This past Thursday Waters Winery played host to the final Tasting Music event of the 2010 Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival. The festival just finished up it's third year of bringing some of the nations top classical music performers together for two weeks for nearly 30 performances throughout the valley.
Waters has played host to the Tasting Music series each year and is a brilliant setting for the event. The winery is situated on the south end of town just north of the Oregon border. Surrounded by rolling hills of wheat, apples, and grapes the views to the Blue Mountains to the east and south are unmatched.
The players were performing a beautiful piece that evening, Beethoven: Septet in E Flat, Op. 20. It featured a brilliant violinist, a violist, a cellist, a bassist, a horn player, a bassoonist and a clarinetist weaving together a stunning work. The Tasting Music series is always fun in that the performance is both educational (featuring frequent breaks in the music to fill the listeners in on the details of the piece as it progresses) and enjoyable (culminating with a performance of the work in whole). Plus, you get to drink wine! What is there not to like?
Waters was pouring a few wines that evening. They had the 2009 Substance Reisling, C.V. (this is their second label, but equally as tasty), the 2009 Waters Rose, WWV, the 2008 Waters Interlude, C.V. and the 2007 Waters Columbia Valley Syrah. My personal favorites of this bunch were the Interlude and the Rose.
The Interlude is a delicious Bordeaux blend featuring Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon with just a hint of Petit Verdot featuring grapes from vineyards throughout Washington State. The nose is ripe with dark berries and fresh earth and the palette imbued with bright berries, subtle spice and a luscious mouth feel. It is always one of my favorites from Waters year-in and year-out. You should probably get to know it!
This year's Rose I personally find to be quite perfect. I love a good dry Rose for summer and this one certainly fits the bill. With zero percent residual sugar, this Rose is a blend of roughly 70% Syrah and 30% Viognier and is sourced from some of my favorite vineyards, Loess and Forgotten Hills. The nose is filled with strawberry and magnolia, with a mouth of bright strawberry and rhubarb. The finish is both bone dry and fresh featuring a nice acid profile. This will certainly prove to be one of my go-to summer wines.
