Spring Release has been released. We started off the celebration with our Bridge Club party, this year being a luau. The weather was absolutely perfect for being outside and playing petanque.
The big winners from this year's tournament were Rob and Laurie Sargent.
Congratulations on winning the large formats! Between all the food and great wine and sun a fun time was had by all. Saturday was the grand debut for our 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon and the release went smashingly.
The Cab is rich and velvety, full of dark fruit with good acidity. For being a baby it is surprisingly ready to drink. For our club members we released the 2006 Pepper Bridge Vineyard, one of the vineyard designate wines that Jean-Francois makes for club members only.
For the first time ever the blend is Merlot based and it sure is big and structured for being 60% Merlot. We also poured the 06 Merlot for our many visitors over the weekend. The Merlot has opened up nicely since its release in December and it is drinking excellently.
As of now all of the 2006 vintage has been released and it is now time to start consuming it. As a side note we have received a score of 94 points from Wine and Spirits Magazine on the 2006 Seven Hills Vineyard, the wine club release from December.
This wine is very smooth and elegant and I do belive that you can taste the Cab Franc in this blend.
Thanks to all of the Bridge Club members for a great party and to all the visitors who tasted over the weekend. Also I need to thank Jeff Meyer for all the great photos.
There has been a flurry of activity along Pepper Bridge Road the last few weeks. Earth movers and road graders have been busy building a drive way and a site for a barrel room. Pepper Bridge's sister winery, Amavi Cellars, is moving to the neighborhood! Amavi has outgrown its current tasting room on 13th St. in Walla Walla. 
The new location is going to be bigger and of course better. Not only is Amavi going to have a lovely site amongst the grapevines in the Pepper Bridge Vineyard, they are going to have a fabulous view of Pepper Bridge Winery. 
Well I guess that they will have a nice view of the Blue Mountains too. I know that Patty, Eric, and George will all miss the lovely view of Mill Creek and of course the concrete company that they currently get to enjoy, but I am sure that they will become accustomed to the new location. It is pretty rough working with a view of vineyards, mountains, apples, alfalfa, and blue sky, not to mention all of the wildlife and birds that we have in the neighborhood. 
I am sure that they will learn to adjust eventually. 
At Pepper Bridge we are excited because we will finally be able to spy on one another. We have yet to decide whether we will use flags or smoke signals for communication, perhaps we will fall back to e-mail. Either way it is going to be very fun to have Amavi just across the way. Now visitors to Pepper Bridge won't have such a long drive to go and taste the other wines made by Jean-Francois. 
It is always nice to welcome one more great winery to a neighborhood full of great wines. Thank you Dana Lane for all the excellent photos. Cheers 
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