Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/807387
{ SOMMjournal.com } 71 Bridge Winery owner Norm McKibben, of Reveal 2017. "I learned quickly that this is a terroir-driven AVA," Bledsoe says. "Wines from one par t are distinct from other par ts of the valley." With 2,900 acres of vineyard spanning Eastern Washington and Oregon, the Walla Walla Valley AVA comprises four distinct soil terroirs. At the lowest elevations, layers of loess cover earlier deposits from the Missoula floods, imbuing the vines grown on the terraces and low hills with rich textures and mineral notes. Seven Hills Vineyard, one of the oldest in the AVA, is part of the SeVein complex, birthplace of 11 wines offered at the 2017 Reveal, including Pepper Bridge Winery's 2015 Bordeaux Blend, created by winemaker and co-owner Jean-François Pellet. In The Rocks District sub-AVA, the alluvial fan of cobblestone gravel reflects heat, while roots are forced to dig deep through well-drained soils below for moisture. Buty Winery winemaker Chris Dowsett created his 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon of the Stones from Clone 8 grapes from Buty's Rockgarden Estate Vineyard. These six cases represent the entire production. The rest of the crop is destined for blending, but Dowsett wanted to showcase the fruit's and the vineyard's true nature for Reveal. The Rockgarden Estate Vineyard produces concentrated, aromatic grapes, with natural acidity and minerality. Owner Nina Buty keeps a tall jar of fist-sized rocks in her tast - ing room, harvested from the vineyard. She says her goal is always to display in her wines the characteristics of the site, even when 200 feet of uninterrupted cobble at Rockgarden means it was "planted with a crowbar." A little higher in the valley's foothills, at elevations from 1,200 to 1,500 feet, thick layers of silt loam overlie basalt bedrock. Pellet's entry from his own Amavi Cellars, five cases of 2015 Grenache, grew on vines at the Summit View Vineyard, situated on a slope above Seven Hills Vineyard. Doubleback Winery's 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon also originated in this terrain at the McQueen Vineyard, with an elevation of 1,349 feet. At the highest elevations, above 1,400 feet, thin, rocky silt coats steep slopes of fractured basalt. Cooler-climate varietals like Riesling and Pinot Noir can be found here, in the lowest diurnal variation in the valley, but Bordeaux grapes also love the character-building stress of the terrain's low water-holding capacity. This is rough coun - try. Tertulia Cellars' Elevation Vineyard climbs from 1,500 to 1,700 feet and is perhaps the steepest in North America, at 39 degrees grade, according to winemaker Ryan Raber. Vines share the turf with deer, moose and cougars. "It's wild out there," Raber says. He favors Old World methods, racking his wine with the soutirage method, and using esquive-style bungs wrapped in river reed. Raber's Reveal lot of Malbec was fermented in barrels and aged for 16 months in new French oak. But the multi-faceted terroir of the Walla Walla Valley is only part of the story. The talent here is as expressive and diverse as the soils, and the valley has plenty of room for even newcomers to shine. One of the more interesting efforts of the event might be Lot No. 19 from College Cellars of Walla Walla, the label operated by Walla Walla Community College's enology and viticulture program. The curriculum is well-tested— graduates now work in the industry all over the country, and many local winemakers trained there—as is the quality of the wine. The College Cellars entry from 2016 sold twice when enthusiastic bidding drove the winery to offer a second lot. This year's team was mentored by winemaker Marty Clubb, owner of L'Ecole No. 41. Fruit for the lot came from L'Ecole's estate vineyard at Seven Hills, and was included in his own Cabernet Sauvignon, which he blended from four different sites. He had one simple instruction for his team—don't do what he did. Clubb wanted the students to find a different expression of the terroir, says WWCC instructor Sabrina Lueck. The result? "Spot on," she smiles. It's an indication of the talent, both realized and as-yet untapped, in Walla Walla. In a town where the motto is "Push the person in front of you and pull the one behind you," new expressions of the land are always fermenting. "To be able to walk the land and sense the energy, to taste the wine where it's made gives our story more relevance. There's a little bit of show-and-tell we can take on the road," says Buty, "but it's just not the same as being here in person." Nina Buty of Walla Walla–based Buty Winery. Her fascina- tion with rocks goes beyond what they lend her wines: she studied geology as an undergraduate in Walla Walla. Chef Andrae Bopp, owner of Andrae's Kitchen, Walla Walla's go-to destination for creative, casual food. Norm McKibben planted Seven Hills Vineyard in 1989, and launched Pepper Bridge Winery a decade later. McKibben is known as "a lion of the valley." Together with his partners, he is one of the earliest and most influential forces behind Walla Walla's wines.