Maison Bleue Tasting Room (Walla Walla, WA)
The first thing you notice when you walk in to Maison Bleue’s downtown Walla Walla tasting room is how spacious it is. Not that it is big, or empty, but spacious. The ceilings must be 15 feet tall. It is the height over head that really contributes to that feeling of spaciousness. The décor adds to that feeling; furnishings are simple, tasteful and sparse. The walls are bare, but for two chalk boards to inform you about the wine, and painted a dark cobalt blue which adds to the feeling of space and class. They climb to a beautiful white plaster brocade ceiling.
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Meyer Family Vineyards
Sally and Don Harrison hosted a wonderful evening in their beautiful home to introduce 30 of their friends to the wines of Meyer Family Vineyards. It was a terrific evening of wonderful wine, delicious canapés, great conversation as well as a chance to meet the winery’s proprietors: Janice Stevens and Jak Meyer.
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Donelan is a boutique family-run winery located in Santa Rosa, CA, at the North end of the Sonoma Valley. Donelan makes small batches of Chardonnay, Grenache, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Rousanne from grapes purchased from some of Sonoma’s finest vineyards.
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An American in Spain
Dave Phinney is one of the rapidly rising stars in the American wine-making scene. From relatively humble beginnings as a harvest worker at Robert Mondavi in 1997 he started making wine for himself and others in 1998. He has also worked at Opus One and Whitehall Lane. He has since created his own highly successful label in Napa Valley called Orin Swift. The name is an homage to his parents; Orin being his father’s second name and Swift his mother’s maiden name. Orin Swift produces several wines, most notably a Zinfandel-based blend called The Prisoner. The Prisoner and its baby brother, Saldo (also a Zinfandel-based blend, sourced from vineyards across California, not just Napa) were sold in 2010 to Augustin Huneeus, owner of Napa’s Quintessa and Chile’s Veramonte.
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