Townshend Cellar, located north of Spokane in Colbert, Washington, was founded in 1998 by owner/winemaker Don Townshend. An engineer by background and trade, Don first got hooked on the wine business while doing an engineering job for Preston Premium Wines in Pasco in 1979. He moved to the Green Bluff area near Spokane where Townshend […]

Question: What do Saviah Cellars and Watermill Winery have in common? Answer: Winemaker Rich Funk. Actually, they have a few more things in common as well. Both are located in the Walla Walla Valley, both are getting their grapes from some of the best vineyards in the Walla Walla Valley and elsewhere in Washington State, […]

It has been quite a year for NYU Professor Tyler Colman. A Year of Wine: Perfect Pairings, Great Buys, and What to Sip for Each Season is his second book, he writes the popular Dr. Vino wine blog, and he is in demand as a speaker and interview subject. Kori reviewed his first book, Wine […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is toast. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Toast, given to a barrel when forming it over a heat source, is one of the processes in barrel making that most obviously affect eventual wine flavor. …. The toast provides a buffer between the alcohol […]

Last weekend, we traveled to Walla Walla, Washington, to attend Vintage Walla Walla, an annual event considered to be one of the nation’s premier regional wine tasting events. It is a two-day event featuring seminars, tours, and winemaker dinners in addition to the two marquee tastings, the Vintage Pour and the Grand Pavilion Tasting. On […]

Barrister Winery, appropriately named for its two attorney/winemaker founders, is located in a 100 year-old brick building in the historic Davenport Arts District in downtown Spokane, Washington. Greg Lipsker and Michael White founded Barrister in 2001 after getting their feet wet as home winemakers under the name Greg Michael Cellars. Their first release was in […]

Grand Rêve Vintners, whose first three wines were just released last month, produces vineyard-designed wines from Red Mountain grown fruit by an all-star cast of Washington winemakers. Theirs is truly a revolutionary and exciting concept in the same vein as Long Shadows Vintners. The difference is that Grand Rêve focuses on the fruit first and […]

During these tough economic times, it’s refreshing to see creative marketing combined with an environmentally friendly concept. And that’s exactly what we found recently when we visited Pend d’Oreille Winery in Sandpoint, Idaho. We learned that since February, their popular Bistro Rouge Red Table Wine has been available in a refillable 1.5 liter bottle. You […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is malolactic fermentation. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Malolactic fermentation is the conversion of stronger malic acid naturally present in new wine into lactic acid (which has lower acidity) and carbon dioxide. …. It is accomplished by lactic acid bacteria, which are naturally […]

Looking out my window, I see the sun shining, the lake glistening, and a slight breeze blowing. Summer is officially upon us. And what is the perfect beverage to enjoy on a hot summer day? For us wine lovers, this is the time of year when we turn our attention to rosé wines. In fact, […]