Amavi Cellars

After a couple of shopping stops, we made our way to Amavi Cellars. Amavi is one of the main reasons we visited Walla Walla. Last summer, we enjoyed a bottle of Amavi as recommended by our waiter at Nectar in Moscow. He also told us there were lots of wineries in Walla Walla that you can visit and find wines that you like. So, we decided to find out for ourselves.

At Amavi, we tasted Semillion, Syrah 2005, and Cabernet Sauvignon. We also learned about the history of the tasting room's construction. Amavi tasting room is a lesson in history. The beams and siding comes from an old cabin in Montana. You can even see some of the 1900 newspaper they used for insulation. Pretty fascinating!!!

Amavi is owned by Pepper Bridge owners. Pepper Bridge is higher end and make specifically Cabs and Merlots (50-60) maybe a few syrahs
Amavi comes from amas, meaning love, and vive, meaning life...thus "love life".

Jean-Francois Pellet, Amavi Winemaker tells us the 2005 Syrah is packed with violet, blueberry & dark fruit aromas with a hint of smoked meats. Notes of fresh-tilled earth mingle with intriguing mineral flavors that have a subtle briny characteristic. The wine has fine-grained tannins and well-embedded acidity that work together to create a tremendously long finish and a body of real depth & distinction.

2005 Vintage from wine maker's perspective
The 2005 vintage started off as a big challenge because the previous year has been a freeze year with very little fruit to harvest. I was somewhat envious and worried about how the vines would come back. WE made an extra effort pruning, shoot thinning and crop thinning to ensrue the fruit came back evenly. Mother Nature provided us wiht a classic wine-growing season. Bud break started around th 3rd week in April, and very warm, sunny days filled the summer. WE had plenty of heat units to fully ripen the grapes. Then the weather cooled off a little earlier than usual, dropping into the 80s around the end of August. This cooling-down period maximized flavor development. The wines form the 2005 vintage have terrific fruit intensity, show great natural acidity and are beautifully balanced.