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Waterbrook Winery hosts preview of new facility on Hwy 12

April 29th, 2009

In preparation for its major Grand Opening Celebration on June 5th, the new Waterbrook Winery will host a “Sneak Preview” of its facility for this weekend’s Spring Release Weekend, May 1 – 3. During the preview, guests will have the opportunity to taste Waterbrook’s award-winning portfolio of wines with winemaker John Freeman and tour the new 53,000 sq. ft. winery located at 10518 West Hwy 12, just west of Walla Walla.  Guests will also be served in a festive “construction” themed atmosphere as a play on the winery nearing its final stages of completion.

Waterbrook Spring Release “Sneak Preview” Hours: Friday & Saturday: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Sunday: 10a.m. – 4 p.m. Winery tours will be offered at 11 a.m., 2 p.m., and 4 p.m. daily. The $5 tasting fee includes a souvenir wine glass and guests will receive 10-30% off wine purchases during the weekend.

The official Grand Opening of Waterbrook’s new Winery and public Tasting Room will take place on June 5-6.

Walla Walla Wine Works Grand Opening, May 1 – 3 (formerly Waterbrook at 1st & Main)
The new winery opening also brings news of a retail transition for the Waterbrook tasting room on 1st & Main in downtown Walla Walla. The tasting room formerly known as Waterbrook will now reopen its doors this weekend as Walla Walla Wine Works. With “new vino” and a “new vibe,” the Walla Walla Wine Works Tasting Room will offer a vast portfolio of premium Washington wines including: Apex Cellars, The Magnificent Wine Co., Pendulum, Waterbrook 1st & Main exclusives and more!

Walla Walla Wine Works Spring Release Grand Opening Hours: Friday: 11 a.m. – 8 p.m., Saturday: 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., Sunday: 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. A complimentary tasting of select Washington wines is available with a $5 tasting fee for Reserve wines. Guests who sign up to receive future promotional offers will receive 20% off weekend purchases.

Black & White is not just a wine label

April 28th, 2009

Charles Smith, winemaker of KVintners and the Magnificent Wine Company,  has unveiled a large scale art piece on the side of a building on Main Street,  Waitsburg, WA. Known for his iconic black and white labels, Smith takes his marketing acumen to a new level with a conceptual art statement about America past, present and future.

Spring Release Weekend 09 ‘Must See’ List

April 26th, 2009
Spring Release is the unofficial kick off to a new season of wine tasting in the Walla Walla Valley, but this year, there is a special emphasis on music, special events and food to accompany the newly released wines. Walla Walla Wine News has more than 40 wine-related events happening at wineries, galleries and other venues throughout the valley.  Here, as we countdown to this year’s Spring Release Weekend ~ May 1-3, is our “must-see” list.

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1) Look for a new cohesiveness with the 20 airport wineries and related retail businesses, Walla Walla Roastery and Gilded Glass Studio. This year, they are coming together to market themselves as a destination ~ Historic Walla Walla Airport. They are currently planning a special summer event and possibly a map of the airport wineries later this year.

2) Wine & Food: With the recent closing of five restaurants in Walla Walla (for an updated list of new hours and offerings, see our blog article), dinner reservations will be in short supply, so winemaker dinners are especially welcome. Check out the two evenings of Spring Release Winemaker Dinners happening at Waters Winery featuring Seattle Chef Tom Black. Price $75. For more info and to RSVP (509) 525-1590.

While at the airport this weekend, check out Skillet Street Food, a mobile Airstream kitchen. This Seattle-based eatery, recently featured in Time Magazine, will be serving up their awesome food at the Incubator wineries. The Incubator wineries now number five with CAVU Cellars and Kontos Cellars joining Adament Cellars, Trio Vintners and Lodmell Cellars.

3) Wine & Music into the night: Some wineries don’t wait for special weekends to rock!  Sapolil Cellars (Fridays and most Saturdays) and Dunham Cellar’s Hangar Lounge (Fridays) have live music every weekend until 10PM. Here are some other live music venues during Spring Release.

  • Friday, May 1, Forgeron Cellars will feature Larry Wilson from 5-7PM.
  • Saturday, Northwest Blues Diva McKenzie Page will be at Skylite Cellars from 11 – 4pm.
  • Cougar Crest Winery features Mike Waggoner, Saturday, May 2nd, 6-9PM $10 Cover.

4) Wine & Golf: Walla Walla’s newest golf course, Wine Valley Golf Course is now open on Frenchtown Road just down from Long Shadows Vintners, also open this release weekend.

5) Art & Wine. Friday, May 1 is the first Friday of 2009 Artwalk, participating downtown galleries/wineries will be open until 8PM.

  • Willow’s Gallery: Opening night for their new performance art piece “ Pandora’s Box”  5 – 8PM. Note: parental discretion advised
  • Clay in Motion on Hwy 11 in Milton-Freewater is hosting winery Stella Fino on Saturday, May 2. The winery will also be open both days at their Stateline Road winery.

6) Wine & Brunch:  Three Rivers Winery once again hosts their club members’ brunch Sunday morning.  Forgeron Cellars has a Saturday brunch for their Anvil Club members and guests.  New! Northstar Winery is hosting a Sunday brunch open to everyone from 11AM-1PM. $25/$20 club. For more info & to RSVP 509 525-6100.

7) Wine & Chocolate:  Journey to Milton-Freewater for delectable Petit Noirs chocolates and meet one of the newest wineries in town, SuLei Cellars on their Spring Release debut.

8) Wine & Wheat: May is a perfect time to head out the Middle-Waitsburg Road and visit winemaker Jill Noble at Couvillion Winery. On the way to enjoying Jill’s wonderful wines, drink in the rolling hills of the Palouse and wheat fields that extend as far as the eye can see.

9) Wine & the stars: SYZYGY will be featuring an exciting new art exhibit~ the Astronomical works of Jon Lomberg, colleague of famed astronomer Carl Sagan. Lomberg designed animation for the film CONTACT and won an EMMY Award for his work on Sagan’s TV series COSMOS.

10) Our Farmers’ Market opens starts this weekend, Saturday and Sunday 9 AM- 1PM.

Most wineries will be open Friday through Sunday with special open houses & wine club events happening just about everywhere on Friday. Check out our event listings for more information. Celebrate Spring Release safely!

Unleash your inner blogger and win a WW weekend!

April 2nd, 2009

There are only two weeks left to enter Tourism Walla Walla’s My Walla Walla Weekend contest. All you need to do is share your favorite Walla Walla surprises for the chance to win a weekend getaway. twwcontest-button

Four lucky winners will each be rewarded with a weekend trip for two, behind-the-scenes passes to seasonal events and an opportunity to contribute a guest column on Tourism Walla Walla’s blog! Send your memories and win a Walla Walla Weekend!

The contest runs through Friday, April 17.

Submit your entry and see complete contest details at http://blog.wallawalla.org/contest

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