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…”

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
My wine-o friends sent to me
Twelve Geoff Tate’s Insania a-humming,
Eleven North Stars a-shining,
Ten Long Shadows a-leaping,
Nine Nina Lees a-dancing,
Eight Calico Cats a-napping,
Seven Buty’s and a Beast,
Six Flying Trouts,
Five Star Cellars
Four-Legged Dogs
Three Waldeaux Smithies
Two Sleight of Hands
And a Leonetti in a grape field!

Catie McIntyre Walker is the original Walla Walla wine blogger at Walla Walla Grape Vine. After eight years of cleaning spit buckets and pouring for the masses in local tasting rooms, Catie hung up her cork screw to pursue her writing and open her online wine store, Walla Walla Wine Woman. Catie also writes a wine column for Walla Walla Union Bulletin’s magazine, “Lifestyles”, blogs for Tourism Walla Walla and is a contributor to Palate Press and Washington Tasting Room magazines.