Sean P. Sullivan - Washington Wine Report

Day one of Spring Release 2009…

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Walla Walla with weather in the seventies and the sun shining on the Blue Mountains. I started the day having lunch with Erica Sharp of AmericanWinery.com. American Winery is a Walla Walla based company that facilitates shipping direct from wineries to customers. After lunch our wine stops included:

Beresan
Balboa
Reininger
Waterbrook
Long Shadows
Rotie Cellars

Waterbrook’s new facility off Highway 12 is nearing completion. The gigantic production facility, which will house all of Precept Brands’ production, is open this weekend although construction is still being finished. The gorgeous tasting room, designed by Dan Kinkella, AIA is set to open for Vintage Walla Walla next month.

Rotie Cellars is a new venture by Sean Boyd, assistant winemaker at Waters. I had first sampled Boyd’s wines at Seattle Uncorked's Sexy Syrah event in Seattle last month (write-up of this event in the next week or so) and came away extremely impressed. Rotie Cellars makes two Rhone-style red blends, a Northern blend and a Southern blend. In a hopefully growing trend, Rotie Cellars is offering free shipping on purchases over two bottles.

On this Saturday a light rain is falling in Walla Walla. Day two plans are to visit wineries east of the town, including K Vintners and Abeja, as well as a number of airport wineries. We will wrap the day up at Corliss Estates downtown followed by…Game 7 Celtics vs. Bulls.

Of course, a full report of the trip with write-ups of the wineries and wines to follow in about a month or so. See the 2008 Walla Walla Holiday Barrel Tasting Report here (Note: opens .pdf file).