Walla Walla Wino Wino - Part II

Oh! Look at the pretty hot air balloons floating in the air! Why is the sky on fire? Why do my eyes feel like they’re being burned from the sockets? Oh, that’s just the sun. Silly Seattleite.

Day two of wine tasting begins
After adjusting our eyes to seeing the sun, and after a quick breakfast, we headed out to begin wine tasting south of Walla Walla. Basel Cellars was high on my list of wineries to visit since I fell in love with their 2005 Claret, which is, alas, no longer available. I wrote a post about the 2005 Claret back in January and little did I know I’d actually be wine tasting there a few months later. You can read my previous post about the 2005 Claret here: http://thewinemuseinseattle.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html

We pulled up to the huge iron gates about 10 minutes before the winery opened and patiently waited for them to open. After the gates opened, we drove up a long, narrow, winding driveway to the mansion that sits on top of a hill that’s surrounded by vineyards and various vegetables poking out of the ground. This winery looks very much like something you’d see in Europe or in a movie. I’m not kidding. This place is jaw dropping. The picture at the beginning of this post is a photo of Basel Cellars and it doesn’t really do it justice so you’ll just have to go see it for yourselves.

After finally locating the parking lot, we went in. The tasting room is gorgeous, as you might guess. Even though it was only 10 in the morning, we were ready to begin our task of tasting all of their juices. After tasting the current release of the 2006 Claret ($20/bottle), it’s apparent that it’s still too young to have the “Wow” factor that I loved so much in their 2005 Claret, but I’m sure with a year or two of aging, the current Claret will be just as nice.

While tasting through the wines I asked the wine tasting associate to tell us about the huge mansion we were standing in and she told us that the “house” was built in the mid-nineties by a private party for 14 million bucks. Unfortunately for original owners, they divorced and the house was sold at auction for 4 million bucks to Basel Cellars around the year 2000. I’d say for the size of the house and the surrounding vineyards and property, the Basel family got a pretty good deal. Anywho, I bought some of my favorites of the wines we tasted - two bottles of the 2006 Cabernet Franc ($36/bottle), and a bottle of the 2006 Merriment ($48/bottle). The Merriment is a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. About half of the grapes in this blend are from their estate vineyard called Pheasant Run Vineyard. And speaking of Pheasants, we actually saw Pheasants on the grounds of the winery while we were leaving.

Next, we visited Northstar. We were told that this is a must-see winery since it has the best view of the Blue Mountains in the area. After gazing out of the large windows in this winery, I’d agree. For those of you that aren’t familiar with this winery, this is a sister winery of Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville. Northstar’s claim to fame is producing premium Merlots. I loved their 2005 Stella Maris, which is a blend of 77% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 7% Syrah. I thought I was over Merlot a long time ago because the California Merlots that I was used to were so unremarkable. I’m here to tell you that Washington State Merlot’s kick ass! I loved the Stella Maris red blend so much I bought two bottles. At $29 a bottle, I consider it a bargain. I also bought a bottle of their Cabernet Franc ($40/bottle) because I love Cab Francs and Northstar’s version is fabulous. We were lucky enough to have a wine tasting associate by the name of Stephanie Rubin pouring wine for us. She was friendly and knowledgeable and just fun to chat with. The other tasting room associate (I don’t remember her name – sorry!) was very sweet as well and offered to take our picture outside with the stunning view in the background. Northstar winery is high on my list of wineries to revisit when I venture out to Walla Walla next time. Seriously, go there. You won’t be sorry.

It was approaching lunchtime but we wanted to get one more winery in before taking our break for lunch. Across the street from Northstar was Tertulia Cellars. We stopped in and were greeted by a young, cute tasting room associate by the name of Quentin. Turns out that Quentin is not just another pretty face. He’s been to wine school and wants to be a winemaker, a vineyard owner, grape grower, in other words, he wants it all! You go boy! We tasted through the wines that Quentin offered us and I had a really hard time making up my mind which ones to buy as they were all delicious. We tasted a Viognier and Rousanne blend ($19), a Rose made of Mourvedre ($16), a yummy Syrah ($30), and a very nice Merlot ($32). Are Merlots making a comeback or is it just me? Next we tasted an excellent Cabernet Sauvignon ($34), a red blend called Sobra ($24), and last, but not least, a Carmenere ($35). The Carmenere tastes of leather and smoke and it was love at first taste for me. I really wanted to buy one of each but I settled on three bottles of the Carmenere and a picture of Quentin.

Lunchtime! Another post to follow after this message from our sponsor: Sweet Basil’s pizza in quaint, downtown Walla Walla. Eat at Sweet Basil’s but be prepared for the crowds of people that’ll be there waiting for the thin-crust pizza and lots of fresh ingredients on top.

Part three coming soon.