Sir Willy of Walla Walla (from the WS board) invited many Walla Walla area wineries to pour their wines at a massive tasting and dinner at the PacNW Soiree 11 on July 3, 2004. At the same time the Queen of Hearts started a thread on the WS forums way back in November of 2003 to start people along the trail to go to Walla Walla.

A great effort by both which paid off when the following forumites rallied to go out to Walla Walla: Singles and couples attending the PacNW Soiree II - King and Queen of Hearts, Sir Willy, Pinot Envy, Seaquam, Seaquam’s wine geek friends, Eric White, Enoselsa, Tyee, Blobby, Winetex, Pyang, RedRedvine, Lafon Rochet, Sparky2, Red4life.

The following wineries poured their wines at the party: Buty, Basel Cellars, Vierra, Russell Creek, Forgeron, Beresan, Five Star, Canoe Ridge, Northstar, James Leigh Cellars, Patrick M. Paul, Bergevin Lane, Dunham Cellars, Whitman Cellars, Pepper Bridge, Amavi, Spring Valley, Saviah Cellars, Cougar Crest, Latitude 46 N, Harlequin, Isenhower Cellars, Bunchgrass Winery, Fort Walla Walla Cellars, Dusted Valley Vintner's, Glen Fiona, Stephenson Cellars, Three Rivers, Patit Creek Winery, Walla Walla Village Winery, Zefina, Hightower, SYZYGY

Sir Willy was expecting more than 90 people to attend the Soiree and from the looks of it that was probably about right. The site of the Soiree, Basel Cellars, may never be the same. I did not come close to tasting but about half the wines as there were so many. Apologies to the wineries that were missed. Some of the wines I did taste and were stand-outs:

2002 James Leigh Cellars Palette Red Table Wine - $20 retail
a blend of 43% cab sauv, 43% merlot and 15% cab franc that was really drinking well

2002 Saviah Cellars Big Sky Cuvee - ~$35 retail
another nice blend of 56% merlot, 22% cab france and 22% cab sauv

2002 Dunham Cellars Syrah

2001 Spring Valley Walla Walla Valley Derby Cab Sauv

2001 Buty Cab Sauv Rediviva (sp)
cab & syrah blend

2002 SYZYGY Cab Sauv
this is the first cab from SYZYGY bottled only two weeks ago; needs time but very, very nice

I’m sure there were so many other good wines there that were tasted so please chime in with some notes.

Thanks to Sir Willy for all of her hard work. Events of this magnitude take an enormous amount of planning time and energy. Well-done!

Courtesy of course of my lovely wife, Teri (I didn't snap a single pic all weekend!)

Click here for people pics

Click here for pics of Basel Cellars

Click here for pics of the area immedaitely surrounding Basel

And, if you care...

Pics of the Walla Walla area

Pics of our short visit in Portland

Eric... the people pics are great... but there aren't any captions!

How do we know who is who. I saw the King, the Queen , and PE, but I don't think everybody knows them!

Great pictures. My fave is the "diary" one.

A few more photos

Basel Cellars (Wine Camp) and the PacNW Soiree II

If you need a password use: vinocellar

Eric - T is a pretty good photog. Nice photos! Thanks for posting.

Nice photos. Who's the guy in IMG 1869? He looks a lot like a guy who showed up 35 minutes late for a tour and tasting at Ken Wright last Summer, walked in, then did a 180 and disappeared.

Cool pictures. Looked to be quite a nice setting, too. Thanks for sharing!

Bud, I am working my way through and adding descriptions as time permits, will post again when completed.

Winetex and Eric:

Nice pics...why does always have a wine glass in their hands?

Teri & Winetex - great photos. Just went through them all and had many a chuckle. The Harley Davidson pool-bar reminded me of the Arietta (courtesy of Winetex and one of my WOTNs, if not WsOTWeekend). Lafon "on stage" is priceless.

Are all those golf balls still in the vineyard? I can just hear the tasting notes years from now..."Hmmm, Titliest on the nose, with a whiff of Maxfli...on the palate the nuance of a shanked Callaway..."

Teri, gorgeous pix of the estate. The moonrise, orchestrated by Pinto I presume, was out of this world. Your photos of surrounding Walla Walla area do it extreme justice.

I would like to thank my fellow Bocce-Ballers for the strenuous exercise and gripping competition. One of the funniest things I saw that weekend was bocce balls rolling into the pool past the lackadaisical and unflappable Pinot Envy who simply rolled her eyes every time one rolled past her as she lolled poolside.

What a wonderful weekend.

I was unaware of the rules of Bocce Ball, I figured it was like golf and you had to hit it/ throw it whatever, from where it landed.... would have been much more challenging.

I have recieved and posted some pics from Tyee! I've added titles to these, and I have also gone back and added titles to most of the pics in the "guests" album. Enjoy!

PNW PICS!

Yea, Tyee.

Pinto is a crackup. Gal with KOH was our "captain" at 26 Brix, the best captain in Walla Walla. We gave her the Hat and made her Lieutenant.

*Note Lafon's "new" Hat. Not to be confused with Pinto's Hat, nor the Lieutenant's.

Let's give a round of applause for Pinto - the red hat and the big glass along with the big smile.

MORE PICS! This time from Queen of Hearts, I finally got around to posting them

PNW Pics from QoH

Were those "chickens" I saw in that first picture?

My thought was, "those very chickens". Could they be packed in a suitcase? Hmmmm.

Do I detect fowl play here?

Dinner at Lafon's tonight.

Mike