I recently spent some time in Walla Walla, and had the chance to visit more than a dozen wineries. I’ve been going there every year or two since the mid-‘80s (my in-laws live there) and it’s been fascinating to follow the remarkable development of the wine scene and the transformative impact it’s had on the town.
While I’ve long been impressed at the high quality of most wine produced there (and taken aback at the high prices), much of what I’ve tasted has been marred, in my opinion, by the usual New World suspects: grapes left on the vine too long, too-high alcohol, and especially too much new oak. What I think distinguishes Walla Walla is that most wines have higher acidity than the New World norm; that has kept some of the more spoofulated wines drinkable to me, but also left me feeling that the region could do so much better.
But now, it appears there are a number of wineries trying to do just that — picking the grapes a little earlier, minimizing new oak or eliminating it entirely, and creating more balanced, food-friendly wines that are much more enjoyable and better reflect the potential of this region as a unique, world-class wine-producing area. Somewhat akin to what Steve Edmunds has been and Florida Jim is now doing in California.
Wineries I visited that, in my view, are making wines in this style include:
** Buty
** Rotie
** Gramercy
** Waters
** Kerloo
** Fjellene
** Morrison Lane
** El Corazon
I also liked many of the wines I tasted at Amavi, Mackey, Sapolil, Saviah, Seven Hills, Trio and Watermill.
I was especially pleased with the quality of many of the Syrahs, particularly Fjellene’s, Kerloo’s Les Collines Vineyard, Waters’ Forgotten Hills Vineyard, and Rotie’s Northern Blend, all of which reminded me more of the Northern Rhone than California, much less Australia. The single-vineyard bottlings really did reflect terroir differences, too. I also loved Buty’s Rediviva of the Stones (unusual single-vineyard Syrah-Cab blend — mostly the former) and Gramercy’s “Inigo Montoya” Tempranillo. The Cab and Merlot wines didn’t do as much for me as some of the other grapes growing there, including Barbera, Sangiovese, Grenache, Malbec, Mourvedre, Counoise and Carmenere. Interesting stuff happening.
As a side note, if you’re into biking, it’s a great place to ride and taste, with beautiful, largely empty farm roads going through rolling wheat fields and vineyards. Great views all around.