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The wine spotlight was on Walla Walla on in October when nearly 400 people gathered to celebrate the opening of the $4.1 million Center for Enology and Viticulture at Walla Walla Community College.

While I attended the dedication and related events, it also was a chance to visit four of the Walla Walla Valley's new wineries, Nicholas Cole, Abeja, Amavi and Saviah Cellars. There currently are 57 bonded wineries in the region.

Nicholas Cole is an amalgamation of the names of the two young children of Michael Neuffer, its owner and winemaker. Neuffer was a developer and builder in Reno, Nev., who got hooked on winemaking.

He decided the foothills of the Blue Mountains outside Walla Walla would be ideal for vineyards and a winery and also saw a chance to develop a subdivision.

His first releases will be available for sampling during the Walla Walla Valley wineries' holiday barrel tasting weekend Dec. 6-7.

-- Nicholas Cole Cellars 2001 Claret, $45 - Big chewy robust red loaded with complex and layered flavors and aromas including fresh cedar, ripe raspberries and sweet pipe tobacco. There's also dark chocolate and black cherries.

-- Nicholas Cole Cellars 2001 GraEagle Red Wing, $24 - Smooth and very approachable with toasty oak and leather along with ripe cherries and blackberries.

The winery is at 705 Berney Drive. Call 509-525-0608 for an appointment to visit.

Abeja (pronounced ah-bay-hah) is a joint endeavor of winemaker John Abbott and his partner Molly Galt and Ken and Ginger Harrison, who all migrated to Walla Walla. Abbott came from the Napa Valley to make wine at Canoe Ridge Winery. Ken Harrison, a former Portland businessman, grows the grapes. Ginger runs the adjacent Inn at Abeja in the restored buildings of an early 1900s Walla Walla wheat farm along Mill Creek. It formerly was known as the Mill Creek Inn.

The tasting room, which is in a cavernous old barn that looks like a country lodge, is run by Galt, who helped found the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance.

-- Abeja 2002 Chardonnay, Washington State, $25 - Not all great Walla Walla wines are made from grapes grown in the valley. This superb chardonnay comes from grapes grown at Conner Lee, Kestrel and Celilo vineyards and has a European-style steely grace and elegance. A great food chardonnay that is restrained but solid with just the right amount of oak and fruit.

-- Abeja 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, $30 - Also on the lean European edge with smooth tannins and tight, fruity structure that is both lush and understated.

The winery is at 2014 Mill Creek Road. Call for an appointment or an inn brochure at 509-526-7400.

Amavi, a sister winery to Pepper Bridge, is in an old brick building across the street from Canoe Ridge Winery. Whitman Cellars is just around the corner, so there is a cluster of three wineries on the outskirts of downtown Walla Walla. The winemaker is Robert Smasne, who grew up in the Yakima Valley. The tasting room has a wooden facade from a 1890 building torn down near Great Falls, Mont. Two old 1917 editions of the Great Falls Tribune found when the building was dismantled are used as wall coverings in the tasting room.

-- Amavi 2001 Syrah, Walla Walla Valley, $28 - Concentrated dark fruit that shows off its oak barrel aging has a nice meatiness and good acid. A prime match for beef or duck.

-- Amavi 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley, $20 - There's a lot of nice stuff here - leather, berries, mocha, a hint of earthiness and some pleasant spice and minty character.

The winery is at 635 N. 13th St. Drop-in visitors are welcome. Call 509-525-3541.

Saviah Cellars is a small winery south of Walla Walla toward Milton-Freewater, not far from the larger and more well known Pepper Bridge, Northstar and Basel wineries. This is a second career for Rich Funk, a longtime microbiologist for the Walla Walla health department.

-- Saviah 2001 Une Vallee, Walla Walla red, $28 - Smooth and silky with light berries and right-on tannins and a lengthy finish.

-- Saviah 2001 Merlot, Walla Walla Valley, $26 - Extremely easy drinking merlot loaded with blueberries and spicy fruit.

The winery is at 1970 JB George Road. Open by appointment. Call 509-520-5166.

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Not all of this column is about Walla Walla. I recently tasted an inexpensive cabernet merlot from Barnard Griffin that sent my taste buds into orbit.

-- Barnard Griffin NV Cab-Merlot, $12 - This is as good as it gets. Huge chocolate, oak and berry aromas followed by tons of fruit. The tannins are terrific and the finish is memorable. Make this your house red if you can. Found at the winery and also at Yoke's supermarkets on sale for less than $9.  

Bob Woehler has been writing about grapes and wines of the Pacific Northwest since 1978. His columns appear twice monthly in the Tri-City Herald in Tri-Cities, Wash. and in Wine Press Northwest.

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