Last weekend a bunch of crazy winos descended upon Walla Walla, WA to take over an estate (Basel Cellars, also known as Wine Camp) and to taste a boatload of Walla Walla wines at the Pac NW Soiree II. The Soiree on July 3rd was organized by Sir Willy of Wally Walla. The Queen of Hearts along with Sir Willy booked nine couples into
Basel Cellars . The Basel Cellars’ Rats included the King and Queen of Hearts, the Pinot Envys, the Winetexs, the Tyees, the Seaquams, the Lafon Rochets, Eric and T White, the Blobbys and some of Seaquam's Canadian friends. Joining the Rats were the Red4Life’s and the Red Red Vines from the WS board.
Thursday night the group descended into Walla Walla upon a restaurant called 26 Brix. We weren’t in town yet so I can’t comment on the wine and food that evening. Everyone was happy and moving around well from lounge chair to the pool and back the next day.
Friday night the group foraged for provisions and came home with about 40 pounds of hamburger and a load of Walla Walla sweet onions all of which ended up on the grill. Sir Seaquam, the King of Hearts and many others proved to be fine chefs. Below is a list of the wines:
7/2/04 Evening
1990 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin La Grande Dame Rose
2000 Kistler Les Noisetiers Chardonnay
1999 Selbach Oster Riesling Auslese * (one star) Zeltinger Sonnenuhr (is this the right one?)
1993 Domaine de la Romanee Conti Romanee St. Vivant
1996 Domaine Daniel Rion Vosne Romanee Les Chaumes
2002 Deisen Grenache Barossa Valley
2001 Failla Pinot Noir Keefer Ranch
2001 Quilceda Creek Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon Washington (2 bottles)
1996 Barossa Valley Estate E&E Black Pepper Shiraz
1999 Sandelford Shiraz Margaret River Mount Barker
1997 Pride Reserve Claret
2001 Marquis Philips S2 Cabernet Sauvignon
1995 Domaine Tempier Bandol
1983 Gould Campbell Vintage Port
1989 Graham’s Vintage Port Malvedos
1992 Warre’s Quinta de Cavadinha
1963 Dow’s Vintage Port
1983 Graham’s Vintage Port
There should be some tasting notes to come on these wines. I'm sure I didn't get all of them because there were "special decanters" everywhere. Blobby's supply of Vintage Port is pretty staggering. Next up is the PacNW Soiree II.