What a year it has been in Walla Walla! From our first blog piece mid-January, announcing the closure of five restaurants, most significantly the demise of 26brix, to the year-end news that Merchant’s Deli has been sold to T. Maccarone’s team of Tommy and Jake, it has been a year of regrouping and retooling.  Another change is that now you will have to pay to read U-B content.

Overall, it was a year where everyone worked a bit harder to sell wine, cheese and hotel rooms; more bottles than cases as some wineries shared with us.

And while wineries and consumers did not spend as freely as they may have in the past, the visitors still came to Walla Walla giving a weekend boom for lodging properties and putting the pressure on the remaining restaurants.

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By Guest Blogger: Catie McIntyre Walker

We are all familiar with the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” It’s a melodic and repetitious rhyme with a list of strange gifts.  I mean like if you live in the city, where are you going to put all of those birds, let alone house and feed all of those lords, maids, dancers, pipers and drummers in today’s economy? At least the price of gold has gone up so you can sell the five gold rings to take care of everybody for a while.

However, in the interest of Walla Walla Valley wines, I found an easier way to gift your favorite wine lover during the Twelve Days of Christmas.  And in the interest of time and space, I have listed just the full twelve days of the gifts.   But of course, you are welcome to start the song from the first day of Christmas in honor of traditions: lather, rinse, repeat and sing the carol’s tune.

“On the first day of Christmas, my wine-o friends sent to me: A Leonetti in a grape field. On the second day of Christmas…”

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As it is impossible to visit every Walla Walla winery this Holiday Barrel, at WWWN .com we have surveyed the offerings and compiled our ‘must-see’ list. There are many, fine wineries in our valley, so this is only a short-list. If we have missed your favorite winery or your favorite story, let us know!

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