Tomorrow, May 1st, is the beginning of Spring Release Weekend in Walla Walla. Some wineries will be releasing their first 2014 whites and 2013 reds. Here's my preliminary assessment of these vintages.

The 2014 vintage was a "normal" one in that the harvest followed a warm, but not hot summer, and most of the grapes were picked by the end of October. The near ideal conditions resulted in whites that are bright, well fruited and nicely balanced. A few 2014's will be reviewed in the June issue of the Review of Washington Wines (including Kontos Cellar's lovely Gossamer white and College Cellars' vivacious Viognier). But most of the 2014 whites have not been in the bottle long, so they will be in a special report, "Introducing the 2014 Whites," in the July issue.

Here, I should interject that the 2014 vintage produced a bevy of tasty Rosé wines. Last Tuesday, we attended a tasting put together by Mike Eberle (Maison Bleue) and there were quite a few nice Rosés. A report, "The 2014 Rosé Wines Roundup," will be in next week's Review Blog

As for the 2013 reds, I stated in my Blog of 20 December, 2014 in my Predictions for 2015, "Watch for the 2013's," adding, "The 2013's combine both structure and fruit, making them finely balanced, yet ageworthy wines." My tasting since have borne out this assessment. In the June issue of the Review, you will see reviews of College Cellars' terrific 2013 "GSM" and Syrah, and Sean Boyd's Rotie Cellars to-die-for 2013 Southern and Northern Blends.

More later!