Kori Voorhees: The Go-To Gal for Washington State Wine



By John ~ September 21st, 2009.

Kori S. Voorhees, CSWKori did not approve this post. She won’t tell you any of this. In fact, she is embarrassed that I am writing about her. However, with all due respect to some great female wine writers and friends: Catie, Teri, Margot, and too many more to mention, I sincerely believe that Kori is the “go-to gal” for Washington wine.

What qualifies me to make this pronouncement? Fifty plus years since my first sip of wine, and observing Kori pass me up in wine tasting before age 30 just like she did to me in tennis at age 10. She’s a prodigy in wine, just like she was in school and in tennis.

Let me give you a little background on Kori. She was raised on a working cattle ranch in Texas, and intimately involved in agriculture ever since she could walk, participating in 4-H, and showing calves at all the major livestock shows by the time she was 10 years old. So when her interest turned to wine, she didn’t just visit tasting rooms, she visited the vineyards, kicking the dirt and talking to the growers to see what unique characteristics the land might bring to their wine.

Kori came to the state of Washington fifteen years ago to attend the University of Washington on a tennis scholarship. After a successful tennis career and graduating with a business degree from UW, she worked in the investment management business before embarking on her writing career. For the past twelve years, she’s been honing her wine palate and taking notes on wines, first traveling to Washington wine country, and then to California, Oregon, France, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. But she didn’t start writing about wine for others until we started this blog in January 2008.

Kori tasting wines and taking notesThe clincher for me about her extraordinary palate was her ability to ascertain more about a wine from just sniffing it than the rest of us could tasting it when she was pregnant with her daughter Sydney in 2006. As some of you have heard me say before, I believe that Kori has the best palate of anyone in Washington not named Paul Gregutt…and she is only 33 years old, so watch out Paul!

In sum, Kori is in the growth phase of her wine tasting career just as is the Washington wine industry. Yes, I know I’m prejudiced because I’m her proud father. But pay attention to her recommendations. She knows her stuff!


Filed under: American Wine, General Wine Information, Washington State Wine

Reader's Comments

  1. Darren Austin | September 21st, 2009 at 7:12 am

    Well put, John. Kori has certainly been our go-to-guide for learning about and exploring wine. We look forward to more great insights and recommendations from WinePeeps in the future.

  2. John | September 21st, 2009 at 12:47 pm

    Thanks, Darren, for your kind words and your support of Wine Peeps.

  3. elizabeth traub | October 2nd, 2009 at 1:41 pm

    Spoken not just like a proud father, but from someone who can embrace and enlighten others of those with good talent and discernment as is needed for those whom we learn and grow from.

  4. John | October 2nd, 2009 at 2:52 pm

    Thanks, Elizabeth for your kind words.