Oftentimes when you visit a smaller wine region, you’re hard pressed to find wine from anywhere outside of said region. And that’s totally understandable — they want to highlight the wines of their area. However, after a day of sipping delicate Pinots in the Willamette Valley – you may want a big, bolder Cabernet with your steak dinner. After hours of tasting 14+% abv wines from Santa Barbera, a lighter & crisper Riesling from the Mosel might sound good. Or, if you’re in the Champagne region, you . . . well, never mind. If you’re in Champagne, you likely don’t want anything else!
So when Hubs and I were in my beloved Washington state last week, as much as I love Walla Walla wines, we were thrilled to see a recently opened bottle shop that sold wine and beer from outside the Walla Walla region. I’m talking waaaay outside the region . . .
Taking over a large 4,000 square foot space on Main Street, The Thief Fine Wine and Beer officially opened on May 4, 2018. (“May the 4th be with you”? I don’t know if there was any Star Wars connection to their opening date, but I do know one of the owners is a serious Harry Potter fan as he was sporting the trademark mustard and burgundy striped scarf when I met him.)
Lining the store’s back wall is an impressive selection of local Walla Walla wines (priced the same as what you’ll find in the wineries themselves) as well as beer and cider from around the globe. And in the center of the room . . . truly, a wine geek’s paradise. Pinot Noir from Valleé d’Aoste, Zweigelt Rosé from Niederösterreich, and a Sassicaia from Bolgheri (I spied this bottle one day, the next – it was gone). Having worked in a wine retail store, I can attest to the fact that The Thief’s prices are incredibly reasonable and there is a bottle for every budget.
Besides a fabulous selection of wine, The Thief also carries – and I’m quoting Hubs here directly – “an absolutely kick ass beer selection.” It was clear to him that the beer was on par with the wine and was similarly from all over the globe. Of the new owners, clearly one of them has a penchant for top shelf beer.
In addition to taking a bottle home with you (or popping it open on premise for a nominal corkage fee), The Thief also has several glass pours available. On our visits (true confessions: we went there 3 times – but we can explain!), these offerings included an Alsatian Sylvaner and a Canaiolo Rosé from Tuscany. Now, I’ve been in my fair share of wine bars and stores (another true confession), but I have never seen these wines offered by the glass. I love an adventurous by the glass program – it’s a perfect way to introduce people to some lesser known grapes and regions!
Their handwritten tasting notes are some of the best I’ve seen. And nary a critic’s score in sight – which also gets a huge thumbs up from me. But if you need a recommendation – look no further than The Thief’s knowledgeable and friendly staff.
On our first visit, we met “Curly Matt”. Not to be confused with “Non-curly Matt” (or another employee named Matt whom we didn’t meet). We also chatted with two of the owners, Emily Riley and Kyle Pottroff when they hosted a lunch for some of the Wine Bloggers Conference attendees. And they did not scrimp on the wines they served that afternoon – starting us off with a Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc!
Since opening, The Thief has had several wine tasting events ranging from Bubbles Galore (aka Everything BUT Champagne!), to Rosés to Tour of Tuscany. Future plans include a wine club, temperature controlled storage lockers for members and a myriad of wine related events – including wine classes. In fact, my favorite wine instructor – the fabulous Reggie Daigneault – will be doing a seminar on Bordeaux at the Thief later this month!
We don’t get to Walla Walla as frequently as we used to, but Hubs and I will definitely be visiting The Thief next time we’re in town. Oh yeah, and as a follow up to my previous post with Hubs – WE FINALLY FOUND THE ROSÉS!!
Our first stop was to check in on progress of the winery’s future production facility and tasting room in Milton-Freewater – both of which will (hopefully!) be operational by mid-March, 2019. After this, we piled into several SUVs for a jaunt outside of town and up about 2,000 feet to see the site of Force Majeure’s future estate vineyard. Located in an area referred to as the “North Fork” – geologist, Washington wine champion and AVA aficionado Dr. Kevin Pogue described this area as a “sweet spot” because it checked so many of the right boxes for vineyard site selection: elevation, rain levels, soils and aspect (more detail on this in an upcoming post!) Plus, while I don’t believe this is a factor usually considered when deciding vineyard site, it’s absolutely fucking gorgeous.
My apologies to Drew Bledsoe – I just haven’t been to Doubleback yet – but I promise I will on this trip. Honestly, there are so many amazing wineries in the Walla Walla Region that you simply can’t go wrong. Oh yeah, 
immediately outside of the main conference hall. Don’t be fooled – no need to stand in line for ten minutes for the privilege of sharing the facilities with 200 of your closest friends. These conference halls (either in a hotel or a dedicated facility) are labyrinths that are designed to host multiple conferences at the same time. So just walk the hallway toward one of the other large conference rooms that isn’t currently in use and there you will find your very own restroom (just don’t tell anyone where it’s located). (Editor’s Note: spouses are exceptions to this “don’t tell anyone” rule).
Be a good conference neighbor. This should be self explanatory, but as with most things in life that fall into that category, it unfortunately is not. Generally clean up your area, if you get a phone call take it outside (we get it, you’re a very busy and important person who owns a cell phone and we are all duly impressed with your station in life), don’t eat a bag and a half of Doritos so loud that we can’t hear the speaker, etc. You know what, this goes beyond conference etiquette – just generally follow these simple rules in life. (Editor’s Note: another wine blogging conference specific: mind the spit buckets! Don’t go jostling the table too much or slamming your chair into the table behind you and putting your fellow conference goers at risk for dump bucket spillage. Nobody wants to be Miles.)
Rule #4: I can’t swear too much. Late entry inserted after she read Rule #3 above. Kindly disregard – won’t happen again (it totally will).
Outwines 