Great Wine from Many Waters

Walla Walla, WA
July 25, 2018

“I am sorry to hear that,” said the insurance agent. “Is everyone OK?”

“Yes, everyone is fine. Thank you for asking. We just backed into a pole, so there is damage to the rear bumper and the door to the trunk.”

“In which city and state did the accident occur?”

“Walla Walla, Washington.”

…pause…

{Chuckle} “Really?”

“Yes”

“That’s a funny name.”

“Yes…I guess it is…”

And, to those unfamiliar with the “Place of Many Waters”, it is a funny name…but it is a great place, with great people. We have returned to spend all or part of five days with four of them.

Rita and Alexander arrived from San Francisco on Friday. David and I followed Saturday. 

Eastern Washington, like Eastern Colorado, does not adhere to the popular impression, nor the license plate image, of the state. 

As we landed, we peered over a landscape reflective of someone having bottled western Nebraska, mixed in remarkable colors of bright gold, lime green, and deep brown…and spilled it in Spokane’s lap. 

The high plains and sporadic badlands, once the floor of a pre-Pangaeaic ocean, offer a rolling, wide-open panorama that is beautiful and comforting to those who feel confined by the pace, pressure, and population of life on more constricted terrain.

To the south, amid rolling vineyards and wheat fields, with the Blue Mountains rising to the south and east, sits Walla Walla. 

We arrived at the house early in the afternoon to find Ashley and Rita cleaning the remnants of a Brook & Bull lunch gathering that David and I just missed. 
Alice and Raleigh were in the adjoining room entertaining themselves with their games…and us with their irresistibly mischievous charm.

While Ashley was kind enough to take her kids and ours swimming, Rita and I spent the balance of the afternoon doing what comes naturally…helping drain Saturday inventory from tasting rooms at Sleight of Hand and Saviah wineries. 

Sleight of Hand was unique and fun, with a relaxed, rock-n-roll theme…but we found all but a couple of their offerings to be underwhelming and overpriced.

Saviah, however, offered a delightful setting and delicious wines…several of which will accompany us to Atlanta, joining a few of their cousins that made the trip a couple years ago.

The highlight of the afternoon was, of course, the very pleasant, airy tasting room Ashley has created (and to which David, from his previous visit, proudly claims some inspirational credit) for Brook & Bull and Vital Wines. 

As other couples and groups tasted and mingled about us, or lounged with their glasses on the comfortable outdoor sofas, Rita and I sampled a series of wines while chatting with Paul Cockrell, the GM, and Sammi Clute, Director of Relations.

We saw Paul and Sammi again that evening at Whitehouse Crawford during a wonderful private-room dinner Ashley organized, replete with selections of halibut, tenderloin, and several Brook & Bull offerings to stimulate conversation among the group that had re-assembled after the earlier lunch.

Following what must have been no more than a long nap, Ashley departed at 4a Sunday, by the light of the stars, to take Alice to camp at Coeur d’Alene. That adorable girl no doubt immediately captured Alene’s heart…and by the time we arrive later today the town will almost certainly have been re-christened Coeur d’Alice.

After depositing her daughter, Ashley immediately reversed her route, returning to Walla Walla early afternoon. Brian arrived home from his own weekend away later that day. 

The next three days with Brian, Ashley, and Raleigh could not have been more delightful. Like his sister, Raleigh is a remarkable, charming child…a testament to parents by whom we could not be more impressed.

Like many with busy careers, new businesses, and young children, Ashley and Brian have several balls in the air…many made of glass. When a few inevitably break, they manage to clean the mess while minimizing the cuts…and finding ample opportunity to laugh and learn along the way.

During our time with them, we were impressed how much they have learned, and pleased at how much we all laughed. They are a terrific couple, a fabulous family, and two of the more remarkable people we know.

Whether at their lovely home or at one of the many great restaurants on or near the bustling center of this small town, the food was delicious…and the wine and conversation flowed. Discussion of family, dogs, food, wine, bourbon, serious injuries, snakes, turtles, and a smattering of business (i.e., more wine) abounded.

And we laughed…

Yesterday was Ashley’s birthday, which we celebrated with a delicious dinner the previous evening at Saffron, across from the impressive courthouse on Main Street. 

Earlier that day, Rita and I sampled several wineries, including tastings Ashley was kind enough to arrange at Pepper Bridge, followed by a very enjoyable private tour she scheduled and shared with us at Drew Bledsoe’s beautiful Doubleback Winery.  

As intermission between those tastings, we detoured to Walla Walla Bread Company for a refreshing dose of Brook & Bull Chardonnay, with a side of lunch.

From Doubleback, we proceeded to Brian’s “lab”, where we entered a facility with barrels stacked in a manner reminiscent of the boxes in the concluding scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Touring us thru aisles of barreled wine, and climbing more than a few of them, Brian extracted several samples to illustrate the distinct effect different barrel-types have on a given varietal and vintage. Very instructive, informative, and enjoyable…and much appreciated.

Backing away from the facility, an unseen light pole shook hands with our rear bumper, providing my letter of introduction to the insurance agent who found the name of this town so amusing. 

Alexander, David, and I amused ourselves yesterday morning with eighteen holes at Veterans Memorial Golf Course, a nice course hard against endless wheat fields…and shaded sufficiently by charitable trees to alleviate a mid-day heat that rendered us lone pilgrims across the withering slopes of the back nine.

Warren Buffet once said that if he saw a 350 pound man, he may not know exactly how much he weighed…he’d just know he was fat. While we’ve been here, I am not sure precisely how high the mercury has risen…but am certain it has been hot. 

After lunch downtown at Olive, we met Ashley, Brian, and Raleigh at the Memorial Pool. This too is an impressive, and welcome, facility in a town that till the pool re-opened this summer, had no such relief from the sweltering sun.

Fortunately, the onset of evening, with its falling temperature, dry air, and gentle breezes, offers Walla Walla a daily respite from each afternoon’s furnace.

Last night we took full advantage, enjoying in the breezeway another al fresco dinner, a marvelous meal with a chocolate caramel cake as icing on our two-day celebration of Ashley’s birthday. 

And, while enjoying the food, wine, company, and conversation consistent with each evening this week, we did what comes naturally in a wonderful town with a funny name…

…we laughed.

JD