Last weekend, November 7-9, was Fall Release Weekend in the Walla Walla Valley. It was a busy and successful weekend for everyone, the wineries, the visitors and the community. Here are my highlights.

On Friday morning we drove up to the end of Cottonwood Road to Reynvaan Family Vineyards. There, we tasted the winery's 2013 Syrahs which will be released next fall. They are knock-out wines, with extraordinary depth and completeness. A report will be in the January 2015 issue of the Review of Washington Wines. In the afternoon, we stopped at Rotie Cellars, where two new wines were unveiled, a 2012 "Dre" 100% Mourvèdre and a 2012 "Swordfight" 50/50 Mourvèdre/Syrah blend, both to be reviewed in January. In the evening we went to Foundry Vineyards' tasting room/art gallery and saw the opening of Marie Watt's stacked and hanging blankets installation, and tasted the winery's new releases, also to be reviewed in January. Afterwards, we went to Robison Ranch for the winery's club party.

On Saturday, at Long Shadows, some fabulous new 2012's were poured, all 19.5/20 points wines, to be reviewed in the December issue. Afterwards, there was a stop at Gramercy Cellars where Greg Harrington's new 2012's were stellar, also to be in the December issue. Then in the evening, we went to Corliss' annual Fall Release Event where a vertical tasting of the 2009, 2006, 2005 and 2004 Estate Red wines was presented (a report will be in next week's blog).

On Sunday morning, we went to Tertulia Cellars where we tasted four impressive new 2012's by Ryan Raber (winemaker) and Ryan Driver (vineyard manager). These will be in the January 2015 issue. Then we stopped at Gifford Hirlinger where we tasted a delicious 2012 Estate Malbec with Melissa Berghan, also to be in the January issue. In the afternoon, we  joined Gary and Pam Gormley for a tasting of Oregon Pinot Noirs, along with onesies from California and the Walla Walla Valley (a report to come in the next blog). I also tasted two fine 2010's from Fort Walla Walla Cellars that will be reviewed in January.

More later!