FE. Guess what great country that second flag represents?

RN: We enjoyed wine tasting at two wineries today: Amavi and Pepper Bridge. Amavi was personable and fun, thanks to the two very knowledgeable women who told us about the wines we tried.  We also enjoyed lunch with a fine plate of charcuterie.  End result: we bought 6 bottles of wine, two each of our favorites to share with our friends along the way on our trip.

As we approached Pepper Bridge, we noted that the road to the winery was named Basel Rd- hmmm- Felix was born and raised in Basel, Switzerland.  Then, when we arrived at the winery, we saw the Swiss flag waving in the breeze below the US flag. Hmmm- Felix is now even more intrigued.

We check in for our wine tasting and our tour, and before we finish our first taste, Norm McKibben arrives to show us around.  We are honored because Norm is an icon of Walla².  He is one of the founders of this great wine-growing region.  When he retired in 1985 from his engineering job, he decided to pick up a new hobby- growing wine grapes, and he came to this region because of its sandy soil and warm, dry climate- a bit like Bordeaux.  When he arrived, only about 40 acres of land was used for wine, now, thanks to his success, over 2800 acres are occupied by high quality vineyards.

Apparently, Norm is called “Stormin’ Norman” and his energy and enthusiasm certainly match.  He regaled us in personal stories and told us how he recruited a master wine-maker, Jean-Francois Pellet, from Napa to make Bordeaux-style red wines.  Jean-Francois is the reason the Swiss flag flies on the pole because he is from the French region of Switzerland.  And Basel has no significance except the person who named the road was named “Basel” – pronounced basil.

FE: And here is Norm introducing us to his domain. We two have him to ourselves for the walkthrough…what a pleasure

RN: Before he talks about fermentation, Norm shows us his optical grape sorter. As the grapes roll along a vibrating conveyer belt, the machine shines a band of light on them and a computer detects each grape and uses a precise blast of air to reject unripe or spoiled ones. Wow!!

FE: Everything, the tank, hoses and all machinery are absolutely spotless…a must in the production of great wines

Pepper Bridge is a gravity flow winery, meaning that no pumps are used to push the precious juices around, it is a milder and more traditional approach to making wine. Pepper Bridge was the first gravity flow facility in the Walla Walla area, and now others are following suit.

Norm takes us to the inner sanctum of the operation, the library room, where bottles from every wine ever produced here are stored. The room lies about 25 feet below ground, is temperature controlled and well locked! We are so awed that we forget to take a picture. We also walk through the fermentation and aging rooms, where wines from individual plots mature in carefully selected barrels before they are blended into the final product. Below you see Norm standing in front of a mural depicting his partners and the process. One thing that impresses me about him is how much credit he gives to the talent, knowledge and dedication of his partners and workers.

And here he is as a wine-savoring bronze!

But, the proof is in the bottle……we experience some of the best wines we had on our trip. It is not reasonable to transport home such great stuff for a month during our road trip…so the easy solution is that I join the wine club….my Cape-friends, you are in for a treat

and a last look at the vines producing all the heavenly wine