Piling on the T&D love, their Syrah was definitely in my top 5 things I had at Taste last weekend and in my experience Terrance and Ron can definitely be trusted when it comes to WA Syrah (and wine generally)!
Sorry for letting the cat out of the bag, Ron! 
All in jest. I urge those in the area to try T&D wines.
And thanks to Bryan for the kind words.
Nice, have fun! Please let me know how the 16’ Impulsivo is drinking out the gate. Your impressions would be greatly appreciated ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Also planning a somewhat last minute trip to Walla Walla this weekend. Unfortunately, not on Cayuse list. Good suggestions thus far. I would add The Walls, they are having an open house at their winery out near Gramercy (also a strong rec).
+1 Don’t miss The Walls
Thanks all for these posts. I hope to make it out for Cayuse weekend someday. Has anyone had the wines from Devium - the Mourvedre-dominant French Creek Red and the Elevation Marsanne? Also, I don’t recall seeing The Walls releasing a 2016 Concrete Mama Syrah (only the '16 Grenache so far).
Jeff
We tasted at The Walls last time and, while some of the wines were good and interesting, know what you’re in for. I’d call them modern-style wines, polished, with a pretty good dose of oak treatment. It’s an open, modern tasting room and no “stand up” tasting bar. We sat on a couch and were served our tastes…not necessarily bad, but just different. We bought a few.
Good description; their bottlings from concrete appealed to me much more than their other wine.
Is Devium the wine from one of the winemakers at Sleight of Hand? Someone just recommended the latter (i.e. this special label from Sleigh of Hand) to me, but I have not had a chance to try yet.
I think so, the order links up with Sleight of Hand’s website. I never followed through on ordering but wondering if I should now. The 2017 Red sounds interesting. And the Marsanne appears to be only 12% ABV. I guess they had a White Pinot (sold out now, from same vineyard as the T&D Syrah?)
Just a quick few impressions from today.
First, the Cayuse tasting. Getting there at 11 am on Friday does not mean you have the place to yourself! I was told that people started lining up at 10 to get in. So while there were a lot of people, I would not say it was intolerably crowded. It was crowded a bit, but I never had to wait more than 1 minute or so for a pour, and there was a lot of food being passed around (the latter was particularly impressive – I felt I did not have to go to the stationary food stations to get a quick bite between wines). My quick impressions on the wines. The 2017 Edith Rose is fantastic. One of the best Roses I have ever had. The 17 En Chamberlin was slightly better than the En Cerise – but this is more personal preference. The Bionic Frog (2017) was clearly a step up (though the others were not shabby). And the 16 Armada was excellent – a bit darker and more complex than the other three single vineyard syrahs. The GOK (2017 I think?) was quite good. The Impulsivo 2017 was a surprise – really excellent. Dark, brooding, lots of savory flavors. Much better and more intriguing than I remember previous vintages.
I only went to a few other wineries. Elephant Seven was excellent. Coincidentally the winemaker (Josh) and I were both tasting at Cayuse at the same time. We were both moving relatively quickly through the lineup – though he was mostly spitting and I was not. When I walked into Elephant Seven we both recognized each other. Really lovely wines (at Elephant Seven). An excellent and affordable Viognier. A really excellent Mouverdre for only $20 (by far the best value of the weekend). The Block 3 Syrah was as good as I remember from the earlier taste at Taste Washington. The Yellow Bird Syrah was quite good, though a bit less robust and precise than the Block 3.
I also tasted at Lagana (at the recommendation of Josh at Elephant Seven). A chablis style chardonnay for $20 was probably the second best value of the weekend. A lovely Pinot Rose, and an intriguing Pinot Noir (which I bought a few to age). Two very different syrahs – Minnick, which is more restrained and I suspect fruit friendly. And the other (I am afraid I cannot remember the name) was much more robust and powerful, and thus might fare better during a tasting compared to with food.
Szygy had some excellent wines as well – and they were pouring some library wines – when I was there a 2007 Cab that was excellent. I bought the 2010 Cab. They are releasing wines after significant bottle age, which I appreciate.
Also stopped by Cuneo to get my WA take on Italian wines. Nebbiolo was quite good – though a bit more on the cherry note side of things than I usually prefer. But some nice acidity and structure, The amarone style wine was excellent. A bit pricey at 75, but I was intrigued enough to buy a bottle.
Last but not least, Time and Direction. First the viognier. A lovely expression of this grape from WA – this one has some support from its acidity, so it avoids the flabbiness that can sometime come from this grape. A grenache Rose is excellent – and excellent value at 20. Nice, crisp and dry. Perfect for summer on the porch with little snacks. The Diamond Cutter (which was not at Taste Washington, where I first encountered Steve and T&D) was dark, brooding, and amazing. Syrah, but with some Mouverdre and I think grenache. Really lovely wine that can use some years in the bottle. The syrah, which has 5% viognier, was by far the best syrah I had this weekend (leaving aside Cayuse). Just an excellent expression of the grape (which was true with all of his wines). This is a winery to follow.
On food, I took Travis’ recommendation and went to the Cenex filling station. 
Actually Andraes Kitchen – though it is a gas station convenience store. The smoked brisket hash was excellent, and provided a nice base for wine tasting later in the day for I think only $12. Highly recommend. Not for those who care about fancy ambience. I sat at a table by myself next to what started out as two and expanded to maybe 5 or 6 older gentleman who talked about how best to get rid of groundhogs in a garden, and other farming issues. I plan to go back to try the Chilaquilas.
Also, as recommended by Brandon, went to Cugini Italian imports. Wow. This took my back to New York in the 70s. Just excellent basic Italian food – I had a “3 Italian meat” sub – reminded me of what I used to get in NY back in the day. Lovely peppers, garlic, meat, lettuce.
I did meet some friends at Saffron the night before. Also excellent. The arctic char had lovely lemon and brined celery, among other accompaniment. For fancy quality dining, it is excellent.
So all three food places were excellent. I highly recommend each.
Ron
We got there around 2 and it was not crowded at all.My favorite was the Widowmaker, plush brooding cab.Got to talk with Christophe quite a bit about his upcoming Champagne release.I thought all the wines were as good as I have tasted since the 07 and 10 vintag
We arrived at Cayuse right at 10:00 and there was already a line to get in. But Christophe was outside with a glass of rose and entertaining the crowd. So far my best discovery was Revelry. Their Aerial Series Block 18 Syrah 2014 is just amazing. The new winery building is impressive. Their rose is also incredible. Dinner at Brasserie 4 was very good as was Saffron last night. The new location is beautiful.
Is his champagne releasing to the Cayuse list or separately?
It sounds like the champagne will be offered to the list on a lottery basis. Sort of like hors categories I think.
You are correct Ron, 1,000 magnums 
Good news is there will be increased production going forward
Revelry has become a fav while I wait for my Cayuse to mature.
when is it being offered? (or has it already been? )
Went to Elephant Seven, serious bang for the buck, the whole cluster Syrah is really stunning.Top to bottom I would recommend the whole lineup.Though I have bought the wines before I had never met Josh, class act with a clear vision on what he wants to accomplish.