The Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance's third annual Celebrate Walla Walla Valley Wine to be held June 18-20, will focus on The World of Merlot, a varietal that the Valley is especially known for. It is an event that is not to be missed. Here are the highlights.

The Vintage Pour - Thursday, June 18 - This event, to be held at Dunham Cellars will feature current releases and library wines from many of the Valley's wineries. This is a rare opportunity to taste a wide range of world class wines.

The Winemaker's Panel - Friday, June 19 - At this event, to be held at the Marcus Whitman Hotel, participants will taste Merlot wines from the Walla Walla Valley, the Napa Valley, Bordeaux, and Tuscany. The panel will consist of:

Marty Clubb, Walla Walla Valley

Casey McClellan, Walla Walla Valley

Dave "Merf" Merfeld, Walla Walla Valley

Renée Ary, Napa Valley

Vince Lignac, Saint Emilion, France

Virginie Saverys, Tuscany, Italy

Sean Sullivan, Panel Moderator

Guest Speakers:

Fred Dame, Master Sommelier

Stephen Tanzer, Wine Critic

Merlot Wine Tasting and Dinner - Friday Evening, June 19 - To be held at the Reid Center at Whitman College, this event will feature wines poured by various Walla Walla Valley wineries along with a walk around dinner prepared by award winning chefs.

Winemaker Dinners - Saturday Evening, June 20 - In conjunction with Celebrate Walla Walla Wine, wineries will be hosting dinners at various locations, offering great opportunities to learm more from the winemakers. The parrticipating wineries and dinners can be found on the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance website.

I highly recommend participating in The World of Merlot. The past two Celebrate Walla Walla Valley Wine events, the first on Syrah and the second, on Cabernet Sauvignon proved to be highly informative and enjpyable. They also proved that the Walla Walla Valley does produce world class wines. This year's events are sure to be great successes.

For more information and tickets, go to www.wallawallawine.com/celebrate.