Are you up to your neck in preparations and driving your guy crazy with details? Where is the love? Hit the road for a little relaxing couple time with the benefit of covertly knocking something off your to-do list. Incorporating local suppliers is not only great for the local economy and environment, it also showcases the region to out-of-town guests. If you’re getting married on the west coast and especially in Washington state, selecting local wine for your wedding is the way to go.
As with all other aspects of wedding planning it’s easy to spend money on wine. My advice is to pick your budget and stick with it. Purchasing wine in bulk will also bring the cost down. Find out in advance if your reception space or caterer has a corkage fee. If you can negotiate with them to allow you to choose and purchase the wine, you’ll be ahead of the g
ame. One final tip: When it comes to wine tasting, you like what you like, don’t worry about the “tasting notes” or what you should like. Here are my recommendations:
L’Ecole No 41 is on Highway12 west of Walla Walla in the town of Lowden. It’s hard to miss the former schoolhouse with its distinctive architecture. I’d been curious about the label for a while (a watercolor by a Ryan, grade 3 I discovered), and decided to check them out. The 2007 Columbia Valley Semillon is dry and refreshing and would be a perfect wine for your cocktail hour with cheeses and seafood. At $15 a bottle it’s a great value. You’re sure to find a deal on wine.com and other places if you shop around. L’Ecole No 41 has a giant tasting list and a wide range of wines. Surprisingly, I didn’t like any of the others as much as the Semillon, with the exception of the 2006 Pepper Bridge Vineyard Apogee, but at $49 a bottle it’s hardly a steal.
Continuing on into the town of Walla Walla be sure to check out Forgeron Cellars where Maria-Eve Gilla creates masterpieces. Any bottle you find there is sure to be a hit on your big day. It’s difficult to choose a favorite but for price and uniqueness, I recommend the Walldeaux Smithie. Forgeron calls it “bold and juicy with firm structure.” It’s a fun, original and fantastic wine sure to delight. At $16 a bottle it’s easily half the price they could charge. Forgeron’s 2006 Chardonnay ($25), 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon ($30), and 2001 or 2005 Zinfandel ($30-$40) are all excellent.
For romance and really good wine tasting, but not necessarily wine purchasing on a wedding budget be sure to visit scenic Pepper Bridge Winery. As an estate winery, it sets out to make ultra-premium wines. At $55-$110 a bottle it might be best to get one for yourselves to toast with on your first anniversary. The wines are swanky, plumy, smooth and sophisticated. The mineral of the estate stamps its mark and the winemaker has highly entertaining descriptions of his wines including “pencil lead” and “pain grille” which makes for a fun wild goose hunt, attempting to track them down on your palate. If you do splurge, I loved the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon $55.
Taking a break from the wineries, be sure to check out Walla Walla. It has a classic main street, (which happened to win the 2001 Great American Main Street Award, lest you think I’m exaggerating.) For old school breakfast, follow the Sunday church-goers to Popular Donuts (706 W Alder St) and enjoy a light and fluffy donut with a coffee for prices you haven’t seen since you were too short to see over the counter. Top off the evening with an ice cream shake from the stuck-in-time Ice-Burg (616 W Birch St), just steer clear of the food. As for dinner, I can’t vouch for Brasserie Four (4 E. Main Street) but it definitely had vibes.
Other Budget Options
Heading north of downtown Walla Walla you’ll find the Airport Wineries. It’s just as it sounds, a bunch of wineries by the airport. It’s a really unique setting that I loved seeing, especially the old military barracks. There you’ll find small wineries just starting out among more well-known names like Dunham Cellars. Be sure to stop by the incubator on Piper Ave. It’s a complex funded in part by the state to help fledgling winemakers. There are five buildings with five different wineries that have 6 years to “make it” before moving on to create a winery elsewhere.
On your way out of Walla Walla, if you still haven’t found that budget wine you were looking for stop by Columbia-Crest (Hwy 221, Columbia Crest Drive, Paterson, WA). Their Grand Estates ($10-$12) line is always dependable as is their Two Vines($6-$8). I particularly recommend the Merlot. If you purchase the wines you like there, they’ll arrange to have them shipped free of charge to their local office in Woodinville closer to the time of your wedding.
Here’s a toast to a fun trip and tasty wine!
I saw this done at a wedding I went to recently and absolutely loved the concept. The event was actually the rehearsal dinner and the theme was country chic with a pig roast. The tables were covered with checkered tablecloths and had potted flowers for centerpieces. It was beautifully put together. My favorite part, however, was the napkin rings! The groom’s mother took shower curtain rings and wrapped them with raffia ribbon, tied a simple bow and attached a fake flower in a lighter shade of blue than the tablecloth and napkin. 
It appears that supermarkets are catching on to the trend of thrifty brides purchasing more things for their weddings at supermarkets. They’ve long sold cakes etc, but now are attempting to make a do-it-yourself wedding a little simpler. I played around with Safeway’s “budgeting tool” and found it very intuitive to use. On their 
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