Harvey Steiman is the Senior Editor for Wine Spectator Magazine, this is taken from his blog.

Wenatchee? Wow!

Posted: 12:03 PM ET, March 26, 2008

If it were not for the big, wide Columbia River running through eastern Washington, where virtually all of the wine grapes grow, it would be a desert. But the Columbia and its tributaries, mainly the Yakima and Snake rivers, provide enough water for booming agriculture. Set Google Maps for satellite view and look at eastern Washington sometime. It's a mostly parched landscape, punctuated by wide swathes of green vineyards, apple and cherry orchards, and, way out there, a few wheat fields.

That's what I've come to expect when I go out to eastern Washington to visit wineries and vineyards, whether I drive out through the Cascades and Yakima Valley, or fly out to Walla Walla. So imagine my surprise when I drove into Wenatchee to visit a couple of small wineries that had shown up recently on my tasting radar, and found something like the Rocky Mountains.

On the map, Wenatchee looks like another town on the Columbia as it winds its way down from Canada. In real life, it's like being in the Alps. Massive peaks rise on all sides, creating spectacular scenery. The two wineries I visited, Fielding Hills and Saint Laurent, boast stunning views from their high vantage points, looking across a picturesque valley. This is more like the Washington you might imagine from Seattle, sipping a latte and staring at the Cascades as they pierce the horizon. Those mountains look like they could go on forever. Wenatchee, in fact, nestles in them on the eastern side before they tumble down to those sagebrush-dotted plains.

Of the two wineries I visited, Saint Laurent has the more finished look. The owners, Michael and Laura Mrachek, built their tasting room in the old farmhouse next to their original orchard, across the river from East Wenatchee. The house, built in 1918 from a Sears & Roebuck kit, clings to the side of a steep hillside and has a charming garden and gazebo.

But the Mracheks' vineyards, and most of their fruit orchards, are more than an hour's drive away, on Wahluke Slope, near Mattawa. While most of the wineries make bold, ripe wines from Wahluke grapes, they favor a remarkably delicate, refined style. They made their first wines in 2003, and have been aiming for lighter, more ethereal stuff more recently.

Fielding Hills, on the other hand, operates out of an old orchard shed at the back of Mike and Karen Wade's apple trees in East Wenatchee. I've really liked what Fielding Hills has bottled so far, using grapes from a vineyard planted in the midst of their own orchards in Wahluke Slope. The wines are supple, silky, polished and rich in flavor.

The Wades would like to build a nice tasting room down by the road, which is on the edge of town. But they're having trouble getting permits. The town wants to see traffic studies, among other demands that would be costly, especially for a winery that sells its 2,000-case production to a mailing list. The Wades are wondering if the red tape is worth it.

That's too bad. With more than 500 wineries and counting, wine has become an important and visible business in Washington. Wenatchee, with its scenery, would be a great stop for interested consumers. I can only hope the Wades can find a happy solution that leads to a new winery and tasting room. It would only add to Wenatchee's luster.