Newsletter
Washington State Wine Traveler - September, 2011
Celebrate the 2011 Harvest!
Like autumn leaves changing color - and a sure sign of the shortening days of summer – veraison is taking place all across Washington wine country. This is the time when grapes change from green to yellow or red, signaling that harvest is not far off. And Yakima Valley is the perfect place to Catch the Crush!
Catch the Crush!
This year marks the 25th Annual Catch the Crush weekend in Yakima Valley. For this weekend - September 24th and 25th - each winery offers its own unique events, including live music, barbeques, and various harvest and crush activities.
Visitors to Knight Hill Winery will have a chance to participate in a variety of harvest-related activities, from punching down fermenting grapes to feeding the crusher/destemmer. It all depends on what’s going on at the winery – and more importantly Mother Nature.
Taptiel Winery on Red Mountain will give people the opportunity to foot-stomp grapes in a barrel complete with optional vine crowns! Southard Winery will have a crushpad barbeque and will be pouring a vertical of its Whipping Boy Cabernet Sauvignon. Meanwhile Steppe Cellars will let people taste samples of fermenting juice paired with tarts from a wood-fired oven.
Numerous other events are taking place at wineries throughout Washington’s oldest grape growing region. Read what others have in store this harvest at the Yakima Wine Association’s website.
Washington wine country awaits you!
How To Get There
By plane
The Tri-Cities Regional Airport offers easy access to the area from many western regional cities.
By car
The city of Yakima is a two and a half hour drive from Seattle (140 miles); three and a half hours from Portland (185 miles); and three and a half hours from Spokane (200 miles).
Interstate 82, which runs east to west, is the main access to the valley. Wineries are stretched across a sixty-mile stretch of the valley from slightly northwest of Yakima to the southeast.
From the North West: Take I-90 East to I-82 East.
From the South West: Take I-84/US-30 to east to exit 104. Take US-97 North toward Yakima. Merge onto I-82 West/US-97 North.
From the North East: Take I-90 West to exit 110. Take I-82 East/US-97 South toward Yakima.
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