Sean,
You make some good points. Too many people don’t know about Washington wines at all. However, my motivation for writing this post was the lack of knowledge about Washington wines from knowledgeable wine people. I have gotten tired of hearing fellow wine bloggers refer to the West Coast wine scene as California, Oregon, and Walla Walla. Again, I love Walla Walla as much as the next person, but I want people to know that there is a lot of great wine to be had all across the state of Washington.

mrzitro,
I’m so thankful that Gary V has turned you on to Washington wines.

Maureen,
Thanks for the clarification.

Catie,
Thanks so much for your thoughtful comments. You are such a great champion of Walla Walla wines. I am very excited that WBC 2010 is being held in Walla Walla. It is a great place to showcase what Washington has to offer. And I certainly hope that as you suggest, once people visit Walla Walla, they’ll want to explore the rest of the state as well. The biggest drawback from Walla Walla is the driving distance from Seattle, the state’s largest city and largest tourist destination. That’s one reason I’m so glad to see more and more wineries, even Walla Walla wineries, open up tasting rooms in Woodinville. While I know it’s not the same as actually visiting Walla Walla, realistically that’s as far as some tourists are going to go.

Again, thank you all for your comments. Cheers!

However, as the second largest wine producing state in the nation, it means we have to try harder. As Washington wine lovers we take these beautiful wines for granted, but not everybody realizes the impact we are making in the wine industry. As you remember, it was even tough to get the Wine Bloggers Conference into Washington State. And certainly, Woodinville was a reasonable contender, but if you are “showing off” your wine industry to the majority of people who live, work and write about the spectacular wine industry and beautiful areas of Napa and Sonoma, you better be on the top of your game – and obviously, Walla Walla has the largest wow-factor that no other region in Washington State. And believe it or not, in my personal wine collection, I drink more than just the wines from Walla Walla. And with that said -

It isn’t to diminish the rest of Washington. One of the biggest highlights of my wine writing was the opportunity to stand at the bottom tier of the Wallula Vineyard overlooking the Columbia River in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA. Being at top of the Klipsun Vineyard and actually seeing for myself what makes the mountain red at Red Mountain was a highlight. It was fascinating to discover the unique terroirs of our Washington AVAs and later taste the wines. Overall, Washington State has some of the most breathtaking views from vineyards I have ever seen. I feel that Washington State can boast the overall quality of their wines, something IMHO that California cannot do.

First of all and most important, we need to get people to Washington State to taste our wines and Walla Walla is a good place to start. It is self-contained, has the most wineries in the area and once in Walla Walla, it is less than a 15 minute drive to any of the wineries and vineyards. Many of the tasting rooms and restaurants are walking distance from the nearest accomodations.

Yeah, call me protective and a bit cautious about your headline, but once we get the wine lover to Walla Walla, there isn’t a doubt in my mind they will want to explore the rest of the Washington State wine industry.

Thanks Kori. Off of my soapbox now.