Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/688647
76 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } JUNE/JULY 2016 { pacific northwest } BENEATH A WALL COVERED IN PAINTINGS, Rick Small pours a 1998 Woodward Canyon Walla Walla Valley Cabernet. It's April, a day before Reveal Walla Walla Valley Wine, Walla Walla's first-ever trade-only auction, and around the room nearly 50 winemakers are pouring whites and reds—old and new—to som - meliers and chefs and retailers. The Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance spent months attracting trade from across the U.S. to come to a trade-only auction for Walla Walla Valley exclusive wines. Come they did, if not in the droves that Premiere Napa Valley has managed to attract over its 19 years, but respectable first-year numbers all the same. The crowd was big enough to ensure every lot sold, small enough to give hope to those angling for that lot of Woodward Canyon or Leonetti. The Sunday night reception isn't the pre-auction barrel tasting but an opportunity for buyers—som - meliers, chefs, retailers and e-tailers and more—to taste from wineries around the Valley, and to sample some library wines, too. Consultant Doug Frost, MS, MW, bounces between Pepper Bridge and a high-top, between L'Ecole and the table, diligently clicking away at his tablet and taking notes on every wine. Chefs and somms and winemakers mingle and taste. For those less familiar with the Valley it's a chance to get to know the place and, given the handful of library wines pres - ent, also to see how Walla Walla Valley wines age. The sun is just lowering in the sky as the reception ends and Reveal attendees are shuttled to Dusted PHOTO: WALLA WALLA VALLEY WINE ALLIANCE/RICHARD DUVAL IMAGES Raising the STAKES THE WINE TRADE MAKES OFF WITH EXCLUSIVE LOTS—AND DEALS—IN WALLA WALLA by Julie H. Case Sleight of Hand pouring at the Library Tasting event at Foundry Vineyard.