What follows is an excerpt for the 2008 Walla Walla Holiday Barrel Tasting Report. Read the full report here.

Charles Smith’s K Vintners has long been a Walla Walla Valley favorite. Known for his rock and roll roots, his hair, and his distinctive black and white labels, Smith has also always garnered excellent reviews. K Vintners sources much of its fruit from some of the most highly regarded vineyards in the state, including a number from the vineyards of cult phenom Christophe Baron of Cayuse.

There were several factors up front that guaranteed to make this visit to the winery exceptional. The first is that K did not have its usual cheek to jowl crowd. Perhaps this was because we came a bit earlier in the day. Perhaps it was because the overall number of visitors in Walla Walla was down. Regardless, it was much easier to focus on the wines. Additionally, K gave the first extremely generous pours of the weekend where there was enough wine to smell, sip, consider, and repeat this several times without smelling an empty glass. While this means more wine gets tossed into the buckets (hopefully), it also means you can really spend a good deal of time with the wines. These wines deserved no less as they were all intense, complex, and evolving. One thing I noticed about K’s wines in particular were the fascinating variations in the bouquet when the glass was swirled and when it was not. All this combined with an excellent serving temperature (61 degrees) made these wines absolutely shine.