Discover Walla Walla

When I think of February, I always reflect back to when I was a little girl in Walla Walla. We had classroom Valentine parties with lots of red construction paper and paper doily hearts on the bulletin boards. There was the exchange of cards and our room mothers would bring us decorated cupcakes and heart shaped cookies. Now that I am older, many years older (ahem), I now think of wine as being romantic. Why not? Romance is about an emotional attachment, a fascination or involvement with someone. Wine not only places a role in romance, but seduction, which leads to - - s-e-x. Wine can bring lovers together, but also good times with family and friends.

Walla Walla is about romance no matter the time of the year with our beautiful parks, the view of the Blue Mountains, romantic B&B's, vineyards and our historical downtown. Downtown Walla Walla is especially romantic and full of surprises. It is a mid-way of tasting rooms, boutiques, bistros and art galleries and if one times it right, there is live music in the air.

The Walla Walla Valley has some very seductive wines to get one in the Valentine spirit, too. Sleight of Hands Cellar's labels are very seductive with the mysterious magician and his beautiful assistant. The Magician is a classic dry Gewurztraminer with aromas and flavors of crisp green apples, rose petals, and lychee-nut. These characteristics make for a perfect pairing with aromatic seafood dishes and spicy Asian foods. Mmm...spicy!

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Every time I drive through downtown Walla Walla I'm scared I'll get into an accident.  That may not sound like a pleasant introduction to this wonderful little city, but let me explain.

Walla Walla is one of the most beautiful little towns I've ever experienced and every time I drive through its charming downtown (especially Main Street) I'm struck by its simple elegance and preserved history.

Then there are the people.

While stopped at one of many stoplights, I note two gentlemen on the corner, waiting for the crosswalk light to allow them to proceed.  They're as different as can be.  One is older, perhaps 60, experienced in life and ready to relax and enjoy a slower pace.  His walking shoes are worn and his simple garb includes a black windbreaker and a plain black baseball cap.  He didn't bother to shave this morning.

The other is closer to my age, probably not yet 30, clean-shaven, gelled hair, brand new tie flapping in the breeze.  His hands are stuffed into his suit coat pockets (probably to ward off the chill of the winter wind), and his shiny businessman shoes are stylish and classy.

The light turns green.  I press on the gas pedal, the two men start across the road, one significantly more hurried than the other.

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Tonight, we are headed to the movies. But don't bring your popcorn and soda, for this movie holds no entertainment, although it is a star studded evening in Walla Walla. We are viewing "Cargo: Lost Innocence" - a gritty documentary on human trafficking, directed and produced by actor Michael Cory Davis. The movie presentation and the subsequent panel discussion on human bondage is backed by "Artists for Human Rights" an organization created by Hollywood film artist, Anne Archer.

Archer, Davis along with human rights activist Donna Isham and Executive Director of "Artists for Human Rights," Michael Wisner are all in attendance. When asked why they would bring such a film to Walla Walla, a relatively isolated rural community, Davis, Archer and Wisner all respond with the same answer: the fight for human rights starts in your local communities.

"Cargo" chronicles the story of two young women who were abducted from their homes, one from Bulgaria the other South America, and brought to the U.S. to be sex slaves in Texas. Davis does a nice job of interspersing sound bites from government officials, who are trying to fight the problem, with gut wrenching interviews with the victims and re-enacted scenes of some of the horrific stories they describe.

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Lately I have been thinking about wine in a box. And I'm not talking about the mass produced vino that come with a spigot (although, hey, in a pinch, not so bad!) I'm talking about wine that comes in a box and is delivered right to your door by the friendly folks at Fedex or UPS! That's the GOOD kind of wine in a box - and guess what? We make that in Walla Walla too!

Ok, hopefully you get my drift here! I'd like to draw some comparisons and make an argument for joining any of the great wine clubs offered by Walla Walla area wineries.

First, if you had an amazing experience in a winery or tasting room and really loved the wines you tried, chances are extremely high (really, way up there) that you will love their future releases, too. We could even back this up with science and refer to Newton's Law of Wine Tasting that states: When You Like What You Taste, You Will Continue To Like What You Taste.

And so, it reasons, if you enjoyed the wine you tasted in Walla Walla you will want more of it, sent directly to your home twice a year or so. When a box of wine arrives on your doorstep you can open it up (like Christmas!) and re-live your memory of Walla Walla all over again! You can drink in the tastes that a favorite winemaker selected and managed to coax into a bottle for your very enjoyment! Of course there are many frills and benefits related to a wine club membership, too varied and exciting to list here, but the main thing to know is that you get something quite thrilling for your trouble. And Walla Walla does not disappoint!

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Perhaps it's because I'm an Anglophile, or maybe it's the other way around, but I am certainly a true Pacific Northwesterner. I love fog.

While a lot of Walla Walla residents revel in the summer sun (albeit most often from their air conditioned homes, cars and offices), they often grumble about the winter weather. What, you don't like soggy pant cuffs and spotted glasses? You don't enjoy digging your car out of several inches of ice-encrusted snow at 7:30 a.m.?

Yeah, me neither. But the fog...I must admit it generally makes me smile.

I think it's the mystery of it all: How it turns the once-familiar world around me into a dreamy, fairy cloud-land; how it transforms the stark, leafless trees into regal statues, stretching high above me and disappearing into the mist; how the edges of the fields are softened and the hills surrounding them rise into the unknown.

Or maybe it's just the warm fuzzy feeling I get from looking out my window and daydreaming about a cozy fire, a good book and a hot mug of tea - or better yet, the days when that can be reality! After, all, that's what winter is all about.

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New Year's Resolutions do not have to be boring or demanding. Wine is a great topic to put on your New Year's list. Drink wine and learn something new at the same time! In fact, you can walk downtown Walla Walla and visit shops and tasting rooms to assist you in not breaking these five easy resolutions.

1. Open Your Mind to Wine: You may give the impression to your friends and co-workers you are a wine connoisseur, but are you really if all you are drinking is red wine? So, you didn't care for the $3 bottle of California chardonnay or rosé you tasted back in the 80's, but have you recently tasted chardonnays or rosés, or any of the white wines, produced in Walla Walla? Rethink them. Retaste them.

2. Step Away from the Flintstones Jelly Jars: Wine glasses do not have to be expensive. Look for glassware that is thin. The rim of the glass should be a clean cut and not a rolled lip. It may be pretty, but save Great-Grandma Esther's chunky hand-cut crystal for water glasses. Also, look for wine glasses with a large bowl and fill the bowl no more than a third allowing plenty of air space for the wine to breathe. If you want to invest in the best, check with Providence Fine Living on Walla Walla's Main Street for Riedel fine crystal wine glasses.

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Ham is a tradition in our family-starting this year.

I grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. My family ate Tennessee country ham and biscuits for breakfast on Christmas morning. The salt-cured ham was a special treat reserved for the holidays-generally a gift form one of my father's patients who couldn't pay his doctor's bill.

My mother scraped the green-blue mold off the ham, soaked it in water in a five-pound lard tin for a couple of days to remove some of the saltiness, then simmered the ham in the same tin on the stovetop starting late on Christmas Eve, letting it slow-cook all night long so we'd have a ham ready to slice on Christmas morning.

When I married Annie, we visited her family in Richmond, Virginia on Christmas every now and again. Virginia ham and rolls were part of their Christmas Eve dinner. The Virginia ham was incredibly salty and therefore sliced very thin. A little bit went a long way on a homemade yeasty roll.

And then we moved west and lost touch with the Christmas ham tradition, until this year when I happened to see a ham recipe in a magazine. The memories came streaming back. I decided to give it a try.

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Walla Walla finally has an upscale night club with dancing. Ladies and Gents, may I present to you . . . The Red Monkey! - I know, I know, the name does not reflect the major upgrade in night clubbing that "The Monkey" represents. But let's excuse the owners for their strange taste in names and, rather, applaud them for opening a true dinner dance club that does not cater solely to the 24-and-under crowd and their rap music.

In fact, before 9:30 on a Friday night, "The Monkey" more closely resembles a classy Sports Bar than a Dance Club with its multitude of large flat screen televisions strategically placed throughout the establishment. The dinner menu is solid. Everyone in my gang seemed to be happy with their burgers, barbequed pork and salads. I had the chicken quesadilla which was tasty and not too salty . . . a good thing.

As the night progressed, the Happy Hour crowd and early dinner couples began to dwindle and were replaced by the younger crowd. Not a problem. There's actually a dress code and young ladies entered dressed to the nines, wearing a myriad of sultry pant and skirt ensembles, instead of the usual jeans falling off the hips or pajama bottoms. And the lads looked nice, too: Collared shirts, dress shoes and jeans, instead of the normal oversized hockey jersey, the ball cap to the side and unlaced monster sized basketball sneakers. 

As a male in his mid 40's, I felt quite at home. It's the type of place folks in their 30's to mid 50's have been aching for since I moved here in 2003 -- a place to go dancing that plays music we recognize and makes you feel like you're having a "night out" instead of getting in the way of the drinking duels of 22-year-olds who didn't have the time to comb their hair before making their motley appearance. The constant presence of security folks shows that "The Monkey" doesn't want to be a haven for macho man fights. God bless them.

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Nope. I'm not talking about a new slushy wine drink found at the local corner convenience store. Ice wine (or Eiswein) is about a frosty little shriveled grape that produces an intense sweet nectar like no other.

Frozen grapes were used to make wine during Roman times, as far back as AD 23. And you might think it is easy as putting the grapes in the freezer, but it's not that easy if it is an authentic ice wine or Eiswein.

The history behind these little bottles of Mother Nature's nectar started in Germany post-Roman ice wine in the 1830's. The winters were harsh and grapes were typically left on the vines to be used later for livestock feed. Winemakers later noticed the frozen grapes were producing a sweet concentrated juice. Since temperatures of 20F( -7C) or below are required, we mostly see ice wines produced in Germany, northern states of the US and the biggest production now comes from Ontario, Canada.

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It was cold, but I didn't care.  That's the way it was supposed to be.  I rubbed my gloved hands together and giggled quietly at the fog escaping my lips every time I breathed.  I felt like I was five years old, going with Grandpa to pick out the very best Christmas tree. 

I wasn't with Grandpa, and I certainly wasn't five years old.  I'd been out of college a couple of years and was with my husband of only slightly longer.  We were getting our very first real Christmas tree as a couple (before we'd only had the two-feet-tall potted ones from Wal-Mart), and had decided to go the route everyone was talking about: Klickers.

Before then, I'd only ever known about Klickers strawberries.  People around the Walla Walla Valley love Klickers berries and buy them year-round.  Turns out Klickers is so much more than berries. 

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