Walla Walla Highlights

So much for "real time" blogging. We'll be writing about Walla Walla for a month. We had a great trip. We met Catie, the Wild Wine Wonder Woman of Walla Walla. She took us on a great tour of Forgeron Winery where we tasted their outstanding 2005 Chardonnay. A barrel tasting of Boushay Syrah was spectacular proof of terroir. Boushay Vineyard is about thirty years old (ancient by Washington standards) and the fruit is generally softer than grapes grown in other parts. The fruit from a block in the middle of the vineyard was lush and "juicy", whereas the barrel from "RD" was strikingly more structured with lots of backbone. After the tour the five of us - Catie, myself, Diane, Bob and Kathy - went off to Amaurice owned by Tom and Kathy Shafer. The 2005 Viognier and the 2005 Chardonnay were whistle clean, with a French balance to them. The 2005 blend had lots of charming fruit in a very American style. All delicious. Then we went to the airport to check out new wineries where we visited Adament and Trio. We tried to visit as many new wineries as possible - more on these later. The other big highlight - talking wine and France with Christophe Baron of Cayuse Vineyards and Trey Busch, formerly winemaker at Basel Cellars and now owner and winemaker at Sleight of Hand. Christophe brought around a bottle sample of some 2005 Grenache that was spectacular! Seemless, intense flavor, perfect balance. Both of these superstars have a lot of charisma and it was great to just magically run into them at the end of the day. Look for more on Walla Walla wines in the coming weeks and we will wrap up June with a post on Puget Sound Cabernets!