I chose L'ecole 41 Winery (http://www.lecole.com/) to review as it was one of the first three wineries that was founded in Walla Walla.
For those non french speaking readers, L'ecole means "The School". L'ecole 41 was founded in 1983 and is a second generation, family-owned artisan winery located in the historic Frenchtown School. The image of the schoolhouse has been the
cornerstone of the L’Ecole brand since the winery’s inception.
There is so much history in the school house and I thought it was really cool that the founders, Jean and Baker Ferguson, decided to establish the winery as a retirement project and preserve the old school house during the process.
I met with Ben, the tasting room manager, and he was very knowledgeable about the history of the winery.
This place is a pretty cool venue to have a tasting room, how could you not love this little school house? The outside of this place in amazing and very well maintained. As I walked up to the front, there was the original school bell by the steps.
The school house is three stories with the tasting room on the main floor, offices up stairs, and the reserve tasting area downstairs in the old gym. One of the cool little details is that the bar is a chalk board (I didn't write that by the way)
There is also a little nook area that has books and this really cool wine display.
Pictured here is the original school house, Jean and Baker Ferguson, and the original wine bottle label. The re branding for the wine labels actually happened in 2009, the Winery had started to gain more notoriety and was becoming world famous. As a result, L'ecole wanted a brand that was a little less fun and whimsical and more classic, upscale, and elegant. The new label also made it easier to distinguish between the winery's Columbia Valley and Walla Walla Valley products.
AND! Something very exciting for the winery happened this year! Can you guess? Take a good look at the picture below. L’Ecole No. 41′s 2011 Ferguson Vineyard brought home the trophy from the Decanter World Wine Awards. L’Ecole was the only American winery to win one of the 33
International Trophies at this year’s Decanter competition. Of course, they were all sold out of the wine so I didn't have the opportunity to try it :( . But what an accomplishment!
As mentioned earlier, the downstairs of the school house is the reserve tasting area and as luck would have it, there was one scheduled for that day. So I was able to see their set up. There is also a mural on the wall that is original to the schoolhouse.
This is the original drinking fountain and it's tiny, perfect size for the kiddos!
This is the original chalk board from the classroom.
While sipping on my vino, I observed the staff and their dealings with the customers and I have to say, all of the staff who were working in the tasting room were professional, attentive, and personable. Pours were given with an in depth description of the wine, I could really tell that the staff KNEW the wines! Not only were they able to recite the standard spiel, but they also added something else such as information about the vineyard or their own experience with the wine. And they did this with every.single.guest. Even when the tasting room started to become busy, the service was still consistent. No short cuts, just attentiveness and excellent service.
L'ecole offered the standard nibbles for palate cleansing, however guests are able to bring in treats and enjoy them on the lanai or the winery grounds. Being able to do a side by side tasting of the Columbia Valley Wines and the Walla Walla Valley Wines was AWESOME! You have to try it. There are definitely significant difference between the two areas and I my new favorite area is the Walla Walla Valley. I love the dusty, earthy, mineral elements the Walla Walla Valley adds to the wine.
I really enjoyed learning about this winery and being able to taste L'ecole 41's wine, I would have loved to taste the wine they won the Decanter Award for *hint hint Ben!* L'ecole 41 is a must see, you won't be disappointed! OH!!! And the winery will be celebrating 100 years in the schoolhouse next year!
Cheer!
Melanie
