Walla Walla Wineries and Tasting Rooms

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Joe Becerra

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Amavi Cellars in Walla Walla Valley AVA
Amavi Cellars in Walla Walla Valley AVA

Walla Walla Wineries and Tasting Rooms – Wine Country Bonanza

The town of Walla Walla is one of the great wine towns in the Western US. It rivals that of Calistoga, St. Helena, Healdsburg, Sonoma, Paso Robles, and Los Olivos.  A stay in Walla Walla puts you within easy reach of a plethora of tasting rooms and boutique wineries. The pace is slow and easy in the land of Walla Walla.

Here is a novel idea. Main Street Drivers is a company that will drive you in your rental car or your own car for $35 an hour.

Revelry Cellars tasting room and winery
Revelry Cellars tasting room and wine cellars – lovely setting

Walla Walla Valley AVA

Walla Walla Valley AVA is in eastern Washington and extends to the top eastern corner of Oregon. Over 70 wineries and 2800 acres of vineyards are located in the Walla Walla Valley AVA. The wineries are mostly small and family owned. Many are recent and are taking a bold and innovative approach in producing spectacular wines. From the town of Walla Walla, many of the wineries are only a few minutes away by car. If you don’t have a car, walk the tasting rooms in town.

We visited several wineries in the Walla Walla Valley and our top five were:

  • Revelry Vintners – young winemaker Jared Burns crafts fine wines. Aerials label is a collection of site-specific wines. They are spectacular, as is the tasting room.
  • Solemn Cellars – another young winemaker, Justin Basil. The Syrah is one of the best in Washington.
  • Amavi Cellars – beautiful setting and reasonably-priced wines that are excellent.
  • Woodward Canyon Winery – starting date of 1981, delicious Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and red wines.
  • L’Ecole – tasting room is in a historic 1915 schoolhouse. One of Washington’s most award-winning wineries. Third generation.
L'ecole's historic schoolhouse tasting room
L’Ecole beautiful historic schoolhouse tasting room

Walla Walla Tasting Rooms

walla walla tasting rooms
Seven Hills Tasting Room – Historic Whitehouse-Crawford Building

Step out of your hotel room in downtown Walla Walla, Washington, into a world of fabulous wine tasting. Within just a few city blocks, one can find 32 wine-tasting rooms. The Main Street area of downtown Walla Walla is a paradise for wine discoveries and delights. We say 32 plus because when any business storefront closes, a wine-tasting room moves in.

We spent a few days in the town of Walla Walla. We walked out of the Marcus Whitman Hotel to roam the streets, amazed at tasting rooms one after another. All the tasting rooms visited had a reasonable tasting room fee of between $5 and $10. They also offer wines by the glass. The setting is comfortable and laid back.

Don’t miss these three tasting rooms in the town of Walla Walla

  • Otis Kenyon – the legend of Otis Kenyon, wines by the glass, comfortable and relaxing
  • Armstrong Winery – another new breed winemaker, Tim Armstrong – fantastic wines and cozy tasting room. Try this wine: David’s Folly
  • Seven Hills Tasting Room –  in the historic and beautiful Whitehouse-Crawford Building. A classic winery in Walla Walla

Lodging in Walla Walla

  • Marcus Whitman is a historic hotel and the most popular for business and conference meetings
  • Courtyard by Marriott
  • AirBnB’s are available and that might be the way to go for some

Dining in Walla Walla

There are a couple of decent places with pub food but for a classy meal try the Whitehouse-Crawford restaurant. We had an excellent dinner there. Whitehouse-Crawford has an extensive wine list which includes many Washington wines.

The Marcus Whitman also has an excellent restaurant: The Marc Restaurant

How to get to Walla Walla.

Walla Walla has a small airport with daily flights from Seattle and Portland. Fifty minutes west is the Tri-Cities Airport, a much larger airport with more choices. Alaska Airlines has the biggest presence.

There are drivers for hire, Uber, and renting a car. Many take the four-hour drive from Seattle and spend a few days in Walla Walla as well as the Tri-Cities area. We hired an Uber driver to get us back to the Tri-Cities Airport.

Did you miss our article on the Yakima Valley?

walla walla ava and wineries
Winemaker Justin Basil with a barrel sample of Syrah from “The Rocks”
  • Joe Becerra

    Joe Becerra has been traveling to wine country and enjoying wine since 1965. He is a retired educator, and now have the time the opportunity to share his wine travel experiences through this Website.

2 thoughts on “Walla Walla Wineries and Tasting Rooms”

  1. Great post with accurate information. Walla Walla is such an outstanding place for very high quality wines. Prices are not cheap but more than fair when compared to Napa Cabs. I am most impressed with the ripe quality of the fruit without being jammy or over the top alcoholic. Getting there is an issue but if you love intense Cabernet,Syrah & other reds this is worth the time and effort.

  2. Bravo on this post. You must taste to understand the superior quality of this region. The Walla Walla reds are ripe and balanced without excessive alcohol levels. Explore these classic wines and you will find they more than hold their own with their California counterparts. Buy any of the labels listed on this post and you will be rewarded lavishly. K- Vintners- Force Maejure- Rotie and Browne are more labels to try.

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