In the state’s southeast corner, plowshares have been turned into ... whatever it takes to tend grapevines. All around this college town at the base of the Blue Mountains, wheat is giving way to wine as we speak. And downtown, more than a dozen tasting rooms have made Walla Walla just about the best wine destination in the country. Innovative restaurants like Grapefields (above), the Whitehouse-Crawford, and 26° Brix offer grand food to sip that concentrated Cab and Syrah with.

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