Walla Walla wine country vineyards
— — the long light coming off the wheat hills.
Not only on a wall.
“The Walla Walla Valley sits where the Blue Mountains step down toward the Columbia. Vineyards run along old wheat ground, the rows bending with the contour. The valley is hot in August and the nights drop fast. Late afternoon, the light comes in low and the basalt soils hold the heat. The reds — cabernet, syrah, merlot — finish here later than on the river. from the studio
Walla Walla wine country vineyards, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
The Walla Walla Valley American Viticultural Area was established in 1984 and straddles the Washington–Oregon line in the southeast corner of Washington, anchored by the town of Walla Walla. The AVA covers roughly 300,000 acres at elevations from about 400 to 2,000 feet, bounded by the Blue Mountains to the east and the Columbia River basin to the west. More than 130 wineries operate inside the AVA. The valley is best known for cabernet sauvignon, syrah, and merlot grown on basalt-derived loess and gravel soils.
The growing season runs roughly mid-April through October, with bud break in April and harvest stretching from late August into mid-October. Summer days regularly reach 90°F and nights drop into the 50s — a diurnal swing that holds acidity in the fruit while the heat finishes the tannins. The Blue Mountains catch winter snow that feeds Mill Creek and the Walla Walla River through spring. The wheat hills around the vineyards turn from green to gold by July and back to bare ground after harvest.
Walla Walla town sits at the center of the AVA, about a four-hour drive southeast from Seattle or an hour from the Tri-Cities airport. Tasting rooms cluster in four districts: downtown around Main Street, the airport's repurposed hangars, the west side along Old Highway 12, and the south side toward the Oregon line. Most wineries open by appointment; weekend Release events in spring and fall draw the largest crowds. Whitman College anchors the town, and Whitman Mission National Historic Site sits seven miles west.