The Wine Knows

Leonetti Weekend (officially known in Walla Walla as Spring Release Weekend) is just ending. Our group stopped at Leonetti, as well as Northstar, DaMa and Reininger. The most interesting tales come from Leonetti, the storied winery that got this whole Walla Walla thing going.

As we arrived through the Leonetti gates, we stopped to be checked in. A guy in a cowboy hat actually had a notebook called, "The List 2007," and was marking folks off as they arrived. Apparently, the people in front of us were not on The List and were hoping to sneak through. They appeared to be insisting that they must be on The List and seemed to be offering a number of different names they hoped would be on The List. Alas, they gave up, turned around and left.

Apparently, this happens a fair bit, said the guy who let us through. Perhaps 20 to 30 people arrive hoping to get in. Many don't realize you have to be on The List, figuring Leonetti is just another winery. When they're told otherwise, they apologize and leave. Others are more insistent and try to BS or bully their way past. Doesn't tend to work. If you aren't on The List, forget about it.

As we toured the barrel caves, we noticed a sign asking visitors to leave the bungs in the barrels. One of the workers told us that a few years ago he came upon visitors who had found a wine thief and were sampling straight from a barrel.

This rude gesture not only got them politely tossed off the property, but it also forced Leonetti to dump that barrel down a drain because they could no longer account for what was in there.

Seeing as a barrel holds about 25 cases of wine and Leonetti Cab runs $75 per bottle, that's $22,500 worth of wine that had to be discarded. It's safe to say those folks no longer are on The List.