Road Trippin’

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Ever since I participated in a little thing called Road Trip Washington Wine back in 2009, I have had this torrid love affair with the state of Washington.  Whether it was standing atop the hill within Red Willow Vineyard modeled after the La Chapelle Vineyard in the Northern Rhone, the one that is tucked in between Mounts Rainier, Adams and St. Helens, or walking along a dirt road just down from Spring Valley Vineyards near Walla Walla watching little dust devils tear across the fields, or daydreaming near Snoqualmie Falls – you get the idea; Washington is a quiet, simmering seductress, and after 8 years I am still heavy under her spell.

So the opportunity arose after Jungle Jim’s International Wine Festival, when our fearless leader approached T.J. and myself to take a group on a trip – a Wine Safari as it were – to anywhere in the wine universe.  Being our first foray into these trips, T.J. and I logically chose to do something domestically, and while T.J. chose Oregon, I automatically went for Washington State.

I have to admit, after that trip in 2009, I have been a ridiculous advocate for the Evergreen State.  I tell customers in a dizzyingly evangelical tone, “you can’t get better value that the wines of Washington.”  Whether you take home a bottle of Chateau Ste. Michelle or Columbia Crest, or you venture out into the lesser known (yet exceptionally good) producers like L’Ecole No. 41, Gramercy Cellars, Col Solare or Dusted Valley, you’ll get more “bang for your buck” with these wines, trust me on that one.

TJ.’s Oregon trip will be a lot of fun, to be sure.  Seven days in Portland – food truck capital of the U.S.A. – and trips daily with the man to the various incredible wineries in Willamette Valley, which is a mere ½ or so outside of town.  If I know T.J. – and I’ve known the guy for about 14-15 years now – it’s going to be a great trip.

Which brings me to my Evergreen State excursion, a holiday of love for me.  Not to one-up brother T.J. (there is a bit of friendly competition around here at J.J.’s) but when it comes to Washington I am more than the average nerd, having made several trips back since that first fateful voyage and each time, I come back more enamored than ever.

The specifics have yet-to-be-hammered-out but I’m breaking out all the stops here, taking the intrepid group of Jungle Jim’s patrons on a trek from Walla Walla westward across the state, inevitably winding up in the Jet City, imparting a new perspective for the venturesome few who brave the odyssey with me, the goal being to impart a bit of the Washington State passion with them, converting more believers and spreading the wine word of the Columbia Valley and beyond.

Yeah, it’s like that.

Check in with me in the coming weeks as the trip unfolds and see what it is we will have in store my fellow oenophiles.