Monday, August 04, 2008

Quarterback Opens Doubleback

"In a small town you don't see much happen, but what you hear makes up for it."

A few weeks ago I received a press release regarding Drew Bledsoe's new wine project, Doubleback Winery. Bledsoe, a native of Walla Walla, was an All-American quarterback at Washington State University and was the No. 1 selection in the 1993 NFL draft. He played for 14 years in the NFL with the New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys before retiring in 2007 to his current home in Bend, Oregon. In the mean time, Bledsoe hasn't forgotten about his strong Walla Walla roots. He recently announced the launch of Doubleback Winery. Bledsoe is joined in this venture by a childhood friend, Chris Figgins of Figgins Enological and if that name is familar to you, the Figgins family has also won national and international acclaim for their ultra-premium wines of Leonetti Cellars. Figgins will serve as consulting winemaker for Doubleback.

Doubleback crushed in 2007 and will release their first wine, an ultra-premium Cabernet Sauvignon, in 2010. This Cabernet was produced using fruit from various well-known vineyards in the Walla Walla Valley. Bledsoe also announced his estate vineyard site, McQueen Vineyard, which was planted in the spring of 2008 and located near some of the most famous vineyards in the Walla Walla Valley, including Seven Hills.

Shortly after I received the press release, I noticed newspapers from around the state had already latched onto the news. I wanted to post something a bit extra about this exciting news - something more...and there it was. Like the press release, it also arrived in my email folder. Photos! At least a dozen photos of the McQueen Vineyard and the site for the Doubleback Winery were there! A nice surprise from a faithful reader who is also involved in the Walla Walla wine industry(but who has also requested to remain anonymous). In fact, he stopped by the other day to hand me the above quote. I thought it fitting about Walla Walla and especially this particular bit of news. Thanks faithful reader! You're right...what we hear makes up for it.

2 comments:

dhonig said...

Ugh! Not a single drop in a bottle, and it's going to be "ultra premium"?! Great. I was just thinking last night, 'what we need are more $500 cult cabs. After all, that price point alone will get you 94 points, even if its pure plonk.

wild walla walla wine woman said...

Hello my fellow wine blogging friend. Tell us how you really feel - - really. hahahaha. But most of all, thanks for taking the time to read my blog.
Cheers,
C~

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