Monday, April 27, 2009

March 2009: Taste Walla Walla - Trade Tasting

This is a fun event every year, although it is getting harder and harder to participate--this year, I had to justify my business' authenticity and write an especially pleading letter, but at last I was in. The big benefit from the special scrutiny was that gone were the waitstaff who in past years got plastered and kind of clogged up the room, without any intention of buying wine.

I maintain that Walla Walla (and Tri Cities and Yakima) give better quality for the money than anywhere else in the USA. A tasting of Chateau Montelena (Calistoga; northern end of the Napa Valley) recently proved this, yet again, to me.

My favorite wine of the day was Cougar Crest's Cab franc. Wow! It's fantastic. Great fruit, super bouquet, tremendous balance. Couldn't convince any of my customers to try any, perhaps due to the recession.

Second fave was a tie between Seven Hills cab and their malbec. And Reininger cab is great. K Vintners is tempting, and all its wines got scored greater than 90 from Spectator, which is no doubt a first for just about any winery, but their wines have gotten too big for me--the Viognier is like drinking a sharp knife. Zerba's wines are still very good, but didn't ring the bell quite as much as they did last year. Five Star is teriffic. Dowsett Gewurztraminer was a special find--no lychee taste, but that's not bad--the wine is perfectly balanced and has everything you could want in a great white.

Walla Walla is the bomb--it's not just for onions anymore.

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