This was our last stop of the day, conveniently right next to Sleight of Hand. We enjoyed their reds, but they were the real winner on ambiance. As you can see we joined the staff as they went off shift on the patio. Friends came by with fresh-picked wild morel mushrooms. Tristan who served us at Watermill dropped in to pick up his girlfriend who served us here. We pulled out some cheese and crackers and a good time was had by all.
We rolled into Sleight of Hand winery, just north of the Oregon / Washington state line near Walla Walla this afternoon. This place definitely rates at the high end of fun wineries to visit. The art they have hanging up is quite lovely take-offs on old posters of magic and movies. They have a whole shelf of vinyl LP’s and when I pulled out ABC’s Lexicon of Love they put that sucker right on the deck. Their motto: “punk rock wines for punk rock minds”. We took a bottle of one of their whites home, but unfortunately we enjoyed their product the least of the places we stopped today. Their reds seemed to have a sour/bitter note we didn’t like.
However, loved the experience, will definitely stop by again sometime!
http://lyrics.wikia.com/ABC:Valentine%27s_Day
When I’m shaking a hand, I’m clenching a fist
If you gave me a pound for the moments I missed
And I got dancing lessons for all the lips I shoulda kissed
I’d be a millionaire, I’d be a Fred Astaire
Zerba Winery. Right off the highway. Hits on all our three criteria. Bringing home port and their finest cheap red.
What do want out of a winery visit?
Friendly, affordable, and decent product
If the staff are jerks, well guess how the wine will taste. Tasting fees are ok, less ok if they aren’t waived with a bottle purchase.
Oh yeah. The last of the three the product should taste good.
This place does wine and cider. Did well on all three counts. Two thumbs up.
Second stop on our trip to Walla Walla. Prodigal Son Brewery and Pub. This is the pub sampler. Not a loser in the lot. Clean, good flavored brews. The most innovative would be their hefeweizen served with a slice of grapefruit.
Food, nicely better than plain pub chow. The fries delivered on all the promises of the menu. Two thumbs up.
Here it’s in play. Got in El Saabo, The Swedish Tiki-Mobile. We’re nearly half-way to Walla Walla, Washington. Our wine destination. This wine? It’s easy. Tastes like wine. It’s red. You won’t object to it. It won’t object to you. Perhaps this review is a reflection on how mellow I feel. Perhaps this is simply a mellow wine. Won’t sleep with your spouse. Will die quickly in a Zombie attack. Tastes fine, won’t challenge you with complicated opinions.
Onward to Walla Walla wine country.
2011 through 2012 were The Divorce Years.
Let’s not speak of them again, thanks.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a big red wine. This bottle packs that phat red wine taste that demands the stinky cheeses, the red meats, overstuffed furniture and large-gauge cigars.
If this wine was a person, it’d probably be Tony Soprano.
Trader Joe, $12.99
Now here’s an Italian red wine that really knows how to stand up for itself. It’s a blend of 50% Whoop-Ass and 50% Take-Numbers. When Chuck Norris went to Italy as a baby, this what was in his sippy cup.
Nerelo Del Bastardo. Yep, I think you know what this goes well with. Big food. That giant hunk o’ vaca you’ve been marinating all day, cooked slow on the grill. Ya baby, this is where it’s at.
Trader Joe’s, $8.99. The wine guy pointed me at another bottle by these same guys he says is event meater. Yum, can’t wait.
Another nifty inexpensive sherrry! Happy day for us fans of tasty Spanish stuff!
“Cream” sherry is a sweet wine, often saved for desert. However, if you’re me (and some of you out there are) will find this yummy any time of day. This one is definitely full-flavored and it’s going down well with this delicioso Spanish chorizo which I happen to have handy. You might say it’s got a bit of carmel maybe, or maybe a bit of brown sugar flavor. For $4.99 at Trader Joe’s I say it’s darn yummy.
From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherry
“Sweet Sherries (Jerez Dulce in Spanish) are made either by fermenting dried Pedro Ximénez or Moscatel grapes, which produces an intensely sweet dark brown or black wine, or by blending sweeter wines or grape must with a drier variety. Cream Sherry is a common type of sweet sherry made by blending different wines.”