Isenhower Cellars is a sentimental favorite around our house. We met the Isenhower’s when they had first opened their winery and were doing tastings out of the old train depot in downtown Walla Walla. Denise and Brett Isenhower are really nice people and really good winemakers. At the time, they were waiting for the next big freeze to hit Walla Walla so they could start planting vines. We became some of the earliest people to sign up for their wine club.
The next two times we visited the winery, they had their own facility south of town. It’s simple, but very nice. And the wine has only gotten better with the passing years. My favorite is the Wild Alfalfa, a smoky, syrupy syrah. They also produce an excellent cabernet sauvignon.
Tonight, though, I opened the River Beauty, and it’s nothing like the Wild Alfalfa. In fact, it’s a very unusual syrah. Instead of smoke and pepper, what you get is rich fruit. I guess you’d say it tastes like cassis, but I’d rather call a spade a spade – it smells and tastes like a grape. It’s not obnoxiosuly fruity, nor is it sweet – it has a long chalky finish and a slight pucker – but it is one of the most fruit forward syrah’s I think I’ve ever tasted.
