This past Saturday, (May 18^th) was the 4^th Annual Rising Stars Event at the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center in Prosser, Washington.  The 2019 event was billed as a tasting experience of Washington’s newest wineries, showcasing the latest wines being crafted by up-and-coming rising star winemakers across Washington.   This year’s 3-hour event included booths for 20 wineries and an additional booth selling wine produced by “WSU Blended Learning” – students currently in the Viticulture and Enology program at Washington State University.   The Walter Clore Center Staff and their support team did an outstanding job of coordinating a well-run and really pleasant afternoon of wine tasting.  From the meat & cheese plates to the chocolate dipped strawberries, everything was nicely prepared.  Abbey Cameron (Executive Director), Stephanie Brown (Events and Marketing Director), and Rachel Mercer (Wine Program Director) are to be congratulated for putting on such a successful event – Thank you!

Participating wineries included:  Bellisimo Cellars, Devium, Ellensburg Canyon Winery, Eternal Wines & Drink Washington State Wines, Fortuity Cellars, Glacier View Cellars, Grosgrain Vineyards, Gunpowder Creek Winery, The Miscreant Project, Narratif, Radix Wine, Seabeck Cellars, Shackelford Vintners, Sin Banderas, Sonder Wines, Tetrahedron Wines, Truthteller Winery, Wines of Sagemoor, WIT Cellars, and Velen Winery.

This event was like a “Christmas Comes Early” party for Aaron’s Wine Chronicles!  Many of the participants are so new to the wine industry they currently don’t have a wine tasting room, so this is one of the few opportunities to be able to taste and purchase these wines.  So many uncharted and undiscovered wineries were about to be conquered!  My wife and I were joined by our great friends Gaby and Juan Valencia on this gorgeous Saturday afternoon.  Our plan was simple but well thought out:  For the first 1.5 to 2 hours we would make our initial visits to each booth, meeting the winemakers, tasting the wines, taking photos and comparing our thoughts as we go.  After a 15 minute break for food and water, we would then make a second run of targeted visits seeking out those wines that really resonated with our palates, enjoyed a few re-visits and then we prioritized our lists before making our final purchase decisions.  This plan worked really well and helped us confirm many of our earlier thoughts.

There was something for every wine lover at this event.  Effervescent wines, dry, off-dry and sweeter whites and rosés, light bodied reds, big bold and full-bodied reds and all types of blends in between. The diversity of wines was refreshing.  My wife was primarily focused on tasting the off-dry and sweeter whites and rosés, but she did sample a few delicious Cabernet Sauvignons.  My focus was on the bigger red wines, both varietal and blended wines, while my Compadre (Juan) was interested in Cabernet Franc varietal wines.  The wines that really jumped out at me over the course of my tastings are listed here:

• Bellismo Cellars           2015    $30      “Amore” Merlot
• Bellismo Cellars           2015    $30      “The Long Kiss” Cabernet Sauvignon
• Ellensburg Canyon      2015    $15      “Sundance” Riesling
• Eternal Wines              2016    $59      “Foundation” Syrah
• Glacier View Cellars    2015    $36      “Lake 22” Red Blend
• Glacier View Cellars    2016    $42      “Mailbox Peak” Red Blend
• Grosgrain Vineyards   2018    $34      Red Heaven Vineyard Grenache
• Narratif                         2016    $24      NW Wine Collaborative Cabernet Sauvignon
• Narratif                         2016    $40      Narratif DuBrul Vineyard Red Blend
• Shackelford Vintners  2016    $30      Cabernet Franc
• Shackelford Vintners  2016    $36      “Castellan” Red Blend
• Tetrahedron Wines     2016    $28      Oregon Mountain Pinot Noir
• Wines of Sagemoor    2016    $50      “Miguel The Man” Merlot/Cabernet Franc
• WIT Cellars                  2016    $45      Cabernet Franc

At the end of the day we felt as if we hit the Motherlode!!  We left with 7 bottles of fantastic wine and we made a long list of new friends in the wine industry.  Our booty included one bottle of Ellensburg Canyon Winery’s 2015 “Sundance” Riesling, two bottles of the Velen Winery 2018 “Sunburst” dry Riesling, two bottles of the 2016 Narratif DuBrul Vineyard Red Blend, one bottle of the 2016 Shackelford Vintners “Castellan” Red Blend, and one bottle of the 2016 Wines of Sagemoor “Miguel The Man” Merlot/Cabernet Franc.  As a final bonus, we each received a commemorative stemmed and logo’d wine glass to take home.  Another addition to my wine glass collection gallery!   I hope you enjoyed this quick synopsis of our Rising Stars Escapade this past weekend.  Until next time.  Cheers!!