Discover Walla Walla
Secrets and Surprises from Our Corner of the World
Posted by: Catie McIntyre Walker in Wine on
Dec 21, 2009
 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.
Posted by: Becky St. Clair in Tradition, Business on
Dec 14, 2009
 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.
Posted by: Sam McLeod in Events, Downtown on
Dec 07, 2009
 If you missed it, the Walla Walla Veterans Day Parade was a classic-five fire trucks, one cement mixer, one cherry picker, one subcompact sporting a banner "Friends of Gays and Lesbians," lots of old guys on motorcycles, plenty of Model T's, and some proud veterans. The Touchet High School Marching Band led the parade. They played "Louie, Louie." I love this place.
Posted by: Becky St. Clair in Scenery on
Nov 30, 2009
 It was a chilly fall morning in Walla Walla. At six a.m. I donned my jogging pants, thick socks, and a jacket, tied my jogging shoes, and slipped quietly out the front door. The yard, still shaded from the morning sun by my house and a few yellowing trees, crunched under my steps. My shoes left footprints in the frosty grass.
I took a deep breath of the autumn air and thought to myself that although it was cliché, it was true - the air was crisp. It was probably 20 degrees outside, and though it was a weekday, there were surprisingly few people up and about that early.
As I worked up to a slow jog, I plotted my path for the morning. I had started walking and jogging only a couple of months prior, and was up to about a two-mile loop. I enjoyed morning walks the best; it was quiet and somehow inspirational.
My route took me across one of the busiest roads in town, past some well-manicured lawns and browning flowerbeds, along a gurgling roadside creek, and past an apartment I'd lived in just after college.
Posted by: Denise Slattery in Wine on
Nov 23, 2009
 As you begin to hash out the details of your fall wine tasting intineries in Walla Walla, I thought it might be useful to provide a lexicon of terms
Often associated with this time of year....in alpha order! Cheers -
| Arrghhh! |
The forklift is out of propane |
| Barrel-Down |
To move the finished, pressed-off wine into barrels |
| Beer |
The winemaker's favorite beverage |
| Crush |
The time of year when your phone calls will not be returned |
| Character |
That which makes the wine distinctive and some of the people you may meet in a tasting room! |
| Dry |
When red wine registers at minus 1.5 brix and the sugars have all been converted to alcohol |
| Ebulliometer |
Instrument used to measure the level of alcohol in wine |
| F*%&! |
Someone left the valve on the tank open! |
| Free Run |
Wine from the must that doesn't go through the press |
| Grapes |
What we make the wine out of, silly! |
| Hard Frost |
When temps fall below 28 degrees for more than a few hours. |
Posted by: Andrew Holt in Art on
Nov 16, 2009
 "Romeo and Juliet", William Shakespeare's love story for the ages, has been modernized countless times, each director trying to put it into a context that hopefully provides new meaning to the simple but heart wrenching tale that has been the standard for love stories ever since the old bard brought it to the stage.
Whitman College's modernization of "R & J", which just finished its run at Harper Joy Theatre, utilized an urban setting of modern culture mingling with themes from "West Side Story." The prominent part of the set consisted mostly of a cold city street with concrete walls, ramps and porches; even Juliet's window tower was grey concrete. And the fight scenes between the Montagues and the Capulets involved switch blades and the darting, almost dancing choreography reminiscent of "West Side."
The Capulet boys wore tight white short-sleeved dress shirts rolled up to show their biceps, accented with solid black ties, grey cargo pants and black boots. Father Capulet wore a dashing tailored suit and the women sprightly colored dresses circa the early 60's. Paris was portrayed as a preppie who could have walked right off the Princeton campus yesterday.
Posted by: Catie McIntyre Walker in Wine, Food on
Nov 09, 2009
 It's that time of the year when every food and wine related magazine's focus is "turkey talk." And with every article, the standard Q&A suggests Pinot Noir is the wine to pair with turkey. Blah-blah-blah and blah!
Hey Pilgrim, do you see a lot of Pinot Noir in the Walla Walla Valley? And when you consider that we celebrate the holiday with an abundant feast of savory and sweet, why limit yourself and your guests to one kind of wine?
The Bird: Every Spring many Walla Walla wineries release a variety of crisp rosés from Cabernet Franc to Sangiovese. These pastel colored wines are softer and less tannic offering the right amount of acids to balance the richness of the turkey. Hopefully, you already have a few Walla Walla produced rosés in your cellar as they sell out quickly. If you're one of those people who tout, "I only do redsss," think about softer and fruitier Merlots and Sangioveses or even an aged Cabernet Sauvignon. If your cellar is looking a little empty L'Ecole No 41 often has a selection of library wines available for purchase.
If you are a white wine drinker and want to highlight the buttery flavors of the turkey, ‘taters, and gravy, there are several aromatic white wines that will enhance the main dishes. Check out Locati Cellars Pinot Grigio, Seven Hills Pinot Gris, SuLei Cellars Rousanne or go bubbly with Tru Cellars Blanc de Blanc.
Posted by: Sam McLeod in Food on
Nov 02, 2009
 I wrote a newspaper column a couple of weeks ago about how I'm learning to cook. I got a flood of mail from women who, like my wife Annie, want to retire from cooking and get their husbands to take over in the kitchen. They wondered whether I might have any advice to offer. Well, of course I do.
If you'll follow these directions to the letter, pretty soon your hubby will be cooking while you sit at the table reading the newspaper, thinking great thoughts, tapping your foot, waiting for him to bring you a glass of wine. So, let's not screw this up. Okay?
Here's your Achilles' heel: you know how to cook and therefore have wisdom to share.
Here's my suggestion: keep it to yourself.
This is your man's new job. It needs to be challenging. So let him cook on his own, even if he has to learn a lot of lessons the hard way. You wouldn't think of going out on the golf course to whack his ball for him. So don't go into the kitchen to help him. Hands off.
This may be as hard as anything you've ever done. After all, you're going to see him doing things the wrong way. He's going to mess up some-maybe a lot. Some of his dinners will be debacles. It's okay. Debacles are memorable.
Posted by: Becky St. Clair in Scenery, Downtown on
Oct 26, 2009
 I'm an amateur photographer. Or maybe I should make that a wannabe photographer. I love taking pictures, but I really know nothing about photography. So when I get a nice shot, it's probably more luck than anything, especially with my little point-and-shoot digital camera.
One of my favorite places to take pictures is on Main Street. The street is lined with beautiful old renovated buildings with lots of character. Our Macy's is actually an old theatre, with sloped floors and tall ceilings. Some of the buildings still have traces of the original shop name painted on the bricks. Others house shops that have been in business for decades, such as Bright's Candies, a fabulous little candy shop that sells chocolates, ice cream, Jelly Belly candy, and more. There are two prime times for walking and taking pictures downtown. Christmas is an obvious one, with all the warm lights and festive window displays. The other is right about now: Autumn. The trees are turning color and losing their leaves, the sky is ever-changing, and the atmosphere is cozy and homey. The best way to enjoy a stroll along Main Street in the fall is to start at the west end and make your way east to Starbucks. Stop inside for your favorite hot beverage and then take it with you as you continue your tour of one of the busiest streets in the Walla Walla valley. But most of all, take your time. And don't forget to look up.
Posted by: Denise Slattery in Wine, Food on
Oct 22, 2009
 In some parts of the country, chefs and food enthusiasts are joining the Slow Food movement. www.slowfoodusa.org It's a simple idea; eat food that's grown locally, reject processed foods, endorse sustainably produced foods. It's a way of life, and once you adopt even a piece of it, you really won't see food production in the same light again.
I've always maintained that wine is the ultimate slow food. If you drink wines made right here in the region, you are contributing to a beautiful cycle. Winemakers are working with growers and vineyard managers to produce the highest quality fruit and that generally means employing sustainable viticulture practices. Vinea www.vineatrust.com is one organization that growers tap into for these guidelines. Salmon Safe is another. www.salmonsafe.org.
Walla Walla produces so many amazing wines from vineyards in the Valley and nearby Eastern Washington AVA's, it's a locavore's delight! Drinking local wines is easy and a real pleasure. The terroir travels with you in every bottle you take home to share with friends and family.
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