Our second day at the Wine Bloggers Conference was again packed with opportunities to learn more about wine. We even had the chance to meet a handful of winery owners/winemakers with Woodinville tasting rooms.
For lunch (and tastings) we walked a few blocks down the road from the Marcus Whitman hotel to Gard Vintners and Truth Teller Winery. I chose to have my lunch over at Gard Vintners.
The tasting lineup at Gard started with the 2017 Freyja, a 64% Viognier and 36% Roussanne blend. We moved on to the 2017 Sauvignon Blanc, then the 100% Grenache 2017 Grand Klasse Reserve Rosé. The selection of red wines was just as impressive.
My favorite was the 2012 Grand Klasse Syrah. It had jammy notes of plum and blackberry and was full bodied, but still, light on the palate.
Carrie chose to have her lunch wine tasting session at Truth Teller. She had the chance to meet owner/winemakers Chris and Dawn Loeliger and learn about their wines. I was able to taste the 2017 Frolic Viognier, which had notes of fresh fruit and was slightly sweet on the palate.
Truth Teller Winery welcomed bloggers and wine walkers to their downtown Walla Walla tasting room. We loved the friendly atmosphere there! Despite the rainy weather, Main Street was bustling!
Back at the hotel, our first breakout session of the day was a beautiful tasting called Bubbles and Bites; a toast to food and wine pairing. Sommelier Sarah Tracey led us through this presentation that paired sparkling wines from Gloria Ferrer with small bites that lit up our palates. A standout to me was the textural pairing that matched a 2010 Anniversary Cuvee and bacon wrapped scallops with Meyer lemon aioli. Delicious!
This cheese tray was just one of the wonderful displays on our table from Cheeses of Europe during the cheese and wine session. This was a fabulous tasting (who can resist delicious cheeses and wine?) presented by the Cheese Twins, Charlie and Michael Kalish. I love Brie and Camembert so I was in heaven. We tried a gorgeous Mimolette (the bright orange cheese you see in the photo) that I think would make the most incredible grilled cheese sandwich.
During our speed blogging hour, we were able to sample wines from 10 different winemakers in five minute, rapid-fire tastings. Head winemaker Ryan Raber from Tertulia Cellars poured their 2014 Great Schism Reserve Red, a blend of mostly Grenache and Syrah.
Carrie and I were excited to find a little time to walk through downtown Walla Walla and explore. We didn’t have the chance to do a full tasting at Otis Kenyon, but we look forward to visiting their Woodinville tasting room soon!
We plan to make it back to Walla Walla this Spring. I was so impressed with how friendly people were and by the fact that everything was less than ten minutes away. It was a nice escape from Seattle traffic. We loved the opportunity to represent Woodinville Wine at the Wine Bloggers Conference!
~ Jen
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