Wine and Beer Tasting in Washington Wine Country…

We have been having a blast with our friends Marshall and Debbie here in the Tri-Cities, Washington Area. The other day Debbie invited us to a local establishment called the Grill On Gage where they were hosting the Pelican Brewery (from Oregon) for some beer pairings called their first Tap Takeover. We met up with Debbie,their son and his girlfriend. Once seated we were served three beers: Scottish Style Ale, an IPA and one of their core Ales. They were paired with some wonderful smoked pulled pork tacos, a tasty Gazpacho with shrimp and a very good Caprese Salad with a yummy balsamic reduction. We had a great evening of fun and our table won two of the door prizes including the grand prize of a custom Pelican Growler.

We have been having a blast with our friends Marshall and Debbie here in the Tri-Cities, Washington Area. The other day Debbie invited us to a local establishment called the Grill On Gage where they were hosting the Pelican Brewery (from Oregon) for some beer pairings called their first Tap Takeover. We met up with Debbie,their son and his girlfriend. Once seated we were served three beers: Scottish Style Ale, an IPA and one of their core Ales. They were paired with some wonderful smoked pulled pork tacos, a tasty Gazpacho with shrimp and a very good Caprese Salad with a yummy balsamic reduction. We had a great evening of fun and our table won two of the door prizes including the grand prize of a custom Pelican Growler.

The next day we headed west to the town of Prosser, a nice town along the Yakima River. The Indians who once resided here called the area "Tap tut", meaning rapids, but this town is now known for its more than 11,000 acres of vineyards and their associated wineries. Here we visited several wineries concentrated in an area called Horse Heaven Hills but the one winery that stood out to me was the Coyote Canyon Winery. Most wineries we visit will have one or two wines that will appeal to me but this winery had the best wines from top to bottom. I prefer reds but even their whites were quite tasty…And of course, we had to purchase a bottle to take home with us.

We stopped for lunch and a beer at Whistran Brewery (after all I am more a “beer snob” that a “wine snob” <insert grin>). The crafted beers here were mostly average but they had some really funny captions on their shirts. After lunch we stopped at another winery for a tasting, then we stopped at the Horse Heaven Saloon that abuts the Horse Heaven Brewery where we sampled some of their beers as well. Pretty decent stouts here and a fun place to have a meal with a brew when visiting this town.

Our last day we went with Marshall and Debbie over to Walla Walla. Walla Walla may be best known for its sweet onions but it is known more recently for its wine as there are over 100 wineries around Walla Walla.  We visited  a few wineries  with my favorite in this area being Waterbrook Winery, especially their Cabernet’s and Syrah’s, just east of town.

Debbie and Marshall had signed up to take a wine making class so while they were in class Sharon and I walked all around town and over to Whitman College. This is a private liberal arts college which started out as a seminary and has become one of the top liberal arts schools in the USA (recently ranked 41st by U.S. News and World Report). We thought it was a nice campus with quite a lot of public outdoor art all around it. We feel it is just another reason we love walking around campuses… even if we don’t always fully appreciate the artist's best intentions.

We met back up with Debbie and Marshall at the Red Monkey Lounge for dinner and beverages. They run a really nice happy hour where many of their appetizers were only $6.00 so we had most of them and just shared. It was a fun place indeed! We loved our time visiting with our friends from way back to our days in high school and college days.  We all had a fun, fun, time, time in Walla Walla…

Did I mention that we also spent an evening at their house and enjoyed their pool and the fur babies. We especially fell in love once again with the dog Archie who is a surfing dood… or is that dog. We will head west from here for a few days in the Columbia River valley before moving over to Portland for a stay of nearly three weeks. We are really looking forward to revisiting Portland!