On the Road to Yakima, WA...

We left The Dalles, OR and headed up the Columbia River on our way to Yakima, WA.  We stopped into two wineries ... Maryhill and Columbia Crest.  They were both beautiful!

Maryhill Winery

What a gorgeous location!  They are on the cliffs overlooking the Columbia Gorge.  It's a beautiful setting with a large amphitheatre.  Their wine was good, but I think they are really known for the events and concerts.  Check out this panoramic.

We had a lovely time tasting.  They have 85 acres of grapes and produce about 6000 cases per year.  Like all the other Oregon/Washington wineries they are still picking. 

We tasted 5-6 of their wines.  They had a wonderful Viognier.  Not sweet, but with great floral aromas and flavors of pear and apple.  Their 2006 Reserve Sangiovese was excellent with ripe cranberry, cherry and cinnamon aromas, fresh and earthy with soft tannins - yet rich with cherry and dark fruit flavor. I'm not a huge Zin fan, but I became a fan of the 2008 Reserve Zinfandel  It's starts slightly sweet with a wonderful mouthfeel. It has sweet dark cherries, caramel, blackberries, vanilla and just the right amount of oak.

The best thing is that we were able to trade a bottle of our 2008 Pinot Noir and a bottle of 2007 Black Dog for a Viognier and a Zinfandel.  Mayrhill was selected as the Oregon Winery of the Year in 2009.

It's a pet friendly winery, so the dogs were happy too!  Check them at at www.maryhillwinery.com

Columbia Crest

This is a HUGE winery.  They have 2500 acres planted and produce 3,000,000 (!) cases per year.  Big trucks full of grapes were pulling in one after another and the production center was a hub of activity.

The grounds are beautiful with fountains, a small lake and lots of flowers.  To be honest, I didn'f find any wine I felt compelled to buy.  Maybe it's because you can find Columbia Crest in every grocery store wine shop.  it was, however, very interesting to go to such a big winery.

Our next stop is Wenatchee, WA.  Lots of interesting little wineries there, so we'll keep you posted.

o