Cayuse Weekend in Walla Walla

This past April, our wine loving group made the trek from Portland out to Walla Walla for "Cayuse Weekend". We went last year also, but one (large) difference this year was the fact that yours truly finally made it onto the Cayuse Vineyards mailing list, after a 7 year (!!!) wait. This means I get to buy wine from the winery, and get to attend release weekend tastings. I didn't get to pick up any wine this year, as the 2012's were still in barrel, but next year I'll get my first allocation: 1 3-pack of 2012 En Cerise Vineyard Syrah. YES!!!

Note: If you haven't signed up for the Cayuse Wait List, I would HIGHLY recommend that you do, as well as Baron's second label, No Girls Wines. 

Back to the weekend! We hit Cayuse on Friday, after a quick lunch at The Worm Ranch, and a palate-cleansing tasting at Basel Cellars. In addtion to meeting founder/owner/winemaker Christophe Baron, who was extremely nice and quite fun to chat with, we tasted through barrel samples of the 2012 lineup, paired with some delicious hors d'oeuvres. Here are the wines:

• 2011 God Only Knows Grenache
• 2012 Camaspelo (84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot)
• 2012 Cailloux Vineyard Syrah
• 2012 En Chamberlin Vineyard Syrah
• 2012 En Cerise Vineyard Syrah
• 2012 Bionic Frog Syrah
• 2011 Armada Vineyard Syrah
• 2012 Impulsivo Tempranillo

All were amazing and, although very, very young, drinking quite well. I'm quite sure they had been decanted for some time. The Impulsivo was locked up pretty tightly, and several 2011 wines were included due to the un-readiness of their 2012 versions. 

The snacks served all came from estate-raised livestock. Here's the list:

• Cucumber with Olive Tapenade
• Slow-Roasted Lamb on Chickpea Crisp
• Rosemary & Thyme Lamb Meatball with Arrabiatta Sauce
• Chevre and Thyme Gougeres
• Country Pate and Cherry Gastrique

All were delicious, although I avoided the pate/cherry thing (I don't like either ingredient), with my favorite being the lamb meatballs. So good with the wines! 

Other wineries we visited over the weekend were Sleight of Hand Cellars (epic Grenache party Friday night), El Corazon (epic "Pants Optional" party Saturday night), Rasa Vineyards (epic wines, ALWAYS), Mark Ryan Winery (epic carnitas tacos), Charles Smith/K Vintners, Reynvaan Vineyards, and Cadaretta Winery. A great weekend, tasty dinner at T. Maccarones, extremely fun and laid back. We missed a lot of wineries this trip, but made up for it with the higher amount of fun. If you haven't visited Walla Walla, I really think you need to plan it! 

Walla Walla Invades The Willamette Valley

On Saturday, February 19, friends and I ventured south to McMinnville for an epic tasting event at Noah's Wine Bar (Google Places page; they have no website) in downtown McMinnville. But prior to there, we stopped at Cana's Feast Winery for their wine club pick-up party. They released their 2008 Cabernet Franc, 2008 Taptiel Vineyard Merlot and 2008 Montagna Rossa, a SuperTuscan blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet and Merlot, and provided barrel samples of the 2009 Taptiel Vineyard Merlot. All were very, very good wines, and pair with freshly-prepared fare from the bistro kitchen at the winery.

A total of twelve wineries and some 40+ wines were available for tasting at Noah's event, all for the minuscule sum of $10. There was no way I could taste all of the wines, so some abbreviated notes follow.

Amavi Cellars, sister to Pepper Bridge Winery, brought their 2008 Walla Walla Syrah and 2008 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon. Both showed quite well for being so young, with the Syrah edging out the Cab for me. Both were nicely structured, but the Syrah showed serious black pepper and some additional complexity that may eventually appear in the Cab, once it has additional bottle age.

Pepper Bridge Winery provided two of their five wines: the 2007 Merlot and 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, both from estate (Pepper Bridge and Seven Hills Vineyards) fruit. The third wine is a Reserve bottling, typically a Bordeaux blend of the previous two offerings. The fourth and fifth wines are wine-club only single-vineyard blends, Seven Hills Vineyard and Pepper Bridge Vineyard. Both the Merlot and Cab showed well in this tasting, with the Merlot being a bit more approachable currently.

Basel Cellars makes a number of wines from both estate grapes, as well as grapes from vineyards throughout the Columbia Valley. For this event, they provided their 2006 Columbia Valley Syrah, 2007 Claret, 2006 Estate Merlot, 2007 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2006 Inspired Bordeaux-styled blend. The Syrah was again my favorite, but having tasted at the winery several times, I already knew I loved their Syrah. The Inspired was also a very tasty offering.

Five Star Cellars provided their 2008 Sangiovese, 2007 Merlot, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2008 Quinque Astrum, another SuperTuscan blend of Sangiovese, Cab and Merlot. All fruit is 100% Walla Walla Valley. I really enjoyed the Cabernet with this winery. Full-bodied and really drinking well with lots of fruit. The SuperTuscan was also very tasty.

Leonetti Cellar brought their full line-up, but we were only allowed one taste (with a provided ticket). Available to taste while we were there was the 2007 Sangiovese and 2008 Merlot, with the 2007 Cabernet being available if you asked nicely. I chose the Cab and was rewarded with an explosive, extremely rich, full-bodied wine that will easily cellar for another 5-10 years. A delicious wine, although I question if it is the wine or the Leonetti brand that you are really paying so much for. With release prices being $80+, and the same wines being offered on wine auction sites for $30 or more below release price a year later, one has to wonder.

Reininger Winery is no stranger to my blog. The winery brought 2 wines from their Walla Walla Valley-sourced label, Reininger, the 2007 Syrah and 2007 Carmenere, and 2 wines from Helix, their lower-priced Columbia Valley label, the 2005 Sangiovese and 2006 Pomatia red blend. I liked the Pomatia a lot. It was easy to drink and very fruit-forward. But it was the two Reininger wines that really impressed. The Carmenere gets my vote as the most unique wine at the tasting. Not only unique, it was also delicious. The 2007 Syrah was also delicious, with a ton of black pepper and some funk, although not as much as their Ash Hollow vineyard bottling, which was regrettably absent from this tasting.

Seven Hills Winery brought their 2009 Reisling (not tasted), 2007 Malbec (slightly corked, although I am particularly sensitive to TCA), 2007 Petit Verdot (for the wine geeks), 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon from Klipsun Vineyard in the Red Mountain AVA, and 2007 Pentad red blend. All but the Cabernet are from Walla Walla fruit. The Cab was far and away my favorite, but I'm partial to Red Mountain wines. It had serious structure and over-the-top flavor. The Pentad was also very tasty, but overshadowed by the Klipsun Cab, in my opinion.

Sinclair Estate Vineyards provided only 3 wines, their 2009 Chardonnay (not tasted), 2008 Sangiovese and 2008 PentaTonic, a Bordeaux-style blend. The blend was definitely my favored Sinclair wine, full of fruit and earth flavors. We will definitely pay them a visit the next time we're in Walla Walla.

Tamarack Cellars brought the most wines to this tasting. Present were the 2009 Chardonnay (not tasted), 2009 Firehouse Red (a 'kitchen sink blend' of many grape varietals), 2007 Merlot, 2009 Cabernet Franc, 2008 Syrah, and 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon. I was really surprised how much I like ALL of the wines offered by Tamarack, but I really liked the 2008 Syrah and 2007 Cab Sauv. Both were very tasty and structured for decent cellaring.

Waters Winery only brought two wines, their 2007 Pepper Bridge Vineyard Syrah and 2008 Interlude Bordeaux-style blend made from 55% Merlot, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Petit Verdot. Readers of this blog (all two of you) already know of my love for Waters 2007 Forgotten Hills Syrah. I haven't been the biggest fan of the Pepper Bridge Syrah in the past, as I feel it lacks the earthy funk and pepper flavors I love about Walla Walla Syrah. While not a bad wine by any means, the Pepper Bridge is overshadowed by the Forgotten Hills and Loess Syrahs, when compared side-by-side. At this tasting, the Syrah tasted good, with very pure Syrah flavors, minus the pepper and earth. The Interlude had the earthiness in spades however, and was my favorite Waters wine at this tasting.

A sister winery of Waters (and joint venture with Gramercy Cellars), Wines of Substance (fun website, by the way) brought their 2009 "Ch" Chardonnay (not tasted), 2009 "Sy" Syrah and 2009 "Cs" Cabernet Sauvignon. The Syrah again took top honors for me, barely edging out the Cabernet with it's nice blackberry flavors.

Woodward Canyon Winery brought their 2008 Chardonnay (not tasted), 2008 Nelms Road Merlot, 2008 Nelms Road Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2008 Woodward Canyon Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon. I was surprised how well the Nelms Road wines were tasting. For just $20 these two may just get some rotation into my daily drinkers lineup. Nice wines! But the Artist Series Can stole the show, with huge cassis and earth, also with some vanilla oak flavors evident. I really liked the amount of oak on this wine!

Va Piano Vineyards brought three wines, the non-vintage Bruno's Blend VII, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2007 Syrah. I only tasted the Syrah and it was quite good, but seemed a bit flat compared to some of the others. It may have just been my tired palate at that point however.

There was one other wine being offered by the gentleman pouring Leonetti's wines, and it was not from Walla Walla. DeLille Cellars is based in Woodinville, just northeast of Seattle, and sources their grapes primarily from Red Mountain and Horse Heaven Hills AVAs, with a little bit of Yakima Valley too. The wine being poured was the 2008 D2, a rich, Merlot-based Bordeaux-style blend. To my palate, the D2 was one of the tastier wines being poured. Very rich and mouth-coating, with solid tannins bringing up the finish. Interesting that at a wine tasting for Walla Walla wines, I liked a non-Walla Walla wine the most. Wine of the Tasting for me: DeLille Cellars D2, followed closely by the Leonetti Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon.

Holiday Barrel Tasting Weekend - Day 3

Make sure you read about our Day 1 and Day 2 adventures first!

Day 3 started off just like Day 2, with the killer free breakfast at our hotel, and then Starbucks. Everyone sort of went their own ways this morning, with one couple heading home, Kristina and I going for a drive out in the country, and making plans to meet up with my Aunt and Uncle, who live in Walla Walla. Eventually we met up with 3 of our group at K Vintners. We didn't realize they were closed on Sunday, and were only accepting tastings by appointment. Fortunately, winemaker Charles Smith had a tasting appointment at the same time we showed up (along with a bunch of others), so he poured for us all! And what an experience! Charles is a no-nonsense kind of guy, and his gruff manner and crude jokes had the entire group laughing hard in no time! We started out with the 2009 Eve Chardonnay, moved to the 2008 Motor City Kitty Syrah, and then to the 2008 Phil Lane Syrah. Both were quite delicious, but the icing on the cake, and my favorite wine, was the 2007 Heart Syrah. What an amazing wine! Huge fruit and a ton of structure. It was a bit too pricy for us, so we went home with bottles of the Phil Lane and MCK Syrahs instead. I also snapped this great shot of an etched bottle of 2006 Royal City Syrah:



After getting some great pictures of Kristina on the K Vintners "K" (shown below), we headed over to my Aunt and Uncles house for a short visit, prior to hitting the road back to Portland. Another great Walla Walla trip, and I'm sure there will be many more!

Holiday Barrel Tasting Weekend - Day 2

Make sure you read about our Day 1 adventures first!

We started off Day 2 by grabbing the free breakfast at our hotel. A nice spread! Afterwards, as part of our group was already out at the Airport wineries, we headed downtown for Starbucks and ended up tasting at DaMa Wines, with Mel pouring again (this time as a brunette!). I liked their Syrah a lot.

Finally, we headed south to my favorite Walla Walla winery, Rasa Vineyards. Pouring their wines was winemaker Billo Naravane. His brother and business partner, Pinto, was unfortunately not able to make the trip out to Walla Walla from his home on the East Coast. The wines were, as always, absolutely amazing! From their second-label PB Wines to the perfect-scoring 2007 Principia Reserve Syrah, all were so good! The Principia was my favorite, but I went home with another bottle of their delicious 2007 QED Rhone blend. Barrel samples were the 2009 QED, 2008 Principia and 2008 Creative Impluse, a stellar Bordeaux blend sourced from DuBrul Vineyard in Yakima Valley. If you thought Rasa was only great with Rhone varietals, think again! This wine shows a ton of promise, and I'm kicking myself for not jumping on a couple bottles at futures pricing. Such depth and purity of fruit. Just amazing wine.

After Rasa, we headed back into Walla Walla and out to the airport to meet up with our wayward friends at Dunham Cellars. The winery was all decked out in full Christmas decorations, with a huge tree in one corner, perfect for photo ops. Favorite wine at Dunham was the 2006 Columbia Valley Syrah. The barrel samples were a 2008(?) Syrah and Cabernet from Lewis Vineyard (both were VERY tasty).

Although I wanted to hit the 5 "incubator" wineries at the Airport, we ended up heading back into town to dump the cars and set off on foot to the downtown area tasting rooms. First stop, Trey Busch and Sleight of Hand Cellars. A bonus this time, we got to meet Trey's stepfather (I think), Dougal, from Georgia. What a fun guy! Trey makes an amazing Syrah, the Levitation, and the 2008 was drinking well this day. The barrel sample was a 2009 Syrah from Funk Vineyard called "Funkadelic". It was superb. I wanted to pick up a couple bottles of the Levitation, but didn't want to lug them around with me all night, so I swore to stop by on Sunday before we left to stock up. I forgot, of course (sorry Trey!), but will get some soon! The wine is too good to pass up.

After leaving SofH, we hiked down to El Corazon Winery at the end of downtown, and next to Mill Creek Brewpub. Spencer is the owner/winemaker, and his lovely wife and 6 year-old son were helping out in the tasting room. Never having tried El Corazon wines, I was very impressed! The barrel sample was a special extended-barrel aged Syrah. Great stuff, but reserved for wine club members. I'll be leaning on Woody to kick me down some when it is available! Kristina ended up buying a magnum of their 2009 Malbec. Really yummy stuff! As a bonus, the Walla Walla Holiday Light Parade went by as we were walking over to our next stop up the street.

That stop being Nicholas Cole Cellars. A great, modern tasting room, right at the end of downtown (and a perfect place to watch the parade of lights, while staying warm). Stand out wine here was the Estate Reserve, but ALL of the wines were great. A sad aside here, winemaker Mike Neuffer has closed the winery indefinitely, in order to care for his children in Seattle, after the death of their mother. I hope all goes well, and he is able to return to winemaking soon. The wines are delicious.

At this point, we had all hit our wine limit and headed over the the Marcus Whitman Hotel bar for some cocktails and warmth, before going back to the hotel. Don't miss our Day 3 adventures!

Holiday Barrel Tasting Weekend - Day 1

I recently took a weekend trip to Walla Walla for the Holiday Barrel Tasting weekend event, December 3-5. And finally got my girlfriend, Kristina, to come along, and see some of where I spent a lot of growing up. The 3 1/2 hour drive from Portland was uneventful, even with snow on the side of the highway. Once we pulled into the outskirt towns of Walla Walla, we made our first stop: L'Ecole No. 41 in Lowden, just west of Walla Walla on Hwy. 12. While all of their wines were delicious, we especially loved the 2008 Walla Walla Valley Estate Syrah, and the 2007 Perigee and Apogee Bordeaux blends. The barrel samples here were 2009 Perigee and 2009 Apogee.

Our group had all driven out from Portland the day before, and were already deep into wine country, so we decided to meet up with them south of town, at Basel Cellars. Of course we had to drive past my grandparent's old place on Wallula Road (wow, has it fallen apart since they sold it 20 years ago!), since it was on the way. We were the first at Basel Cellars, and proceeded to start the tasting. I think we were the only customers in the tasting room! Stand-outs at Basel Cellars were the 2006 Columbia Valley Syrah, 2007 Walla Walla Valley Estate Syrah, 2006 Basel Cellars Merriment Bordeaux blend, and the 2008 Cabernet Franc. We got a private tour of the winery, which used to be a huge garage for collectible cars and motorcycles. A very cool operation there. Upon returning to the tasting room, we met up with our group, and got to taste the barrel samples, a 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, and (I think) Merlot. Much wine was purchased, for me, the 2006 Syrah.

After Basel, we raced over to Gramercy Cellars before they closed. I love MS Greg Harrington's wines, and we got to try a new one this night: The 2008 "Lower East" Cabernet Sauvignon (which gave the standard Gramercy Cab a run for it's money!), basically juice from the regular bottling that didn't quite make the cut. The 2008 regular Cab must be amazing, because the Lower East was damn tasty! The stand-out wine for me was the "Inigo Montoya" (My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.) Tempranillo. I can't remember the barrel sample here (2009 Syrah?), but I liked it a lot. Along with Gramercy, we got to taste Substance (fun website!) wines too. My favorites here were the Malbec and Syrah. I don't recall any barrel samples from Substance.

While everyone was tasting away, I boogied over to Waters Winery to taste through their Syrah line-up. I recalled from our Labor Day trip that I really, really liked one of the Syrah's, but not which one. Turns out, they are ALL amazing, but the meaty, stinky 2007 Forgotten Hills Vineyard Syrah. Wow, what a wine. I went home with 2 bottles of this treasure. Barrel samples were the 2009 Forgotten Hills Syrah and 2009 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon.

After tasting, we all headed into Walla Walla to our hotel, the Walla Walla Best Western, to freshen up and prepare for our dinner at T. Maccarones (we had to go back, after our stellar meal last trip). Great food, as always, and an amazing server (Nikki, I'm talking to you!). Although my favorite wine from last time, the Adamant Cellars Syrah, was out of stock, we ended up bringing a couple of our own bottles to enjoy.

After dinner, we walked around downtown (in 20+ degree weather, no less) before heading over to the Sapolil Cellars Tasting Room for some live music and a glass of their tasty Syrah, before stumbling back to the hotel for the night.

Read about our Day 2 and Day 3 adventures next!

Woodinville Wine Excursion

What was supposed to be a quick afternoon stop for the grand opening of Obelisco Estate's new Woodinville Warehouse District tasting room, quickly turned into a full "excursion" and resulted in some some epic wine tasting! Read on about each of our stops.

Grand Reve Vintners
Although we had tried to hit this tasting room twice before, we either couldn't find them, or they were closed. I'm VERY happy they were open this day, because their excellent wines set the stage for a wonderful day! I'm also happy that I was able to previously order their sold out 2007 Collaboration Series III Syrah. These are amazing wines, built to age for years, and I highly recommend them all. The concept is using the best grapes (Red Mountain, natch), grown by master vineyard manager Ryan Johnson (Ciel du Cheval, Cara Mia, Galitzine, Grand Ciel, etc...) and then having some of the top wine makers in the region craft an individual wine, hence the "Collaboration Series" name. Collaboration Series I is a Bordeaux blend made by Ben Smith of Cadence Winery. Collaboration Series II is a Southern Rhône blend made by Ross Mickel of Ross Andrew Winery. Collaboration Series III is a Syrah made by Mark McNeilly of Mark Ryan Winery. Collaboration Series IV is another Bordeaux blend made by Carolyn Lakewold of Donedei Winery. Collaboration Series V is a Grenache made by Chris Gorman of Gorman Winery. Collaboration Series VI is another Southern Rhône blend made by James Mantone of Syncline Wines. They also have a Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, which we didn't get to taste, and are just about to release a delicious new lower cost, tasting room-only wine called "Petrichor", which is a Syrah-Cabernet blend.

• 2005 Grand Reve Vintners Collaboration Series I Ciel du Cheval Red Mountain - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
  Rich, full-bodies, amazing fruit, with some nice earthiness in the mid-palate. Sweet fruity finish, with just a touch of oaky vanilla. A very well-balanced, well-made wine. (93 pts.)


• 2006 Grand Reve Vintners Syrah Collaboration Series III Ciel du Cheval Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
  Wow. This is the type of Syrah I love! Very structured, with some nice tannins on the finish. Great blackberry fruit, smokey, with some black pepper. (94 pts.)


• 2006 Grand Reve Vintners Petrichor - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
  This is a pre-released Cabernet-Syrah blend, from the "second label" of Grand Reve. “Petrichor” describes the smell that results from rain hitting stone, and comes from “petri”, meaning “rock”, and “ichor”, the ethereal colorless fluid that was said to flow in the veins of Greek gods. An apt name for this elixir. Very rich, with nice structure, and amazing fruit on the attack. Mid-palate is full bodied and full of fruit, with a long sweet finish. (91 pts.)

Obelisco Estate
Obelisco Estate is a relative newcomer to the Washington Wine scene, but no stranger to high-quality winegrapes. In fact, co-owner Doug Long used to own IX Estate Vineyard in Napa Valley, famous for supplying grapes for some of Colgin Cellars' highest scoring wines. The wines produced by Obelisco Estate's Red Mountain vineyard are all amazing, particularly the Electrum Cabernet Sauvignon. The first released vintage from Obelisco Estate was 2007, consisting of a single wine, the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. For 2008 that wine was renamed "Electrum". They will also release a special Reserve-level Cabernet bottling called "Nefer III" in 2011. I can't wait to get my hands on that one!

• 2008 Obelisco Estate Syrah Tejen Les Gosses Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
  First wine in the lineup, paired with mushroom bruschetta. Lots of cherry fruit, licorice, and some pepper. Very young, but there is serious potential here. (90 pts.)


• 2008 Obelisco Estate Malbec Tejen Obelisco Estate Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
  Wine #2, paired with Belgian endive salad with stilton cheese, pecans and caramelized pears. Blue fruit, black cherries, with some spices. (89 pts.)


• 2008 Obelisco Estate Tejen Red Wine Obelisco Estate Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
  Wine #3, paired with a caprese salad (on a stick). Plums, blackberries, spices, and some vanilla oak. Very structured with some nice, integrated tannins. (91 pts.)


• 2008 Obelisco Estate Merlot Tejen - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
  Wine #4, paired with an apple and onion tart, with gruyere cheese. Lots of cherry fruit, cola, and some vanilla oak. This is Merlot! (91 pts.)


• 2008 Obelisco Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Electrum Obelisco Estate Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
  The final wine, paired with a beef canape. Amazing wine! Lots of structure, many layers of flavors...blackberry, cherry, vanilla and spices. Finishing with a vanilla coke/blackberry pie mix. Very tasty wine, and a step up from the 2007. (93 pts.)

Gifford Hirlinger
Having visited the Gifford Hirlinger tasting room on many occasions, it remains one of our favorites. Not only for the delicious wines, but also for the fun tasting room manager, Jessica (sister of winemaker Mike Berghan), who always has a great story about the wines we are tasting. This visit was no different, and we had a great time chatting with Jessica, leaving with a bottle of their 2006 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon.

• 2008 Gifford Hirlinger Stateline Red Walla Walla Valley - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
  A simple blend, but quite flavorful. Having loved their Merlot and Cabernet, I'm surprised that the whole is less than it's individual parts...although I'm sure the fruit isn't exactly the same. Nice and quaffable, at an amazing QPR. (88 pts.)


• 2006 Gifford Hirlinger Merlot Estate - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
  Thinking our last bottle of GH Merlot may have been heat damaged, we locked eyes over our glasses after the first sip, knowing for sure that the last bottle we had was indeed spoiled. THIS was some good stuff! Tobacco, big fruit--blackberry and cherry--with some nice earthiness on the finish. Mike has a deft hand with wood on this wine, and there are no overbearing oak notes. Nice work! (90 pts.)


• 2006 Gifford Hirlinger Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
  This wine just keeps getting better, every time I taste it! Great fruit, solid structure, nice acidity, and some really fine secondary flavors starting to emerge. The fruit is the star of the show here, with blackberries leading the charge. A bit of cassis in there too, with some earth and tobacco filling in, not a lot of oakiness at all, but just a bit of mocha coming in on the finish. (91 pts.)


• 2008 Gifford Hirlinger Malbec - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
  This one edged a bit more towards the blue fruits than the other wines. Very rich, perhaps overly so, but a really nice wine. Not many secondary characteristics at this point, just a lot of fruit. (88 pts.)

Darby Winery
Darby Winery recently moved their tasting room from a nondescript space in the Woodinville Warehouse District to the Hollywood Schoolhouse District. The tasting room is in a new building next to Village Wines, amongst a number of other winery tasting rooms. A much better location, in my mind. Winemaker Darby English has again crafted some great wines, all at very respectable price points. My favorites are again his Syrah-based wines, and we went home with a bottle of The Dark Side Syrah.

• 2009 Darby le deuce - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  58% Viognier, 42% Roussanne. Definitely not a fan of this one, although maybe in the heat of summer it would work better. Lots of pear fruit, with some ginger ale (minus the carbonation). Well-made, just not my type of wine. (85 pts.)


• 2009 Darby The Endless Road - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  Darby's first Rosé, a blend of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre. Quite nice, with some good dryness, and ample strawberry fruit. Really nice acidity too! (87 pts.)


• 2008 Darby Purple Haze Columbia Valley - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Malbec, 10% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, from Conner Lee, Sheridan, Stonetree and Boushey vineyards. I really liked this one...Lots of cassis and raspberry fruit, with a long finish of dark chocolate. Some tannins that could use a bit more time to integrate, but other than that, it was an amazing wine (and only $20!) (91 pts.)


• 2007 Darby CHAOS - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 12% Cab Franc, 8% Petit Verdot. Not as tasty as the Purple Haze, in my opinion. Almost too tannic, and not giving up much flavor at the moment. Not sure on the barrel regime between the two, but this wine seems like it is built to age much longer, and perhaps needs some more time to integrate. Lots of cherry fruit, but a ripple of greenness throughout that I didn't like so much. (89 pts.)


• 2007 Darby Syrah The Dark Side Columbia Valley - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  Very meaty Syrah! Lots of dark fruit, smoked meat, espresso. Very dark and full-bodied, reminds me a bit of a Betz Syrah, only at 1/2 the price. Good stuff (bought a bottle). (92 pts.)


• 2008 Darby The Flip Side - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  This is a Grenache-based Rhone blend, barrel sample (I think). The bottle was unlabeled, at any rate. Quite young tasting, with ample tannins, in sort of a Chateauneuf du Pape style. Some mocha/oak, strawberry and cherry fruit. A touch of white pepper. (90 pts.)


• 2008 Darby Syrah Aunt Lee - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  Another barrel sample (I think--unlabeled bottle at least). We had a bottle of the 2007 Aunt Lee, and LOVED it, so it was no wonder we really liked this wine as well. Definitely on the younger side, but already showing some serious legs. Big blackberry and plum fruit, with lots of spices and smoked meat. Just what I love in a Syrah! (93 pts.)

Tasting notes posted from CellarTracker.

Walla Walla Wine Tasting - Day 3

Be sure to read about our Day 1 and Day 2 adventures first!

Day 3 started off much like Day 2, except that the boys rolled into town and had breakfast at a delightful little cafe called Someone's In The Kitchen. Good food, great coffee and stellar service! Even still, with the hangovers we were rockin' that morning, a trip to Starbuck's for more coffee was definitely in order. Dave and Des took off for home later that morning, so it was a nice 4 person group to go tasting, this time down south of town where most of the area's vineyards and wineries are located.

First stop was the beautiful Basel Cellars. What a gorgeous winery! It has to be seen to be believed...great wines too! Lisa was still a little hungover, so she didn't taste but Trish, Woody and I enjoyed their entire line. The 2006 Syrah was my favorite, and on sale to boot, so I grabbed 2 bottles. I could have sat in the sun and drank in the gorgeous view all day, but more wineries beckoned! Tasting fee: $5 (waived with my bottle purchase).

Next stop was on JB George Road, at Saviah Cellars. While the wines here I'm usually a big fan of, they only had 5 wines open to taste, and just one Syrah, "The Jack", which was corked! I couldn't believe they were pouring this wine, and that none of the annoying, overweight, drunks tasting there picked up on the flaw. TCA was slight, but quite noticeable all in our group. The 2008 Une Vallée was my favorite in the lineup, but overpriced. Sorry guys, but the experience there was not a good one for us. Tasting fee: $0.

Right next door to Saviah Cellars is Waters Winery and Gramercy Cellars. Another beautiful winery, and we spent much longer here than we had originally planned, just because it was so cool to hang out there. They excel in Syrah at Waters, and of the 4 on offer (Columbia Valley, Loess, Forgotten Hills, and Pepper Bridge), my favorite was the Forgotten Hills. Amazingly funky and barnyard-y, the wine was delicious! Unfortunately, the 21 Grams red wine that is a high-end project by Waters and Gramercy together, was not being tasted. Tasting fee: $5.

Sharing the same facility is Gramercy Cellars, which requires a tasting appointment (we didn't have one). However, we were lucky enough to catch Matt, who was running the tastings, after a group left (one of the group members had THE WORST comb-over I've ever seen, starting from his neckline and going up over the top of his head. Truly amazing...), and Matt gave us a tasting appt. for a couple hours later.

We motored on, in search of Northstar Winery, and their much-lauded Merlot. I think they were having a wine club event or something, because the place was packed. Very cool tasting bar too. Anyway, the wines were all good, but nothing really stood out for me. The Merlot's were both tasting great, but a bit too high in price for me at that point. Tasting fee: $10.

Back to Gramercy Cellars for our tasting. Gramercy is another new winery in the area that is making a big splash, and rightly so. I had previously tasted their wines, and met winemaker/founder Greg Harrington, at Storyteller Wine Company in Portland, so I was no stranger, but wow, all of the wines blew me away. We tasted the new releases: 2008 Syrah, 2008 "Third Man" Grenache blend, 2008 "Inigo Montoya" (as in, "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.") Tempranillo, and 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon. I loved the Cab best, but since I already had a bottle (thanks Trish!), I picked up the Third Man. Regrettably, the John Lewis Reserve Syrah was not yet released. Tasting fee: $0.

Our next stop was Trust Cellars, over on Merlot Dr. Nice little tasting room, with an sweet view of the Blue Mtns. And of course, great wines! My favorite was the 2008 Walla Walla Valley Syrah, and I brought home a bottle. Tasting fee: $0.

About this time, I got a call from Gramercy Cellars, advising me that I had left my debit card there (oops!) so we decided to head back, but not before making a final winery stop at Va Piano Vineyards. While the winery was pretty cool, there was a fly infestation that was annoying, and the wines while good, were probably not tasting so well for us, after trying so many prior. At any rate, I wasn't very impressed and didn't have any money anyway, since my debit card was over at Gramercy. So we tasted through quickly, and left. Tasting fee: $0.

Back to camp to freshen up, and the out to dinner at T. Maccarone's for an excellent meal and killer bottle of Adamant Cellars Syrah ($28), and then to the Green Lantern Tavern, known locally as "The Green", or just "Green". Best bar in Walla Walla. Lisa schooled some guys at pool while the rest of us looked on, and enjoyed our drinks. We tried to go back to Sapolil Cellars for Syrah and live music, but they were closed, so we called it a night.

Headed home the following afternoon, after one hell of a chilly night camping. We broke camp, loaded up the Disco and rolled west, stopping at Reininger Winery again, to taste through their line up and buy some more Rosé. The drive home was long but interesting, what with all the wind turbines and the river, but long it was. We're planning to head back for Holiday Barrel Tasting the first weekend in December. Should be a great time!

Walla Walla Wine Tasting - Day 2

Read about our Day 1 adventures in this post.

Day 2 started off early, with everyone hitting up the showers and jokes about "fire in the hole!". We set out in Woody's Rover Disco, with me in the far back manning the iPhone Charging Station (AC inverter and powerstrip), since everyone had an iPhone, and maps/GPS. Since we had a couple tasting appointments (1:00 at Long Shadows, 2:30 at Rasa Vineyards), we decided to head way out west, and start at Woodward Canyon, one of the oldest wineries in the area. Woodward Canyon is located on Highway 12, out in the tiny (TINY!) town of Lowden, and has some delicious wines. No detailed tasting notes here, but the Old Vines Cabernet Sauvignon was amazing, and my wine of the flight. Tasting fee: $5.

Woodward Canyon is is conveniently right next door to L'Ecole No. 41 Winery, which we made our second stop of the day. If you go, be sure to "ring the bell" before you walk into the winery. You'll know what I'm talking about when you arrive. This winery was packed, with people standing 3 deep at the tasting bar. Huge wine list too, with Columbia Valley and local Walla Walla Valley options. I loved their Syrahs, as well as the Apogee/Perigee Bordeaux blends. As a bonus, we were able to taste some older vintage (2002) bottles of these two tasty wines, and what a difference age makes! While they had the 2002's available for sale, they were a bit above my price range, and I ended up taking a bottle of their 2007 Columbia Valley Syrah home, for $24. Tasting fee: $5 (waived with my bottle purchase).

We were able to fit in a third winery before our 1:00 tasting appt. with Long Shadows, and Reininger Winery fit the bill nicely. Great tasting room, that would be excellent for a big party (hint-hint), and delightful tasting room staff. They took very good care of us, and had plenty of knowledge about the wines. I think everyone's favorite wine was their 2009 Helix Rosé. I really loved the Ash Hollow Vineyard Syrah, because of it's funkified nose. Really dirty and earthy...yum! We lingered here a bit too long, and had to beat feet to get out to Long Shadows in time. Tasting fee: $5.

Long Shadows Wineries is off all by itself, up Frenchtown Road off Hwy 12, in the midst of rolling grain fields. The winery is of ultra-modern design, and situated such that when viewing outside from within, the sense of being in the middle of nowhere, with nothing around is incredible. Inside, it is very modern and luxurious, with a tasting 'host' and viewing windows down into the working part of the winery. You can tell they spared no expense when creating the winery! We were fortunate enough to chat with Bonny, who schedules the tasting appointments, and handles most (all?) of the sales and such at the winery. The wines here are all delicious, from the Riesling to the blends, and Syrah. Each wine is made by a different well-known winemaker, most from outside the US. Resident winemaker Gilles Nicault, who makes their Chester-Kidder wine, also takes care of the wines when the others are not in residence. My two favorites were the Pedestal Merlot, by Frenchman Michel Rolland, and Sequel Syrah, by Australian John Duval. Both were tasting perfectly that day, and I ended up splurging and took home a bottle of 2007 Sequel. Tasting fee: $10 (waived with my bottle purchase).

Our fifth stop was also our second 'scheduled' appointment, with relative newcomers, Rasa Vineyards, owned by brothers Pinto and Billo Naravane. Their winery, previously the Artifex crush facility, is now the Hence Vineyards winery out on Powerline Rd. A beautiful winery, with river rock walls and a "lodge" feel to it! Rasa is only just preparing to release their second vintage (2008), and are already making a huge splash in the Washington wine scene. Their wines are all amazing! Had I the cash, I would have bought a case, at least, of each wine! The tasting lineup consisted of 2 vintages of their QED Rhone blend, Vox Populi Mourvedre, The Composer Riesling, Principia Reserve Syrah (my favorite), and two new wines from their second label, PB Wines. Released at a much lower price point than the regular line, the PB line is going to be a winner. They have a Red Mountain Syrah, and a Red blend as well, for just $29. Comparatively, the QED retails for $50, and the Principia $85. This was by far my favorite experience that day. Pinto and Billo were excellent hosts, and had a great story behind every wine. I could have spent all day just talking to them about wine and their philosophy behind it, let alone sampling their delicious wines! Almost everyone bought at least a bottle here, with me taking a Principia, QED and a couple bottles each of the PB Wines line. We're trying to get the brothers to come out for some tastings in Portland, so stay tuned! Tasting fee: $0.

After spending the rest of the afternoon at Rasa, we ended up back in downtown Walla Walla, attempting to hit Happy Hour at the Marcus Whitman Hotel. But guess what? No Happy Hour. See ya!

Next stop, Sleight of Hand Cellars tasting room. I love the wines here, and winemaker Trey Busch is super cool. We were picking out records (yes, actual LP records!) to play and having a great time chatting with Trey. He was unfortunately sold out of my favorite wine, the 2007 Levitation Syrah, but was gracious enough to pull out a yet-to-be-released 2008 Levitation for us to sample! Awesome wine, and one that I will be purchasing when it is finally available! Thanks Trey! Tasting Fee: $0.

About this time, we were starting to get hungry, and looking at food options. I happened to wander off, and stumbled upon the DaMa Wines tasting room on Main St, just down from Sapolil. Mel, the tasting room host, was awesome, and she had us all laughing hard from the start. The wines were great, with my favorite being the Syrah. I didn't make a purchase here (others did), but I probably should have! Tasting fee: $0.

Finally, dinnertime! We hit up Sweet Basil Pizzaria for some excellent pie and (you guessed it) more wine! Nothing ever tasted so good as that pizza...

We ended the night back at Sapolil Cellars Tasting Room, with more of that yummy Syrah and live music (different band), before crashing out back at camp.

Read about our adventures on Day 3 in this post.

Walla Walla Wine Tasting - Day 1

Some friends and I planned a nice weekend in Walla Walla for some wine tasting. Dave, Woody, Trish, Lisa and myself all took off early on a Friday and headed east. After making the 4 hour trek up the Columbia River, we secured a couple tent sites at Blue Valley RV Park, on the north side of town (camping in the city, yo). Thus began the fun!

Our first order of the day (Friday night, really) was to go for a tour through downtown and get the lay of the land. Right off the bat, we keyed in on Red Monkey, if only for the funny name. Dinnertime! Great burgers and drinks, but as it turns out, this is a restaurant...and nightclub! Hmm. We finished up right at the transition between the two, and once the lame hiphop beats started hitting, we knew it was time to move on.

Our next stop was Mill Creek Brewpub for $3.33 margaritas! Yes, they were sickly-sweet with cheap mix and cheaper tequila, but...$3.33! Couldn't pass that up! As a bonus, friend Des finally showed up, having left PDX much later than the rest of us, and made the trip out alone.

The last stop of the night was the Sapolil Cellars Tasting Room for some live music and a glass of their excellent Patina Vineyard Syrah, and "Gandy Dancer", a blend of Syrah, Sangiovese and Malbec. Great little place, with a fun, diverse crowd. Located next door to the Cayuse Vineyards tasting room (which is almost never open).

The town pretty-much rolls up the sidewalks, along with everything else, around midnight, so we headed back to the campground to rack out and make an early start on our wine tasting excursion. My Day 2 and Day 3 posts cover the majority of our wine tastings. Read on!

Storyteller Wine Tasting: Reininger Winery

Attended a very nice free tasting of Walla Walla's Reininger Winery (follow @ReiningerWinery on Twitter) last night, hosted by Michael Alberty (follow @HeadStoryteller on Twitter) at Storyteller Wine Company in the John's Landing neighborhood of Portland. Wines were poured by Michael and Reininger's National Sales Manager, Justin Vajgert. Huge crowd, with lots of very enthusiastic Reininger fans. Having tried several of their wines before, including a Helix (Cab, Merlot, Pomatia blend) offering from Wine.Woot.com, and the 2003 Reininger Walla Walla Valley Merlot, I knew we were in for a treat. We were not disappointed!

• - 2005 Reininger Merlot Helix Stillwater Creek Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  Sold out, no taste available.


• - 2005 Reininger Sangiovese Helix - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  Earthy cherry flavors, with just a bit of spices on the finish. Very smooth and drinkable, would be great with food. On its own, rather unexciting. (86 pts.)


• - 2006 Reininger Cabernet Sauvignon Helix - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
  Very fruit-forward, but with a nice backbone of tannin and acidity. Raspberry and cassis flavors, with some nice peppery earth. Drinking quite well. (88 pts.)


• - 2006 Reininger Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
  I loved this wine. Huge peppery fruit, lots of blackberry and cassis. Finish is pure pepper-covered chocolate, and lasts for 30+ seconds. This is some nice Cab! (91 pts.)


• - 2005 Reininger Syrah Ash Hollow Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
  Dark as night, thick, mouthcoating, and amazingly spicy! BIG heavy blackberry fruit, with gobs of black pepper. This wine reminded me of the Bunnell Syrahs I love so much. Just super-concentrated, lots of extract, and that amazing black pepper, with dark chocolate finish. Must resist buying a case... (93 pts.)


• - 2006 Reininger Carménère - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
  Sold out, no taste available.


• - 2007 Reininger Cabernet Sauvignon Helix - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
  Replacement wine for the Carmenere that was sold out. I think this was just released, or has not been released just yet...quite a bit more forward than the 2006, with a bit more tannin showing at this time. Solid wine at a great price: $20. A lot more cassis and black pepper than the 2006 also. Even some tobacco flavors rolling around the tongue. Tasty. (89 pts.)


• (No label available) - 2007 Reininger Syrah Port - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
  According to the Reininger rep, this wine isn't released for distribution, and only sold at the winery. I typically don't like ports, but this one made me stand up and take notice. Mix that peppery blackberry-tasting Walla Walla Syrah with brandy, and you have this. An amazing port, very sweet, but not over the top. Not too much of the brandy flavor I dislike too. Just about perfect for me. (90 pts.)

As always, tasting notes are posted from CellarTracker.