Over the first weekend in November (the traditional Fall Release Weekend in Walla Walla, Washington), my husband and two friends and I visited there for a few days of cautious but nevertheless very enjoyable wine tasting. We all remain well, so the precautions taken by us and all of the places we called on clearly were effective, even as cases rise all around the country. As I mentioned in a previous blog, those precautions actually led to less crowded and more enjoyable tasting experiences, leaving us less rushed and having more time and space to enjoy the wines.

Friday, our first full day of tastings, presented a lineup of appointments at four wineries between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. (all tastings were prearranged), which may not sound like a lot, but each offered at least five different wines. At the end of the day we figured we’d tried just over 30 wines! We did manage to squeeze in a lunch-on-the-go, too, stopping at our usual favorite gourmet food place in a gas station, Andrae’s Kitchen, which thankfully has adapted to take-out only but still serves up great food at a reasonable price.

Our first stop at The Walls provided us with 2018 releases of four wines: the Lip Stinger Grenache Blanc Blend; The Ramparts, a Grenache blend; the Gaspard Syrah; a Pinot Noir; and Wonderful Nightmare, a luscious Tempranillo, an earlier vintage of which we’d had with dinner the night before. We also tried the new release of Stanley Groovy, a red blend, and ended up with two bottles when we walked out the door. We grabbed our lunch on our way to Figgins Winery, a winery from the family which operates the acclaimed first winery of Walla Walla, Leonetti Cellar. Figgins produces wine from a single family estate vineyard, and we enjoyed a tasting in its barrel room of those wines as well as a Pinot Noir from its new venture, Toil Oregon, made from grapes from the Willamette Valley in Oregon, renowned for its Pinots.

Next we hustled south to experience Rotie Cellars’ brand-new tasting room in the heart of the Rocks District, which sits on the southern side of the Oregon–Washington border. Rotie makes Southern and Northern Rhône blends, and we’ve benefited from our friends’ wine club membership for several years now and really appreciate the wonderful wines produced here. The small downtown tasting room has given way to a stunning facility which sits atop the production facility but appears to perch on top of a steep hill covered with the cobbles which give the Rocks District its name and the wines produced here their distinctive character. This location affords 360-degree views over the vineyards,      and it is astonishing to realize how little soil there appears to be as the vines arise from these rocky fields.    The tasting room itself is strikingly modern, with glass on three sides and the glow of light wood warming the interior. Outside there are wide, covered terraces, but we were happy to be inside on this wet, chilly day.

Our final stop was at Prospice, whose wine club we joined just a year ago in the winery’s infancy. Owners/winemakers Jay Krutulis and Matt Reilly graduated from the well-respected Enology and Viticulture program at Walla Walla Community College (after careers in law and architecture, respectively) and worked at local wineries before starting Prospice, with 2017 being their first vintage. Our tasting was held on a tented patio with a couple of other parties at widely spaced tables, heaters roaring to push back the windy, foggy chill of the darkening day. Both Jay and Matt took time to chat with us and talk about the wines. Theirs are lovely, refined, elegant wines (Cab, Cab Franc, Merlot, Syrah, Mourvèdre) made with a lighter touch than many of the big reds for which Walla Walla is known.

Although it had been a cold, rainy, windy day, we came away warmed not only by the wonderful wines we’d tasted but especially by the hearty greetings we received at each place we visited. Knowing what a difficult year this has been, especially for those who rely so much on travel and tourism, we were happy to contribute to these wonderful people and their businesses and to enjoy the camaraderie of the wine community.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor