Wine and Art at Waterbrook.

Last evening I spent entirely too long enjoying wine, art and good conversation at Waterbrook Winery for the opening of a new art show, Nanology, by renowned bronze sculptor Nano Lopez.

Waterbrook's facility is one of the more visually appealing tasting rooms in Walla Walla and was a brilliant setting for many of Nano's pieces.  While Nano has his foundry in Walla Walla, he has never had a show in the valley.  Many of the pieces on display were from his Nanimals period and feature his beautiful, deconstructed signature style.

Waterbrook was pouring two of their wines officially last night, the 2007 Melange Noir and the 2008 Melange Blanc.  The wines were quite tasty, especially for the price.  I find Waterbrook's lineup to be pretty solid, and some of their wines (2008 Chardonnay, for example) give wines twice as expensive a run for their money.  The Noir was ripe with berries and tobacco and had a nice cedar-ish finish in my book.  The Blanc, while a bit sweeter than I typically care for, was rich with honey and stone fruit on the noise.  The palate was reminiscent of watermelon and peach with a surprisingly crisp finish.

The biggest surprise of the evening was a devilishly good Shiraz from Shingleback of McLaren Vale, Australia.  Precept Brands (the owners of Waterbrook) recently partnered with Shingleback and are their distribution partner in the United States.  Their 2005 Shiraz had a beautifully rich and complex nose punctuated by dark chocolate, ripe berries and pencil shavings.  The wine is extremely full-bodied and velvety, filled with rich fruit and just the right amount of oak.  This wine was amazing as it finished and lingered on my palate for quite some time after I finished it.  I would highly recommend you check this guy out if you have the opportunity!