Seattle, WA

There are few cities that I love more than Seattle and since I am fortunate enough to be spending a couple of weeks in Washington state, I thought I’d share my experiences. I once lived in the area but long ago moved due to a great job opportunity. The job took me to Atlanta which I hated and eventually left for Austin, Tx. I never expected to like living in Texas but Austin isn’t at all like living in Texas. When Austinites ask me about Seattle, I often tell them that Austin is sort of like a sunny Seattle. However, as one of my friends says, “when it comes to recycling, Seattle makes Austin look like eco-terrorists.” Or something like that!

But… let’s back up a few steps and talk about the Yakima Valley, one of Washington’s fastest growing industries and one of the wine industries newest darlings. I first started exploring the new wineries about 2 years ago and while I took home some excellent wines I was even more impressed this trip. I found more diversity and more maturity in the wines available.

My first stop along the Rattlesnake Trail was Tefft Cellers, located in Outlook, Washington. Tefft Cellars has some great wines but what really drew me back there was a wonderful Black Ice Wine I purchased a couple of years ago on my first visit. Luckily they had some in stock and I bought a bottle. They don’t always have the ice wines because they are dependent on having had a frost. This batch was partially frozen and was helped along by modern technology so the wine had a reduced price. Thankfully that did not affect the taste. Their Syrah was very nice and we left with a bottle of Huckleberry wine, since this is something we’d never see outside of the northwest.

Eaton Hill was just down the road from Tefft so we popped over there for a wine tasting. The building it’s located in was very interesting. Once the home of a tomato cannery, it apparently took some 5 years to clean it out and repair it for use. There is a double row of windows at the top of the building and all the glass had to be replaced. I’m bummed now that I didn’t take pictures of the interior. Today I’ll be touring around a few more wineries and I’ll let you know how that goes.

Tune in tomorrow for the next stop along the Rattlesnake Hills Trail!

Part One of this series.
Part Two in this series
Part Three in this series
Part Four in this series
Part Five in this series

Yakima Valley, wine, Rattlesnake Hills Trail, wineries, vineyards, Washington, Tefft Cellars, Eaton Hill