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.

Lynne Chamberlain of JLC Winery, recently opened her Spofford Station Foothills Vineyard tasting room, just across Stateline into Oregon – easiest way to get there is via Braden Road (look for the sign at Gifford Hirlinger), then 2 miles down Elliot Road, following the road until you reach the first driveway on your left. Open most Fridays and Saturdays with vineyard tours by reservation.

Doubleback, Drew & Maura Bledsoe’s winery, release their inaugural vintage – 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon – this month with by-invitation-only tasting on Saturday, June 5.

The Marcus Whitman Hotel has plans for a tasting room on their corner of 2nd & Rose. For more information, visit our real estate listings page.

Sapolil Cellars have a second tasting room planned for Ellensburg.

Yellow Hawk Cellar are ceasing operations and are closing their 2nd Ave tasting room on July 3rd. Until then, they are discounting their wine inventory to move it out.

Wine Events: June

Friday & Saturday, June 18 & 19: Vintage Walla Walla. The Wine Alliance’s stellar vintage tasting event with scores of other activities for attendees.

Saturday, June 19: The Vintner’s Table presents JLC’s winemaker Lynne Chamberlain at her Spofford Station Foothills Vineyards for a vineyard tasting, followed by a wine dinner and campfire.

Thursday, June 24 ~ Sunday, June 27: Washington and Walla Walla’s wine industry welcome the Wine Bloggers Conference, when bloggers from all over North America experience our brand of wine culture.

Saturday June 26: Chef Andrae Bopp presents La Porte Brune’s 4th Underground Dinner. The true movable feast takes place once again at a new location for this 4th Walla Walla dinner. Enjoy an exquisite five courses paired with wines of the world. The menu with the wine pairings will be posted a few weeks prior to the dinner. Exact location will be emailed just days before. To get on the invite list, visit the website and submit a comment with your name and number of people.

Restaurant & Bar News:

Crossroads Steakhouse are leaving Veterans Memorial Golf Course and opening in the former 26brix location on west Main Street.

Something is happening regarding a new dining venture in downtown Walla Walla by the owners of Whoop’em up Hollow Cafe of Waitsburg. When we know more, we’ll post it here, on Facebook and on Twitter @wwwinenews

Look for Waitsburg’s brew pub, Laht Neppur, to add a second location  at the corner of Spokane & Alder.

The Pita Pit, on the corner of Colville & Alder, in the former Luscious location, are adding a full bar to their services.

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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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Here is a wine visitor’s update on the good food stories happening in Walla Walla:

As it is impossible to visit every Walla Walla winery this Holiday Barrel, at WWWN .com we have surveyed the offerings and compiled our ‘must-see’ list. There are many, fine wineries in our valley, so this is only a short-list. If we have missed your favorite winery or your favorite story, let us know!

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OK, it’s our little secret. When asked what Walla Walla wines we drink, many of us respond with some of the best names in this valley: Leonetti, Spring Valley, Cayuse or Pepper Bridge.  However, when asked specifically what wine we opened tonight, we will give up our current favorite go-to-Walla Walla wine.

It is the bottle you grab when only you want a glass of wine with dinner.  Or when you just can’t bring yourself to open a more expensive wine when eating lasagna, pizza or hamburgers.  So when you find a great weekday wine, it is a treasure!

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Traditionally, the first full weekend in November has been the only time Cayuse Vineyards opens their winery doors to their allocation list.  Now, many Walla Walla wineries use this weekend to officially celebrate the end of harvest and release their newest wines.

We have compiled our list of winery hours, new releases and special events in a take-along PDF. Use this as your guide to this year’s Fall Release Weekend. Many wineries have special events including winemaker dinners, art exhibits, food offerings, etc.

As a preview to Fall Release, we will be posting a new blog everyday this week and will be featuring guest bloggers including a ‘Walla Walla Fall Release Survival Guide’ from the famed Wild Walla Walla Wine Woman, Catie McIntyre Walker.

Don’t miss guest blogger and winemaker Denise Slattery of Trio Vintners as she details airport winery happenings and her picks on what not to miss.

Be sure to check back every day as we add events  and new blogs.

Reminder:  If you are coming to Fall Release in Walla Walla, you will have already made your lodging arrangements, but don’t wait to plan where you will be eating. Our restaurants will be very busy this coming weekend, so call early to make sure you have dinner reservations.

We look forward to seeing you here in Walla Walla. Even if you can’t make it to Fall Release, be sure to follow us on Twitter (@wwwinenews) as we tweet all through the weekend.

Have you heard the buzz about “Papa loves Mambo” filtering through the social media channels. At first, I was confused. Is Papa a wine? A band?  Or is it a state of mind emanating from a storefront on Main Street and is slowly taking a life of its own and changing downtown Walla Walla? Dare I say, all of the above?  And along the way, this little winery has  become an overnight success story!

For the uninformed, or anyone who doesn’t stay completely up to date on everything happening in our favorite little town in the corner of the state, technically Papa loves Mambo is a song made famous by Perry Como in the 50s. However, we know it best as a local latin-jazz band and a proprietary blend of Syrah, Sangiovese, and Cabernet Sauvignon crafted by Sapolil Cellars’.  Usually, the two modern versions can be found together in exuberant form at the only place at the moment to offer live entertainment on weekends in downtown WW.  We say, at the moment, for a posh new drinking with dancing venue will open this fall (corner Alder and 3^rd) that will bring life after work to that end of town.

Sapolil Cellars’ is a family winery owned by Bill & Linda Schwerin and their daughter, Abigail. Bill, a wheat farmer, started making wine about seven years ago. Linda has an interior design business and Abby lives in Los Angeles. They might have been one of any number of WW small wineries, trying to realize a dream by making some wine and maybe make a few dollars doing it. In Bill’s case, things changed when he took over a small corner in Linda’s Main Street shop just two doors down from Merchant’s Deli.

You see, Bill needed Main Street, and Main Street needed Bill. Bill is a genuine people-person, not someone who gets their nose into a computer or other projects and then has to wrench himself away to pour some wine. Bill gravitates to folks like a bee to honey.  In fact, the whole family is super friendly and spending any amount of time with them, makes you feel better about life. And that is even before you have their wine.

Before long, the little corner took over the front of the shop. Then, as it often does with these overnight wonders, the details get fuzzy, but somewhere along the way, Linda’s shop name came down, we began to see Abby a lot more often and they added live music every weekend.

In the beginning, it was a place for local musicians to jam on the old piano that serves as their tasting bar, then it started to catch on. Wine visitors stopped in, before and after dinner for a glass of wine, music and a warm welcome. Single-handedly, Sapolil Cellars’ was breathing life into downtown after 6PM.

The neighbors have noticed and we hear that starting this September, Merchants’ (who are now staying open on Fridays) will have a rotating roster of guest wineries pouring on Friday evenings.

As I said earlier, an overnight wonder! And the wine, well, their 2007 Papa loves Mambo (with its lovely Jeffrey Hill label) is now sold out! But don’t let that stop you from dropping in. They have several Syrahs and a Chardonnay to pour and they are looking forward to welcoming you.  Check out Abigail and Bill’s interview with ‘idrinkyourwine.com.’

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.

Eric Degerman of WinePress NorthWest reports that “Acclaimed chef Mike Davis, whose 26 Brix was among several in Walla Walla restaurants to close this winter, has been hired by the Seattle-base Heavy Restaurant Group.

Davis will head up the culinary program at three restaurants scheduled to open later this year in the Bellevue Towers — Purple Cafe & Wine Bar, Barrio, and Bliss.” more

Despite the news in January of five restaurant closures, there are good news stories happening in the local food scene of special interest to weekend visitors. 

*T. Maccarone’s, owner (Tom) has given Chef Jake Crenshaw an equity stake in the restaurant. Way to go! That’s how successful businesses are built. 

*Whitehouse Crawford have expanded both their bar area and bar menu giving the upscale restaurant a more casual option. 

*Saffron Mediterranean Kitchen’s Chef Ainsworth has made the James Beard list for Best Chef: Northwest (story below)

*Creektown Cafe now offer tamales and their outstanding desserts for take away. In addition, they now offer a Mid-Day Menu from 2:30 to 6pm as well as a new kids menu.

*Whoopemup Hollow Cafe and jimgermanbar are always compelling reasons to visit Waitsburg. However, Mardi Gras is extra special!

*Merchants now stays open on Friday nights until 10PM.  

*Salumiere Cesario has expanded their menu options and offer in-store seating and as soon as the weather cooperates, they’ll open their patio. 

*Someone’s In the Kitchen, WW’s cooking school on Rose Street, has a great menu of weekday lunch offerings and weekend dinners and cooking classes. Also kids classes. 

*WW Taco wagons always offer great value for terrific food.