The trip through Yakima Valley from Coeur d’Alene to Prosser, WA was short, and the landscape was relatively boring compared to the spectacular sights that greeted us on our other drives. As we approached Prosser we started to see vineyards, and a few minutes later we arrived at our friend Jason’s vineyard, Domanico Cellars. We’ve visited his tasting room in Ballard (Seattle) several times, and we featured his wine exclusively at one of our Soup Parties.

Seeing the vineyard and getting a tour by the winemaker himself was a wonderful experience! The vineyard’s grapes include more varietals than I can remember, from Chardonnay to Riesling, Lemberger to Syrah, and everything in between. Jason regaled us with stories of how he and his wife Jill transformed their beautiful venue, producing 2000 cases of wine per year. He has a great sense of humor, making light of what had to be some not-so-fun times. Mike and I worked with Jason during our years at AT&T Wireless, and we had fun exchanging stories of our collective IT experiences during the last 10+ years.

We had dinner at a wonderful restaurant, Wine O’Clock, with Jason and his adorable daughter Anna (she handed her wine glass to the waitress, saying, “I won’t be needing this”). Mike and I haven’t been drinking wine for the past 4 months, part of our fitness program. However, we did indulge just a little as we sampled a few flights of red wine from Bunnell Family Cellar: “Games of Rhones” and “Surfeit of Syrah”. If you happen to be passing through Prosser, we highly recommend stopping at Wine O’Clock (but make reservations ~ this place was packed).

We drove just a short 15 minutes to our last stop on this adventure, the Cozy Rose Inn, in Grandview. I’m so glad that we decided to stay here! We booked a suite called the “Secret Garden”. You walk through a few archways and down a garden path to get to the most darling suite: a 4-poster bed, and a steam sauna! And they deliver breakfast to your room in the morning. Whenever we start wine tasting again we’ll explore the Prosser wine region, and we’ll definitely stay here!

Our trip home to Camano Island includes a few stops: Janiuk Winery in Woodinville, Pike Place Market, and lunch in Seattle. Then to our own Shangri-La.