Three rivers wine

Big tasting room!

After a wonderful experience at L'Ecole, we pulled into the parking lot of the grand stand alone building of Three Rivers Winery. The tasting room was tall and spacious with plenty of merchandise to spoil any wine lover. It was pretty intimidating especially since we were about the only group there apart from an ocasional local dropping by.

We headed straight to the rocky tasting bar.

Tasting list

We went for both the flights and were served the Sauvignon blanc first.

Sauvignon blanc 2009
Typical Sauvignon Blanc with nice grapefruit, citrus, apricot flavors although this had a touch (17%) of Semillon, which kind of makes have more of a body. This was refreshing with well balanced acidity. OOOo


Chardonnay 2011
This was a pretty light Chardonnay with a nose of fresh butter! It was creamy but still light, like whipped cream. Refreshing with enough acidity and notes of minerality. Yummy! OOOo

Malbec 2009
Although this was light and simple, there were plenty of tannins in your face! Not fruity. OO

Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
This well balanced one was fruity with nice earthy notes along with hints of berries. OOOo

Petit Verdot 2009
I always thought it was weird to describe a wine until i had this. this was chewy and full of tannins. The astringency was a little overwhelming. OOo

Riesling 2011
This was the first of the reserve, which I had before the reds so the tannin bomb did not get into the way of tasting. With a nice note of lychee, this was full of tropical fruits with a light honey sweetness to it and smooth residual sugar along with enough acidity. OOOo

At this point, we were the only ones around and have gotten rather chatty with the server. He was a quaint character who was taking big steps like a stiff marching soldier and on the feminine side. He was very knowledgeable about the wines and about the area in general.

Cabernet Franc 2008
This Cab Franc was from the Weinbau vineyards, which was the very first in the Waloup slope. Very tannic as expected of a Cab Franc, this was very woody as well with a herby bite and minimum fruit. OO

Merlot Champoux 2008
It was rather hard to tell after the last one if this was actually tannic. This was more fruity than the Cab Franc with notes of cherry and raspberry. There is that moist bark again and a touch of herbs. OOOo

Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
Tannic and herby. Icks, platter wrecked. 

Mini break! Plenty of talking about La Jolla, where the man used to live! 

Svelte 2008
This potent young wine has potential to do some wonders with some age. Layers of tannins waiting to be discovered. Well balanced and smooth with a touch of residual sugar, this is one that will be wonderful with age. OOOo

After this encounter, we headed towards downtown Walla Walla for some grubs and more wine tasting there!