City Girl, Country Curious
A few years ago, my husband and I traded city lights for wheat fields — and landed in Walla Walla, Washington. He’s a small-town guy from northern Minnesota. I’m a city girl who’s lived in Minneapolis, Seattle, and Austin — with a quick blur of NYC startup chaos thrown in for good measure. He wanted something smaller. I agreed, as long as I could still find great food, great wine, and sidewalks I could actually walk to everything on. But neither of us were sure how it would go.
When we first moved here, it was with our old dog, Kona. On our walks around the neighborhood, people in pickup trucks kept raising a hand as they drove past. After the fifth or sixth wave, I asked, “How do you already know so many people?” He laughed. “That’s just what people do. It’s how you say hi.”
Kona settled in long before we did. He made our front porch his spot and helped this town feel like home.
Kona’s gone now, but these days we’ve got Tucker — a four-year-old rescue with more personality than manners — keeping us company on those same walks. I still don’t have the wave quite down; my city reflexes make me look straight ahead. But I’m learning. Because that’s what Walla Walla does to you. It slows you down. It makes you look up. It makes you see people.
Tucker, who is keeping the “unrefined” part of A Bit Unrefined fully alive.
To me, Walla Walla is like a New York City neighborhood with vineyards instead of bodegas. Everything you need is here — just slower, more intentional, and with a little more fresh air. And people say hi.
I’m not a sommelier. I can’t name every note in a glass. I’m just someone who loves opening a bottle and seeing where the conversation goes. Around here, wine isn’t about prestige — it’s a doorway. To people, to stories, to place.
We met winemakers doing incredible things here, and it hit us: most people outside the region have no idea what they’re missing. A Bit Unrefined is our way of sharing that joy — one story, one bottle at a time. Stay connected to be the first to hear about the people making great wine, great wine and food….and when you could buy the wine to make your own memories.
This is what happens when a city girl finds herself in wine country — and learns that being “a bit unrefined” might just be the best way to live.