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I've spoken to a half-dozen winemaker in the past two days and asked each how the grapes were looking. I heard a lot of long sighs followed by concerns about when - or if - the grapes would ever ripen in the Northwest.
Ste. Michelle Wine Estates’ operating profit rose 30 percent to $14.8 million in the second quarter, according to a securities filing by its Connecticut-based parent company, UST.
Q. What's an appropriate way to take young children wine touring?
A. The Northwest states have taken an approach that recognizes wineries and winemaking are both a tourist attraction and an art worthy of encouraging, says Coke Roth, a Kennewick, Wash., wine enthusiast and attorney whose practice includes a focus on liquor laws. From that, it naturally follows that totally closing out children from winery premises would be closing out vacationing families.
As a result, well-supervised and well-behaved children are accommodated, and in many cases encouraged, at many wineries, which often have park-like grounds and attractions suitable for all ages.
Columbia Crest near Paterson, Wash., for example, has a large park-like grounds, complete with a pond and tables, outside the winery chateau. Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville also has a beautiful setting. Both are great places for a summer picnic.
Preston Premium Wines, north of Pasco, Wash., also has a broad expanse of grass, a fish pond, band stand and antique tractors. And many smaller wineries such as Tucker and Hyatt in the Yakima Valley have at least a grassy area and picnic tables.
Even so, wine touring with a child or children is not something to be undertaken without careful planning. A baby young enough to ride peacefully in a parent's frontpack or backpack is unlikely to pose any problem, so long as the child is not too disturbing other wine tasters. Carrying the baby's basic supplies and food, plus sufficient parental discipline to put the baby's needs first will probably suffice.
Children who are a little older require more extensive planning and research to ensure they can have a good time on the same trip. Call the wineries you plan to visit and ask what is available on their grounds or nearby.
Several towns that have wineries grouped around them have wonderful parks. In Walla Walla, Wash., for example, Pioneer Park is just minutes away from the city's cluster of downtown wineries. The park has a duck pond and lots of grass and shady trees.
In Richland, Pasco and Kennewick, Wash., several parks line the shores of the Columbia River. Boating, fishing, swimming, wading pools, a par-three golf course and a children's "Playground of Dreams" are among the features of the series of parks that cover miles of river shore.
Prosser, Wash., a smallish town in the heart of the Yakima Valley's wine country, has an expansive park delightfully shaded by trees that must be approaching a century old. Not far away in Sunnyside is the Dairygold cheese factory, where visitors are welcome and cheese samples plentiful.
In the Columbia Gorge, Maryhill Museum, the Stonehenge replica, Horse Thief Lake State Park and the world-famous windsurfing area around Hood River, Ore., all are within short drives of that region's wineries.
Many of the wineries of British Columbia are close to Penticton, which offers nearly every form of winter and summer recreation available. In the winter, skiing and snowboarding are nearby. In summer, swimming, fishing, boating and golf.
No matter what activity might suit your child or children, parents will have to trade off or arrange for a sitter or a responsible older sibling to supervise.
Don't put children in a situation they will hate while Mom and Dad sip and swirl.
Q. I enjoy many white wines, including chardonnay, riesling, gewürztraminer and even dry chenin blanc. But I find most reds my friends like best are overwhelming. What can I do to acquire a taste for wines like merlot and cabernet sauvignon?
A. Wine, like many foods, is an acquired taste. Some folks can swallow a raw oyster or escargot the first time and love it from the start. Most of us sort of sneak up on such foods with more than a little caution.
I'd suggest you try the same approach with red wines. Cabernet sauvignon is the boldest of the reds, especially when it's young. Some folks drool at the thought of its tongue-curling tannins, strong oak and tobacco aromas, heady, deep fruit and all the rest.
So, try something different. The Northwest has many lighter reds that offer softer fruit, fewer tannins and gentler aromas. Lemberger, christened "blue franc" by some, would be high on my list of wines to start. The new cabernet francs also tend to be more accessible with more of their fruit showing early and a lighter mouth feel.
Look for reds with a lighter look and you'll generally feel less overwhelmed. Many merlots are made in a lighter style. And most of the lighter ones aren't blackberry-hued. Instead, they'll have a color more like a deep red raspberry.
The French craft their Beaujolais to appeal to this same market. For food matches, try chinook salmon with lemberger and pork with the cab franc or light merlot. And perhaps conclude with a chocolate dessert that's more like milk chocolate than the dark version that's better suited to cabernet.
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