drum, then spat out with their dark purple juices, ready for fermentation.
Then, it’s onto VanArnam Vineyards, where winemaker and owner Branden Seymour walks us through fermentation and barrel-ageing techniques. We punch down on earthy smelling grapes housed in vast plastic containers and taste-test funky, fermenting fruits. There’s something biblical about it all: the stretching, arid landscapes and the age-old winemaking techniques.
My harvest experience continues at Two Mountain Winery, down the road. Owned by two brothers, both fourth-generation Washington farmers, plus Cash, their welcoming black labrador, the winery’s tasting room is a laid-back, stylish space surrounded by vineyards and apple orchards. A team working below a cloudless blue sky plates up cheesy pizzas and locals relax outside the tasting room, sipping rosés in the warm autumn sunshine. Behind the curving roof of the tasting room, I find one of the brothers, Matthew Rawn, standing beside a feisty-looking “crush pad”. Here, as fresh grapes are shovelled into the roaring metal drum, Rawn lays down the nitty gritty of turning grapes into wine. We watch the plump black berries get squeezed by the drum, then spat out with their dark purple juices, ready for fermentation.
Then, it’s onto VanArnam Vineyards, where winemaker and owner Branden Seymour walks us through fermentation and barrel-ageing techniques. We punch down on earthy smelling grapes housed in vast plastic containers and taste-test funky, fermenting fruits. There’s something biblical about it all: the stretching, arid landscapes and the age-old winemaking techniques.
The view of the Blue Mountains from Valdemar Estates
The journey ends in Spokane, a city that feels like a small town, yet offers realms of history and, of course, a few glasses of wine. At Barrister Winery, the “shaking” of the barrels by the nearby railroad adds a unique dimension to the winery’s flavour profile. Visitors can take a trip in the old-school industrial elevator to the cellar, and place their hand on a barrel to feel the vibrations fizzle through the wood as a train roars past.
That night, my road trip is rounded off with a dining experience under the stars: chef Chad White’s Trail Feast takes place all over America, but the Top Chef star calls east Washington home, so the wood-fire cooked, multi-course menu he prepares for me on a hillside at Owens Farms, just outside Spokane, has special significance.
Using an off-grid kitchen, foraged and local produce – including beef from Justin Owens’ herd of Piedmontese cattle who graze bemusedly around us as we eat – White’s wild-dining experience is rooted in the landscapes of each unique location. I feast on beef tartare-topped smoked porterhouse brisket, sipping a crisp Blanc de Blanc sparkling wine made by local winemaker Liberty Lake Wine Cellars. The last minutes of sunlight dwindle on the burgundy-coloured hills that surround our outdoor dining location, before the celestial bodies take over and light up the sky.
The journey ends in Spokane, a city that feels like a small town, yet offers realms of history and, of course, a few glasses of wine. At Barrister Winery, the “shaking” of the barrels by the nearby railroad adds a unique dimension to the winery’s flavour profile. Visitors can take a trip in the old-school industrial elevator to the cellar, and place their hand on a barrel to feel the vibrations fizzle through the wood as a train roars past.
That night, my road trip is rounded off with a dining experience under the stars: chef Chad White’s Trail Feast takes place all over America, but the Top Chef star calls east Washington home, so the wood-fire cooked, multi-course menu he prepares for me on a hillside at Owens Farms, just outside Spokane, has special significance.
Using an off-grid kitchen, foraged and local produce – including beef from Justin Owens’ herd of Piedmontese cattle who graze bemusedly around us as we eat – White’s wild-dining experience is rooted in the landscapes of each unique location. I feast on beef tartare-topped smoked porterhouse brisket, sipping a crisp Blanc de Blanc sparkling wine made by local winemaker Liberty Lake Wine Cellars. The last minutes of sunlight dwindle on the burgundy-coloured hills that surround our outdoor dining location, before the celestial bodies take over and light up the sky.
The Lowdown
For more information about visiting Washington, visit stateofwatourism.com and portseattle.org
