2015 Western Trip – Days 24 – Yakima

For this warm Sunday, we decided to leave the pups in the coach and head off to further explore Yakima (yak a maw – all short a’s) beginning with the farmers market.  It wasn’t a huge market but it had a little of most of the things normally found at a FM.

Bev & Pat bought some baked goods, artisan cheese, ground beffalo from the Zagelow Beefalo Ranch, and tomatoes – the bread and tomatoes were turned into delicious sandwiches for supper.

Most of the land in the Yakima is growing fruit or grapes and some of the apples are on a trellis much like the grapes.  

We visited three wineries beginning with the Bonair Winery where our tasting room pourer was also the owner so we got a lot of info about their 30 year history.  We enjoyed and bought a few of their wines.

Then we went to Silver Lake Winery, which was pretty upscale, but we didn’t care for their wines and only bought a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, but they were cooking up some delicious rings from Walla Walla onions on their patio with a fine view – except for the smoke which was now back.

Lastly we stopped at Paradisos del Sol and I was a little reluctant as it looked like an eclectic collection of stuff surrounding an overgrown house but Bev insisted – they even had chickens roaming the yard - but I loved the outdoor kitchen constructed of cement and wine bottles.
  

Boy was I wrong as owner, winemaker, and tasting room pourer Paul Vandenberg was very knowledgeable and entertaining and we ended up buying a whole case of his wines which were all blends but one – like you would usually find in Europe.  He also serves a small taste of food to pair with each wine.

Note his wine tasting protocol - "sip" to clear out the last wine, "sip" to taste the new wine, "bite" the food, "sip" to see how the wine goes with the food.

They also grow and sell delicious melons which we are still enjoying several days later.  This was the highlight of the day and proof again that you can't judge a book by it's cover.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

8/16/15 event date