A little dusting of snow over the Thanksgiving weekend is helping ensure that Walla Walla gets in the festive mood for the annual Holiday Barrel Tasting Weekend. Wineries are busy putting up lights, wreaths and Christmas trees in their tasting rooms  and in the cellar, winemakers are deliberating over which barrel to pull out for tasting that is sure to delight their visitors.

With more than 85 wineries with tasting rooms in the valley, it is impossible to visit every winery this festive weekend.

Here at WWWN .com, we have done the heavy lifting for you. We have surveyed the offerings and compiled our ‘Must-See’ list to add to your favorite winery stops. This year, our criteria include up & coming wineries, great parties, special events and our ongoing quest to taste the lesser known varietals. Of course, some of our picks fall into more than one category, which gives a visitor an even more compelling reason to put these wineries on your ‘Must-See” list.
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August is a glorious month to be in wine country. It is the last of the lazy days of summer for valley winemakers and grape growers as they enjoy this last bit of downtime by checking on their vineyards and arranging for their help, supplies and equipment.

It is the wheat farmers, who are busy right now;  the combines are in the fields and the Grain Trains are on the move. It will be a great harvest year with droughts in the world’s other growing areas giving a boost to American wheat prices!

Word from the grape growers is the veraison (when the grapes begin to change color) will be a bit late this year, pushing harvest into October throughout the valley.

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We are pleased to introduce a new feature for our What’s Up blog ~ a look ahead at upcoming events and news of interest to the wine visitor.

If you follow us on Facebook page or on Twitter, you will have gotten first word of these happenings.

Wineries on the Move:

Trio Vintners are the first of the incubator wineries to leave their airport location. Next month, look for their new tasting room on 2nd between Alder & Poplar Streets. They will use Forgeron Cellars as their wine production facility.

Also moving by late summer, Glen Fiona Winery, which is owned by Washington Wine & Beverage Company of Woodinville, will be relocating their tasting room to downtown. Update: Glen Fiona has not reopened a tasting room in Walla Walla. We’ve heard that they are selling the brand from their Silver Lake property in Woodinville. (more…)

When Leonetti started this weekend well more than a decade ago, who would have thought that more than 50 wineries would open their doors annually to join the celebration. For the complete listing of all the weekends events, visit our event calendar.

New Wineries:

Here is a listing of new wineries celebrating their first SRW (Spring Release Wknd). Make a point of checking them out and welcoming them to the party.

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Walla Walla’s wineries have shifted into high gear for this year’s Spring Release Weekend ~ Thursday, April 29-Sunday, May 2.  Wineries are planting flowerpots, mowing the vineyards and generally sprucing up their facilities, in preparation of more than 3000 valley visitors to this annual ritual of spring.

This year, more than 50 winery events have been posted on our events calendar. We can’t remember as many special events in previous years. This year’s offerings include wine dinners, barrel-making demos, music and more music and of course, great food to accompany the newest releases from the valley’s wineries.

Here are our best picks of special events for this great weekend! In addition, there are plenty of wine club events that can be found on our event listings.

Then, stay tuned next week when we release our list of the “Must-See Wineries” for 2010 Spring Release Weekend, including ones celebrating their first release and our short list of “always favorite” stops.

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By Guest Blogger: Denise Slattery

Tasting wine around the airport in Walla Walla is an excellent way to spend a wine- tasting day.  Once referred to as the “wine ghetto of Walla Walla” by Esquire Magazine (not sure this is a compliment or not!) it certainly does offer delicious treasures for even the most serious of wine collectors.  With over 18 wineries open on a regular basis, you’ll easily discover something wonderful to drink for dinner or a fabulous bottle to stash in the cellar.

Port of Walla Walla Wine Incubators

Up on Piper Ave., the Winery Incubators are a ‘must-see’ and, if you have not yet visited this destination, put the incubators on your wine tasting itinerary this fall.   Five start-up wineries in nearly identical buildings are nestled together in one place, each offering something different in their style and varietals.  Cavu Cellars, Adamant Cellars, Lodmell Cellars, Trio Vintners and Kontos Cellars make up the village and between them have dozens of wines on hand to sample. Stop by on any given day and you’ll most likely be greeted by the winemaker, or be able to spy the work he or she does.  Like many of the wineries at the airport, all the winemaking’s done right there, within full view of the tasting rooms.

Be aware, however, that ‘start-up’ does not necessarily mean ‘new’. The truth is that none of these folks are new to winemaking – just the commercial businesses are. In order to lease a space at the incubators the winery must be brand new.  At the end of the 6 year lease the winery must move out and make way for a new ‘baby winery’. The bare bones buildings allow the winemakers to fashion their own styles in a professional atmosphere and grow their brands.   The resulting quality of wine made here is certainly on par with what you would expect from the wines of the region; excellent wines produced from quality fruit grown in the region and made with great care and passion.

Denise Slattery is one of the trio of winemakers and owners of Trio Vintners in Walla Walla, Wa.