Buona Notte in Cascade Locks. Oregon, my husband and I found winemaker Graham Markel’s pét-nat zippy and the appetizer table piled high with melon and prosciutto. Salad, grilled potatoes and salsa verde with roast pork were served on candlelit tables decorated with wildflowers. We were celebrating the seven local grape growers who supply Markel with grapes for his Italian-style wine. He is among a small group of young winemakers. Son of ManMarkel is putting their wild-fermented Basque style brews on the same floor as, who makes their wild-fermented Basque brews. Columbia Gorge On the wine map. The renegade group may not have the award-winning Pinot Noirs and slick tasting room of Oregon’s more-known Willamette ValleyBut they make it up with their zeal and love for the land where they work.
The Columbia Gorge is only a 20-year-old American Viticultural Area, but people have been cultivating grapes in this area since 1840. Columbia River is a river that was created by ancient volcanoes. It also has glacial floods. British Columbia The last 309 miles, or 1,243 miles, of the river’s length divides Oregon from Washington. The Gorge is a river canyon with dramatic basalt cliffs and waterfalls. It covers 80 miles of this borderland. Pacific Northwest. The town of Hood River on the Oregon side was famous for its windsurfing, and more recently its craft breweries. However, we decided to stay in White Salmon Washington because it is closer to new wineries, restaurants, and other attractions. This town, perched high up on a hill, has a beautiful wine bar, the best bakery of the Gorge and a stunning view of Mount Hood.
The cabins were a far cry from the rustic accommodations I had previously experienced. Society Hotel Glamping tents can be found at Skamania Lodge), we stayed this time in the cedarwood-and-corten-steel environs of the new Iconica Recently updated Inn of the White Salmon. We woke up early most days and hiked the trails. The timing of our trip coincided with the wildflower blooming season. We were pleasantly surprised to find the Catherine Creek loop awash in purple lupines. After every hike, we made it a point to visit White Salmon Baking Co. You can reward yourself with a blueberry polenta or mushroom scramble.
White Salmon, with only 2,600 residents, has a restaurant district that is worthy of a town much larger. We had excellent carnitas tacos at Pixán Taqueria & CantinaPerfectly cooked steak with crispy potatos at Henri’sThe tasting room offers a burrata with mint pesto. Soča Wine Shop & Bar. Much credit for the town’s thriving food scene goes to California-native Nina Jimenez and Slovenia-born Jure Poberaj, an entrepreneurial couple who opened White Salmon Baking Co. and Soča before selling both to focus on their winery, Poberaj Wines. One afternoon I drove to the hills above White Salmon, where they lived. After Poberaj, the nephew of natural winemaking pioneer Joško Gravner, led me past the clay amphora he’d just buried in the ground, we tasted wines directly from the barrel.
Malia Myers and Melaney Schmid founded Landmass Wines. “We are serious about having fun,” they said. She and Schmidt laughed as they showed me the winery in Cascade Locks, which will open in 2023. Wine tanks have been named after female characters on television. Mean GirlsOksana (from Killing Eve). The couple started their business using Instagram and delivered food to homes during the pandemic.
