Pacific NW - A Day in Prosser
Having been to Rattlesnake Hills and the upper Yakima valley, I wasn't expecting much different when I arrived in the tiny town of Prosser, located about 25 miles past my normal wine stomping grounds. Boy was I in for a surprise.
Geographically, Prosser is located much further towards the southern end of the valley compared with Rattlesnake Hills, and our first stop at Kestrel Vineyards made that very apparent. With an extremely friendly staff and an endless supply of wine, Kestrel showcased their selections, and by showcased, I mean just kept pouring and pouring and pouring. I am pretty sure that I turned down the last 5 glasses but am equally as sure that there were 6 that went down before that. I had received a Kestrel Platinum 1st edition for my wedding, so I was equally impressed with the 4th edition.
After a quick lunch in the part, the next stop was Hogue just down the street. I've had many Hogues over the past few years, but they had a great selection of wines that I had not yet seen including their Terrior series. Again, very generous pours left me a little dizzy, but I pressed on.
Olsen Estates. Brand new place, very nice tasting room, but the service left something missing, and the wines were sub-par compared to what I had been sipping at the first 2 stops. We couldn't taste much though, after their complimentary brownie laced with cayenne pepper blazed its ways through my mouth. Its the first time I put a Syrah in my mouth and tasted nothing but liquid. Two thumbs down for extremely spicy food at the tasting room.
The final stop in Prosser landed us at Airfield Estates, a longtime grape grower turned wine-maker. Airfield was a welcome change from the prior stops, with correct size wine pourings, quality wines, and the friendliest staff in Prosser.
We then made our way north to the Gorge Ampitheatre in George, WA for a night with Coldplay that was pretty near unforgetable.
Takeaways from the day:
- Prosser's red wines were pretty weak compared to the wines a bit up the valley
- Prosser's whites were as impressive as I have had in Washington
- Prosser must be French for "large pours", because they pour big!
- Prosser is worth the trip!
