Echolands Grenache Riviere-Galets Vineyard Walla Walla Valley 2021 750 ML

As one of the wine world’s most educated, respected and popular personalities, Doug Frost could have launched his winery just about anywhere. And yet, the esteemed Master of Wine and Master Sommelier chose the Walla Walla Valley as the home of his brand and the setting for Taggart Vineyard, which Frost planted in 2019 with business partner Brad Bergman. Both men maintain roots in Kansas City, Mo., so they’ve hired Whitman College grad Taylor Oswald as their winemaker, and this ebullient example of Grenache deliciously straddles aspects of fruitiness, funk and the grape’s classic charming juiciness. Cherry fruit punch opens the aromas, followed by notes of strawberry/rhubarb, earth and raspberry leaf. Those notes are mirrored as flavors, joined by pinches of clove and horehound as cranberry sauce highlights the bright finish. A little less than three barrels were produced, and members of Echolands’s fledgling wine club stand at the head of the line for this bottling from The Rocks District vines owned and farmed by Tertulia Cellars.\n\n