Canoe Ridge Vineyard is located in one of Walla Walla’s historic buildings, their Walla Walla Traction Company engine house.  The winery name stems from when Walla Walla was first discovered, by the famed Lewis and Clark expedition.  When the exploreres approached the Walla Walla Valley from the east, they realized that it appeared like an inverted canoe.

Opened in 1994, Canoe Ridge Vineyard is one of the first wineries in Walla Walla’s western to focus exclusively on grapes from the Horse Haven Hills.  Production centers around Chardonnay, Merlot and of course, Cabernet Sauvignon.

Highly acclaimed for close to a decade now, Canoe Ridge Vineyard is a nice fit in any of our 90 point wine clubs.  They make both Estate and Reserve versions of the red wines, with the reserve being a bit counterintuitive, as they’re priced at about $20, while the estate bottlings sit in the mid $40 range.

Canoe Ridge Vineyard also crafts an interesting range of wines outside of their 3 focus varietals that includes Tempranillo & Malbec as well.  I think that is reminiscient of Walla Walla in general, there’s still room to experiment with grape varieties and winemaking types.