The Wine Knows

It's Spring Release Weekend in the Walla Walla Valley, when thousands descend upon the valley in eastern Washington and Oregon to visit nearly 100 wineries now open to the public.

The genesis of this event lies with Leonetti Cellar, the valley's oldest winery. Since the early 1980s, Leonetti has enjoyed cult-like status, and early May has been when its customers have come to the winery for its annual open house.

As more wineries opened in the valley, they discovered they could do pretty well by being open on what became known as Leonetti Weekend. In fact, wineries in the Tri-Cities and up the Yakima Valley have enjoyed stellar wine sales, thanks to the "Leonetti effect." Ultimately, the Walla Walla Valley wineries made the weekend an official event.

These days, a mid-sized winery can make $60,000 in sales this weekend.

We drove down to Walla Walla this afternoon to pick up our Leonetti allotment. On the hour drive over, we taught our 4-year-old daughter how to say, "Leonetti" and "Walla Walla." Alas, when we arrived at the winery, she went shy and wouldn't repeat anything.

We didn't end up stopping at any other wineries, much to my wife's relief. I did notice crowded parking lots at Woodward Canyon, L'Ecole, Reininger, Cougar Crest and Three Rivers. I plan to get back to the valley later this spring to explore Cougar Crest's beautiful new winery west of town.

If you did not make the trip to Walla Walla this weekend, many wineries are open throughout the spring, summer and fall, so a long weekend will give you a good taste of the valley without all the crowds at special events.