Caring for the quality of the wines is of immediate interest.  Caring for our 2020 crop is a different matter altogether and we are so impressed that Doug has both goals in mind at all times.  The juggle is continual and crucial.

For anyone who wants to visit the vineyard, feel free to stop by: 52015 Seven Hills Road Milton Freewater 97862

Call ahead of time if you want to try to meet with Doug, Jan or Ashley.  After an especially frosty winter night, the place looks magical, once the buds start peeking in the early spring it is energizing, the summer brings the bightest greens and velvet purples and the harvest in the fall is chaotic and rewarding.  The vineyard is, at all times, breathtakingly beautiful and will be for years to come.

For those of you (and who isn’t) who are trying to figure out how to get all of your wine back home from Wally World, Alaska Airlines is now allowing passengers flying out of Walla Walla to check 12 bottles for free.  We reccomend packing your wines in the same boxes that we use to ship wines via UPS.  We, and many others in town, sell shippers and fiber fillers out of the tasting room.

This fantastic idea was made possible due to some folks with great vision at both Alaskan Airlines and the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance. 

A huge thanks to them for making this happen. 

Happy sipping and flying- the best of all worlds,

Ashley and the TERO and FTW Crews

We are pleased to be ringing in the season with our cabernets well cellared and bold, the 2011 wines crackling with the malolactic fermentation coming to a close and the vineyard put to bed.

Our small spot in the world is beautiful, calm, nice and just plain lovely this time of year.  Regular customers and friends stop by sometimes weekly and passing drivers honk and wave to our corner store.  The new local theatre, the Power House Theatre is ramping up a new season, with “The Four Tenors” playing in February.  The Marcus Whitman Hotel is taking down its amazing gingerbread house gallery but is still, thankfully, serving hot chocolate, apple cider and cookies every Friday and Saturday here in the lobby.  TERO Estates and Flying Trout Wines will be the featured winery in the restaurant this month.  Occasionally, Doug and Ashley will be “guest sommeliers” for the month of January.

Our recent releases are already selling out.  Doug finally released the 2007 TERO Reserve Cabernet and it is yummy.  It comes in a beautiful 3 bottle wooden box, with each bottle individually wrapped.  Only 20 cases are being released at a time and the inaugural 20 are almost all gone.    For those interested in TERO’s 2008 Herb’s Block Merlot, 2008 ST Blend, or Flying Trout’s 2009 Old Vines Malbec, we only have fewer than 10 cases of each, so feel free to send us an email at talk@teroestates.com or talk@flyingtroutwines.com or purchase on the websites.

The Flying Trout 2010 torrontes is here.  We are so excited that it has arrived and it is tasting great.

At 12.7% alcohol, it is a wonderful marathon wine for the holidays    We have it available in the tasting room at 6 West Rose St. (open 7 days a week year round) as well as online at www.flyingtroutwines.com

Tasting notes are as follows:

Congrats to Alice who made it through her first harvest and a huge thanks to Jan for documenting it.  Ashley

So what does this mean you ask? It means we are all going to be a bunch of expensive dates come two or three years from now. The wines are all coming in at low sugar levels due to the lack of heat and because sugar turns into alcohol, these wines will be low alcohol across the board.

There are some early ripeners, like merlot, malbec and some syrah that had enough time to sit around and gain a lot of sugar, but it did not come as naturally as it usually does. Cabernet and cabernet franc on the other hand, not so much.

So for all of you who’ve been harping about the booze levels, 2011 is your vintage.

From the winemaking side of things, it was a wonderful year in terms of rainfall- the best I can remember in history. We got all of the rain that we wanted for the plants in the spring and early to midsummer and by the fall, it was dry as a desert and the grapes were able to mature without being watered down. Rainy days are the bane of many winemakers’ existences. Just when you have your week planned out, an inch of rain hits and then you’re back to square one.

The cold allowed us to keep bugs under control and even though there weren’t a lot of growing days (hot days), there wasn’t a lot of fruit hanging due to last year’s November freeze, so the two problems cancelled each other out.

Getting the acids to drop and the sugars to rise was the main problem. On the bright side, it means we’ll have wines that will cellar nicely and we can drink the night away without repercussion.

This is what we work year round to do.  We winemakers wait for our one shot each year to make beautiful colors, smells and tastes and we do it right now.  There comes chaos and stress, adrenaline and nervousness, excitement and fear and each year, right before harvest hits, total dread.  The list of things that can and do go wrong is staggering.

I’ve been stung by bees 4 times in one day, I’ve dented buildings with forklifts, run out of gas hauling 3 tons of malbec- stopping 10 feet from a functioning railroad track, had mold growing on what was supposed to be a lovely vineyard, been rained on, been hailed on, had a stuck fermentation, had tanks leak, barrels leak, gotten the forklift stuck in the gravel, had any number of machinery decide not to work that day, been locked out, seen lower than expected yields, higher than expected yields, gotten sun when I wanted cold, gotten thunderstorms when I needed heat, but then again, there in the middle somewhere, I’ve gotten exactly what I wanted, and it was worth the wait, anxiety and pain.

When it is frigid late at night and your washing buckets in cold water to the howling of coyotes over the hill in a lonely, distance spot in the world and you walk from the crush pad into a warm, crackling fermentation room, with the smell of yeast and juice bubbling, it seems, all of the sudden, so lovely.

This week has been one endless compliment after another and we are delighted.

Seattle Met magazine rated the TERO Windrow Vineyard Cabernet as #63 of Washington’s Best 100 Wines of the year and the Wine Enthusiast just gave the TERO ST blend a 90 point score.  Flying Trout sold out of both the 2008 Old Vines Malbec and the 2009 Torrontes this week.

Thanks to everyone who has bought, drank, tried, rated or picked up our wines- it has been lovely.

The Crew

We are pouring wines everywhere for the month of August.  Here is the quickie on how to find us.  The following can also be found on our websites.

All in August

11: TERO pouring at Olive Marketplace and Cafe in Walla Walla            

18: FTW pouring at Olive Marketplace and Cafe in Walla Walla           

24: FTW pouring at Vintage Cellars in Walla Walla         

26: TERO pouring at Village Wines in Woodinville, WA           

27: TERO pouring at Wine World Warehouse in Seattle, WA       

28: TERO pouring at 106 Pine in Seattle, WA                                 

31: FTW pouring at W5 in Walla Walla

So if you are hankering for some red wine pours, show up and we’ll take good care of you.  Thanks, the Crew

Walla Walla is a desert mecca- an oasis, of top notch cuisine.  With only 35,000 residents, WW has still managed to pull in James Beard winners, award winning wine lists and has drawn chefs from the big cities looking for their own dream. 

The heart-warming thing about our new bar, is that these guys did most of their teeth cutting right here in town and have made so much of our little village love, not only their food, but also them, over the years. 

Opening night for Public House 124 was comparable to the opening of a WalMart in a Texas suburb.  There was literally a line around the block… and for good cause.

For years, Matthew Price Huntington has been the face of drinks at the Marcus Whitman Hotel’s cocktail bar and Chris Teal has been the task master sous chef at the Whithouse Crawford Restaurant.  These guys finally got out on their own and Public House 124 is no disappointment to such high expectations.

The heirloom tomato salad is phenomenal and who doesn’t love truffle oil on fries.  Matt’s drinks deliver as they always have, only this time, with an extra glimmer behind that smile.

Congrats guys, we are so proud and honored.

I’ve never been to the runner-up towns of Lake Havasu, AZ; Mount Airy, NC; Nacogdoches, TX; Valdosta, GA and Woodward, OK, but I am in no real rush to go because Walla Wala is indeed the friendliest.

Voted Friendiest town in the US by Rand McNally in their “Best of the Road” contest, Walla Walla lived up to it’s name- a town so nice they had to name it twice.

Other categories included: most beautiful, fun, patriotic and best for food.  For more info, please visit: www.bestoftheroad.com or http://ontheroad.bestoftheroad.com/2011/07/08/walla-walla-holla-holla/

Having moved here from Washington DC (the other friendliest town in the US…) at the age of 18, I was shocked that A) Main Street was called Main Street and B) that people looked you in the eye as you walked past them. 

Everyone supports each others’ crafts, dreams, goals and realities.

Our tasting room in the corner of the Marcus Whitman hotel gives us a great view of the downtown hubub and lets us be a part of the hotel  – the highlight of friendliness according to the Rand McNally crew.

Even though it is fun getting national recognition for our townsfolk, the real joy is living among them. 

Thanks guys.

Happy Hour in the vineyard is back. 

Join us from 3:30 – 6:30 every Wednesday afternoon at the winery and vineyard for cheese, crackers, wine sampling or purchasable wines by the glass.  Relax as the sun lowers amidst the appelations oldest commercially planted vineyard.  Let the 30 yesr-old cabernet vines shade your shoulders and the wine quench your afternoon thirst.

We’ll have the creek streaming, the rooftop view open, the cats meowing and the dogs sun-baking.  We might even have the winery’s resident baby in tow.

For printable directions to the Windrow Vineyard, please visit our websites at www.flyingtroutwines.com

or www.teroestates.com

See you soon, the Windrow, TERO Estates and Flying Trout Crew

Summer is in full swing, the creatures are roaming the vineyard and our TERO Estates Pre-Release Sale is gearing up.  We will be offering our newsletter subscribers and Vitis Club members first stab at the 2008 Herb’s Block Merlot, 2008 Windrow Field Blend and 2008 Windrow Cabernet Franc, all of which will be released this fall. 

The sale will last only until August 1st.  Last year, the Merlot was sold out before its release, the Cab Franc was sold out the day after its release and the Windrow Field Blend, our signature blend, sold out shortly after that.

All of the wines will be available at 10% off for 3 bottles or more and 15% off for a case or more.  Vitis Club members get an additional 5% off across the board.  If you think you might be interested, we can add you to the newsletter list and you’ll be in the know when we send the offer out soon.

Thanks, the TERO Crew

We will have available the following wines:

2006 Deep River Red, 2007 Cutthroat Blend, 2007 Old Vines Malbec and the 2007 Old Vines Malbec Barrel Select, 2008 Brook Blend, 2008 Phinny Hill Malbec, 2008 Torrontes.

See you soon,  The FTW Crew

His older brother, whose name I cannot currently recall, was one of the star students at the Virginia Military Institute and a respected prodigy of Virginia’s elite youth.  When it was time for his little brother, George, to start applying to higher education locales, the elder Marshall begged their mother to not let George apply to VMI for fear that the Marshall name would be forever tarnished.  Much to his chagrin, the elder Marshall’s baby brother did apply to VMI, was accepted, and did, more or less, dictate US foreign policy for the better part of a pair of decades.

The Portland Indie Wine Festival was packed with the more established pinot noir producers of Oregon and then… there was us.  We showed up with our malbecs, cabernets and blends and pulled off, if I may say so myself, a George C. Marshall.

Everyone was having a great time with this crazy concept of 30-year-old-vine Oregon cabernet sauvignon and we were having a blast being included in one of our home state’s greatest wine festivals.

Leave it to the Oregon side of Walla Walla to surprise both the north and the west.  Walla Walla: surprise, surprise.

The organization previously known as Shakespeare Uncorked and now renamed Shakespeare Walla Walla, will be presenting “Dangerous Liaisons; A Masked Event” at the opening of the Power House Theatre in Walla Walla.  The evening will be filled with Elizabethan-inspired food (I am so curious) as well as Shakespearean fashion and merriment in preperation for the upcooming “The Merry Wives of Windsor” put on by the Seattle Shakespeare Company.

The sit-down dinner will follow the fashion show and if you purchase a ticket, you also get to sneak into the play on the day of your chosing free of charge. 

All proceeds go to the Shakespeare Education Program in Walla Walla Schools.

The event will take place from 5:30- 9 pm on May 18th at the Power House Theatre on 6th and Rose st., Walla Walla.

We hope to see you there.

The Walla Walla Balloon Stampede is the following week and always brings a ton of fun.

We’ll be kicking off the Vintage Walla Walla Weekend with an 8 course Winemakers’ Dinner at the historical Marcus Whitman on Thursday night.  Tickets are limited, so purchase sooner rather than later.  Details are available on the following pdf: http://www.teroestates.com/images/Vintage_WW_Dinner.pdf  and the enticing menu is below.  Come say hi.

The Menu

Compressed Watermelon & Micro Arugula Salad

Vanilla Vinaigrette

2009 Flying Trout Torrontes

Camembert Cheese

Apple and Golden Raisin Chutney

2009 Don Carlo Vineyard Estate Chardonnay 

Pepper Cured Foie Gras “Crème Puff”

Whipped Mascarpone and Orange Marmalade 

2009 Locati Cellars Dry Orange Muscat

Coco nib Crusted Buffalo Carpaccio

Pickled Sweet Onions, Popped Capers, Cold Press Olive Oil

2008 Flying Trout “Lake Blend” (Cabernet Sauvignon / Malbec / Syrah)

Grilled Lamb T-bone

White Chocolate Parsnip Puree, Heirloom tomato Relish  

2008 Tero Estates S.T. (Super Tuscan)

Leg of Duck Confit

Creamy Sweet Corn Polenta, Rosemary Jus

2008 Locati Cellars Barbera

Drunken Chevre Crusted Coulotte Steak  

Forest Mushroom ragout

2007 Tero Estates Windrow Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Sweet Heart Cherries

Stuffed with Crater Lake Blue Cheese & coated with a Milk Chocolate Ganaché

2008 Don Carlo Vineyard Merlot

A few days before Thanksgiving 2010, the Walla Walla Valley had a huge and sudden freeze.  Some vineyards had very young plantings, others had fruit on very low, flat ground, some with buried canes, others just coming off of harvest- depending on the vineyard manager, the age of the vines, the site location, the winemakers’ picking styles, the different grape varieties- vines were in all different stages of ripening off for the winter or already being frost hearty.

Many vineyard managers and crews have already gone through their sites and guessed at what percentage of their crop or parts of their vines were damaged or killed.  These educated guesses help us figure out how to prune the vines during these weeks.   But at the end of it all, no one knows exactly what the damage was until the green either does… or does not start popping up.

Despite all of the glamour, sophistication and hoopla that comes with wine, it is, at its essence, still a farming game.  Dirt, sticks, stones, greens, branches, roots, buds and fruit are the focus.  Nature wins, we just try to listen and brace for it.

This week, we are unburying our canes in the vineyard.  Luckily, we buried our canes before the big freeze in late November 2010, which may have done some real damage to many of the Washington AVAs as well as the Walla Walla AVA (WA and OR by the way).

So what are canes, you ask?  The plant will bud, which grows into a reed-like item called a cane.  Canes are still malleable and can be buried over the winter to protect the plant from freezing entirely during extreme freezes.

On a side note, my beloved husband is the winemaker for a winery called Buried Cane, so here’s to your week.

The total process for the 30 acre Windrow Vineyard takes about 4 days and has been performed this year, under the most lovely sunshine and weather and we are all basking in the awesomeness of it all.

See you soon, maybe at the Vineyard.