We have been looking forward to the 2023 Walla Walla Wine Tour since it was canceled in 2020. Finally, it’s here!
Organized by Walla Walla Valley Wine, it was better than ever, with almost 50 wineries of Walla Walla Valley with over 200 wines. The vintages spread from 2017 to 2021. We wish we could taste them all. There were well-established labels like L’Ecole No 41, Saviah Cellars, Gramercy Cellars, Long Shadows, Abeja, Browne, Canvasback, Browne, Spring Valley, and many newcomers.
The most significant benefit of this event is the opportunity to chat with winemakers and get a scoop on the latest harvest and trends in Walla Walla Valley and the Washington state wine industry, and to taste and compare wines of dozens of wineries, saving a day of driving back and forth, not that we don’t enjoy the journey.
Wine Swinging Takeaways from Walla Walla Tour
2022 Vintage
One of the best news came from the winemakers excited about the 2022 Walla Walla vintage. It was a challenging start to the growing season, with snow in April setting back the vine’s blooming, and cooler than typical summer slowed down the ripening of the grapes by a few weeks.
Vintners were worried that grapes wouldn’t ripen by the time cold weather settled in the fall. Luckily, it was one of the most extended Indian summers in the Valley, with 75 F° weather in October beating the average temperatures by 10 degrees.
In the words of Brandon Moss, Gramercy’s winemaker, “Disastrous season start turned into a historic vintage to remember. The fall conditions were perfect for the berries, and the long hang time helped them get large and phenolically ripe. Vintner’s mood went from gloomy “what are we gonna do” in spring to “wow, this is the best vintage ever!”
What does it mean for us, wine swingers? There will be lots of outstanding wine!
Walla Walla Terroir
Walla Walla Valley continues to define itself in search of the “holy grail” wine by adding more AVAs (American Viticultural Areas), planting more vines, and exploring more grape varietals.
There are more site-specific bottlings than ever, and producers ensure wine lovers know the prized fruit they are getting in the bottle. On the other hand, some winemakers take advantage of the synergies of different vineyards by blending them together to produce more sophisticated and delicious wine. Still, the best is yet to come.
As David Flaherty, the Marketing Director for the Washington State Wine Commission, said, “Washington wine industry potential is at least three times the size of today. While we already have the most unique wine appelation in the world – Rock district, the best is yet to come. Maybe, our best wine ever haven’t been made yet, and the vineyard it will come from is not yet planted!”
What does it mean for us, wine swingers? More great wine!
Why Walla Walla Wines?
While Washington is the second largest wine-producing state in the USA, it’s a distant second behind California, dominating the market with 90% American wine production.
Only a tiny portion of Washinton wine comes from Walla Walla wineries, almost all of them are a boutique with less than 5,000 cases of annual production. Unlike in California, large producers are hardly ever present in Walla Walla.
Moreover, the pioneering spirit that left Napa due to the high cost of real estate and wine production is alive and thriving in Walla Walla and other regions of Washington.
The modern-day Edisons, Bells, Teslas, and Wrights of wine come to Walla Walla to start new wineries, experiment and create, not produce, wine. That’s why Walla Walla is a uniquely diverse region where wine lovers can try wines made from 37 grape varietals alongside Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and other well-known varietals.
What does all of that matter? For locals, it may seem like there are lots of Walla Walla wine, but most of it is a boutique production, and it’s less than a drop in a bucket of American wine production, let alone the world.
So anyone who had Walla Walla wine belongs to a select group of humans who ever tried them, and likely 99.99% of humanity will never get a chance! There is simply not enough of this exceptional wine made.
Feel special yet? Maybe it’s time to get a bottle of Walla Walla wine?
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