By Guest Blogger: Sean Sullivan

As many of my friends know, my favorite game after a day of wine tasting is to go, person by person, through a series of questions about what stood out. For me, talking about wine is a big part of the fun. The questions inevitably go like this – What was the wine of the weekend? What was the winery of the weekend? What was the most exciting new winery we visited? What was the biggest disappointment?

For 2010 Walla Walla Fall Release Weekend, I have shared below my answers to these and other questions. If you attended Fall Release, feel free to join in the fun and post your thoughts to these questions or other things that stood out during your visit. If you missed Fall Release, Holiday Barrel Tasting is right around the corner on December 5^th and 6^th.

Wine of the Weekend – This is what I call the WOW Award.  Over the course of several days, it is not uncommon to try one hundred or more wines. The question – If you had to pick just one wine as standing out above others, what would it be? I cheated this time, and picked three. Sorry.

Gramercy Cellars John Lewis Reserve Syrah 2007 Not Released

In discussing this wine earlier this year, Gramercy Cellars winemaker Greg Harrington stated that he went “balls out” – fermenting the Les Collines grapes used for this wine 100% on stems. He said “I find that I can’t make great Syrah until it scares the crap out of me.” It may have scared the crap out of him when he made it, but it impressed the hell out of me when I tasted it. This awe-inspiring effort, which recently received a 96 point rating from Wine Advocate, will be released next year.

Rasa Vineyards Principia 2007 $80

Rasa Vineyards is a new Walla Walla winery. This wine is named after Isaac Newton’s famous work ‘Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.’ Latin for ‘Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy’, the work is often referred to simply as Principia. The name is a callout to the Naravane brother’s background in mathematics. Principia is a blend of Syrah from five different vineyards. This wine needs time to mature and show itself fully, but the results will be spectacular.

Cayuse Vineyards En Chamberlain 2008 Barrel Sample

There are some wines that, when I taste them, make me feel almost frightened. This is such a wine. When I think of this wine, the image of Michelangelo’s ‘The Creation of Adam’ appears in my head. Man and God coming imperceptibly close to touching. Despite its youth, the nose is lively and marked by earth, blood, violets, mineral, and smoked meat. The palate is about as close to perfect as I can conceive.

Winery of the Weekend – Of the wineries we visited, what one winery stood out for its entire line-up?

Gramercy Cellars – Writing about Gramercy Cellars earlier this year, I stated “If you are looking for a bandwagon on which to jump, now would be the time.” Today, I amend that statement. The sentiment was right but the analogy all wrong.  This was not an oncoming bandwagon but rather a rocket ship on the launch pad. Sampling through Gramercy’s current lineup, each wine is unique, compelling, extraordinary, and demanding of attention. This winery has achieved liftoff and is leaving the earth’s atmosphere. Where it will go, nobody knows, but it’s sure to be a fun ride.

Most Exciting New Winery – What new winery or winery you hadn’t visited before most excited you about Walla Walla wine?

Rasa Vineyards - Rasa Vineyards is a new winery founded by brothers Billo and Pinto Naravane. Rasa Vineyards currently makes two wines, one called Principia, described above, and one called QED. QED stands for Quod Erat Demonstratum which is often written in abbreviation at the end of a mathematical proof. It means essentially ‘I’ve proven what I set out to prove.’ If what the Naravane brothers set out to prove is that they can make exceptional syrah, the name could not be more appropriate. The proof is in the bottle.

Reynvaan Family Vineyards - Reynvaan Family Vineyards is a new Walla Walla winery. The family vineyard is located in the ‘Rocks’ region of the Walla Walla Valley AVA (can AVA status for this region be far off?). The vineyard is appropriately named ‘In the Rocks.’ The Reynvaan family recently established another vineyard by their picturesque family farm near the Blue Mountains. The initial releases from Reynvaan are two reds and one white wine. The Contender, the best of the three, is a compelling blend of Syrah and Marsanne. Tasting through the winery’s initial releases as well as barrel samples of next year’s wines, all are excellent with next year’s releases showing considerable additional maturity. While these wines show the thumbprint of consultant Christophe Baron, they are unique and show vineyard characteristics that only promise to become more intriguing as these young vines mature.

Party of the Weekend – Every winery pulls out all of the stops. Who put on the best show?

Robison Ranch Cellars – Robison Ranch is a new winery that was having its inaugural release party Fall Release Weekend. And was it ever. The winery is located on the family farm on Lower Waitsburg Road (off Hwy 12 east of downtown). Driving on the long dirt road leading to the ranch, I would never have imagined what awaited us. Inside one of the buildings was a full on party with a great band and a hundred or more people. This was no black tie event. Rather, hay bales served as seats. The winery had raffle giveaways every half-hour and had a roaring fire outside. What I loved about this party was that the family did it in their own style. Rather than bring in a local caterer, they had family and friends bring food. The result was by far (by far) the best spread of the weekend, including some to-die-for smoked salmon. This was a jubilant celebration of a winery’s first release and was the place to be.

WWWN comment: Robison Ranch Cellars is not open for Holiday Barrel 2009, however, their official launch will be Spring Release May 2010. Their website is currently in design and will be up shortly.

Disappointment of the Weekend – For all the highs, there must be some lows. These could be wines, wineries, or experiences. The question – What was your biggest disappointment of the weekend?

K Vintners – K Vintners was pouring out of the front room of the winery which made for extremely cramped quarters. We decided to leave after only sampling a couple of wines after practically having to crowd surf to the pouring tables. Another time I am afraid.

A full write-up of the weekend including tasting notes will be posted to my blog in December.

Sean P. Sullivan is editor of Washington Wine Report, an independent blog focused on bringing Washington wine to you and bringing you to Washington wine.