Patrons enjoy a refreshing glass of wine at the Dunham Cellars tasting room. The winery offers a wide array, including its Shirley Mays Chardonnay and Trutina.<br><i>Contributed photo</i>

One of the things I like most about visiting different wineries is getting to see the personalities behind the wines. One winery that has always stood out to me as being fun and artsy has been Dunham Cellars. I made a special stop though on my trip through last week and found some rather fun new surprises that I hadn’t expected. Some of those were in the wines, and some were in the fun atmosphere that they offer.

Dunham Cellars, owned by Mike and Joanne and Eric and Luana Dunham, is located in the airport district in Walla Walla, Wash. It was more than 100 degrees that day, and as we were entering one of the winery dogs was lazily laying in the stream that winds through the courtyard.

We were greeted by the tasting room staff as if we were old friends and soon had glasses of the 2008 Lewis Vineyard Riesling in our hands. This wine is sourced from the Dunham Estate grapes and has wonderful orange and peach scents with flavors of tree-fresh peaches, pears and a slight minerality at the finish. This wine quickly refreshed me and left me feeling like the dog outside in the stream.

The next wine that we enjoyed was the Shirley Mays Chardonnay. The Chardonnay was beautiful and solid. It offered up a beautiful combination of fruit, oak and creaminess. Well worth the less than $20 price for a label that goes to support Breast Cancer research.

On we went through the Four Legged White blend and the Three Legged Red blends. Both have been delicious less than $20 blends that I have enjoyed for years. These wines are in honor of the winery dogs that grace the property. The Four Legged is to honor Maysy, Eric’s companion across the winery. Three Legged Red is in honor of Port, who was the original Dunham Dog. Port passed away in 2008, but his legacy lives on in every bottle.

Going on, we tasted the 2006 Trutina. This blend of 55 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 23 percent Syrah, 17 pecent percent Merlot and 5 percent Cabernet Franc offers an old-fashioned cherry cola on the nose, with flavors of cola and caramel apples. The finish was a rich mocha.

The 2006 Lewis Vineyard Syrah offers scents and flavors of dark cocoa, vanilla and caramel. Unlike most Syrahs of the region, this is one that stays away from the veggie flavors and finishes smooth.

The 2005 Columbia Valley Syrah has earned many awards, so I was excited to taste it. It opens with dark cherries and blueberries, then turns to sweet tobacco and finishes with chocolate and soft leather notes.

Last, but certainly not least, was the 2006 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Eric Dunham’s specialty is Cabernet. This one is filled with dark cherries and plums with a background of baking spices and minerality. It finishes velvety with soft tannins. Well worth the Wine Enthusiast score of a 93.

One thing that I started to mention earlier was the artistic quality both of the wines and the facility. Eric is not only a winemaker, but also an accomplished artist and chef. Basically everything the guy does is art; from the time he wakes until his eyes close at night, he is creating some form of art or another. The tasting room is a beautiful gallery of his works. I encourage you to come to the winery and check it out.

Enjoy.