When I moved to Walla Walla just over two years ago, I knew little of wine. Family and friends assured me that would change. "Next thing you know, you'll have a cellar going," they said. Sure.

At the time, I had an art major's experience with the everyday chardonnays and merlots that accompany gallery openings, most of which can be described as brassy and abrasive.

Beyond that, I once tasted what I still consider to be the greatest wine ever, a 2000 Leonetti merlot aged fifteen years. Perfectly smooth from bouquet to tongue, to finish. At no point was there not rich, smoothness. It was so g...