Every year Walla Walla Valley wineries celebrate the start of the wine touring season with Spring Release in early May. The new vintage release is one of the most exciting times at every winery.
During Spring Release Weekend visitors can be among the first to enjoy newly released wines and speak with winemakers about the new vintage and gain insight into the creative winemaking process. It's an excellent opportunity to visit wineries that are typically closed to the public or accept visitors by appointment only. Also, many wineries will offer special activities such as vertical tastings, winery tours, winemaker dinners, live music, and much more.

Lucky for us it felt like summer during our entire wine swinging trip to Walla Walla. Our focus was newly released wines and discovering wineries we haven't been to yet. We visited a dozen of wineries and tasted over 50 wines. Here are some highlights from our trip with some exciting finds, mostly new vintage.

As always we try to be as objective as possible: these reviews are not sponsored, and we don't get paid to promote any particular bottle or winery.

One of the first impressive new releases on our trip was 2016 The Stones Speak Syrah by Saviah Cellars.

At first, it was kind of funky, and as we let the wine time to breathe and open up the prune, chocolate, smoke, cumin, and earthy aromas come out. The Stones flavor profile is a powerful combination of ripe black plum, dark chocolate, and coffee nibs. It does need to open up to shine and has the potential to age for another 10-15 years. We got a bottle to give it a try in another 5-10 years, and we'll let you know how it tastes, but you got to follow us to find out.

Saviah also released three other wines: 2014 Petite Verdot, 2015 Cabernet Franc and 2018 Star Meadows White blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.

The next notable new release 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Pheasant Run Vineyard comes from the warmer site of boutique winery Solemn Cellars. The fun fact about this wine that the cooler site at this vineyard is about 50 yards away and there's a noticeable difference between two Cab Savs growing next to each other. 2016 Pheasant Run has more a dark fruit profile with plum leading the way and complemented by red currant, cocoa, cedar, and toast.

Northstar Winery offered seven wines for tasting with three new wines: 2018 Rosé of Cabernet Franc, 2017 Cosmic Egg - entry level easy-to-like Cabernet Sauvignon with a very cool label and 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Walla Walla Valley.

We would like to highlight 2018 Rosé because it was one of the top two Rosé wines we tasted during Spring Release. It was a well-balanced wine that felt more substantial than your average pink. We loved it so much that included Northstar we one of our best picks among Oregon and Washington rosé wines we tried in spring of 2019.

2016 Trine by Pepper Bridge Winery is a new vintage of Bordeaux inspired blend with almost equal parts of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot with a tiny bit of Petit Verdot and Malbec. True to the varietal, it displays the aromas black currant leaf, red flowers, and tart cherry. On the palate, the flavors of plum and cherry complemented by chocolate and toast. Trine is one of the pricier wines we tasted during the trip, but its finesse and complexity can make you overlook the price tag.

The other new wines by Pepper Bridge were 2018 Sauvignon Blanc and 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon.

The next stop was Balboa Winery with two new wines for Spring Release: 2018 Grüner Veltliner and 2018 Balboa Rosé.

2018 Grüner is our pick because it was very close to what we come to expect from this Austrian varietal. This perfumed Grüner greeted us with lime, pear, white blossom and mineral aromas, and followed dry palate of nectarine, yellow apple, and lime pie. It's a perfect wine for a summer afternoon.

We also had a chance to taste wine from their sister winery opened for the occasion - 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon by Beresan. It was a sublime experience that demonstrated what Walla Walla Valley capable of producing given the tender care and time for the wine to mature. Beresan Cabernet Sauvignon made us think of some of the top tiered wines of Bordeaux. It's balanced, velvety and chewy and presses all the right buttons on the palate.

Amavi Cellars tasting flight consisted of four wines, including newly released 2018 Rosé and 2017 Syrah.

Amavi's Rosé of Cabernet Franc attracted us with its floral aromas and a savory red currant on the palate. We described this wine as one of our top picks from Oregon and Washington rosé we tasted in the spring of 2019.

On the next stop, we tasted four exciting new wines from Dusted Valley Winery.

The new releases were 2017 Chardonnay, Rhone-inspired blend 2017 Squirrel Tooth Alice, 2016 Rachis Syrah, 2016 Malbec.

2016 BFM is a Bordeaux inspired blend with 82% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon and a little bit of Petit Verdot and Malbec. It was our favorite Merlot, and we liked it more than some more expensive ones we tasted on this trip. BFM has a seductive combination of dark fruit, cocoa nibs, herbs and smoke both on the nose and palate. No wonder since 2010 vintage it consistently scored 90+ points.

Watermill Winery has a diverse wine portfolio and, probably, one of the best values in Walla Walla Valley when we think about quality and price.

2017 Chardonnay is true to the varietal and might challenge more expensive wines from the valley. It felt closer to French Chablis than oaky California Chard.

2016 Cabernet Franc can stand next to good quality Chenin, and 2016 Carménère can kick Chilean wines butt.

On the upper end, Watermill makes excellent wine from the fruit of some of the most valuable and unique AVAs of Walla Walla and charge 30-40% less for it than better-known labels are. Take advantage while you can.

One of the highlights of our Spring Release adventure was was out guided tour to the vineyards with Watermill Winery commercial director, Alex Hedges. We learned about the soil conditions, climate, and other critical environmental details affecting the grape growing and winemaking process in Walla Walla Valley.

Barons Winery had 2018 Sauvignon Blanc and 2017 Semillon for Spring Release.

We were very impressed by 2018 Sauvignon Blanc because it has what many winemakers are looking for in this varietal: perfumed nose and crisp, yet balanced acidity. Moreover, in a blind tasting, some might think it's from New Zealand because of the aromatics of passion fruit, grapefruit, and mineral notes - the hallmarks of that region. The flavors of apple, grapefruit, and leafy greens ring Sauvignon Blanc and make this wine an excellent pairing to seafood, vegetable dishes or salads.

Once again, Walla Walla Valley showed us that it is the most unique and dynamic wine region in the United States, capable of producing world-class wines of many varietals thanks to its diverse array of terroirs. It showed us that winemakers are not afraid to experiment and have the ability to borrow the best practices from both New World and Old World winemakers.

We often find hidden treasures on our wine swinging adventures and love to share those with you. As always, our content is professional, non-sponsored, and we strive to be objective and balanced.