Last week, to celebrate Dad’s (John’s) birthday, we had what turned out to be a Washington Cabernet Sauvignon showdown in one of our double blind private tasting dinners featuring two highly-acclaimed wines from the 2005 vintage, the 2005 Columbia Crest Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2005 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon. For a more complete description […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is large format. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Large format is a bottle size larger than the standard 75 cl size and of particular interest to collectors and investors (provided it is filled with fine wine). Layman’s terms from Kori: Large format is […]

Wily Jack Wines, produced by Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, launched nationally in October with three varietals including Zinfandel, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon. They are all fruit-driven wines from California vineyards with a suggested retail price of $8. Their wines, each with a slightly different label, feature a visually compelling silhouette of the Wily Jack […]

Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? Many of our readers have said this is something they would like, so here is this week’s selection, the 2006 Peter Lehmann Barossa Shiraz from the famed Barossa Valley of […]

Soos Creek and Quilceda Creek wineries have “creek” in common in their names, but a huge “gulf” separates them. And it’s not so much in the quality of their wines as in their approach to customer service. I’ve purchased and enjoyed several of Soos Creek’s wines, so I was excited to receive an invitation to […]

Woodinville has definitely become a must-visit destination in Washington wine country. Home of the state’s oldest, largest, and most well-known wineries, Chateau Ste. Michelle and Columbia Winery, the Woodinville area is also home to over 40 wineries and tasting rooms, with new ones opening all the time. Woodinville now boasts the second largest concentration of […]

Otis Kenyon is a small, family-owned and operated winery in Walla Walla, Washington. Founded in 2004 by Stephen Otis Kenyon and his wife Deborah Dunbar, Otis Kenyon currently produces 2,500 cases per year. We were first introduced to Otis Kenyon wines at a tasting at Pete’s Wine Shop in Bellevue last year. Since discovering that […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is bottles. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Bottles are by far the most common containers for finished wine. Being made of glass, bottles are inconveniently fragile and relatively heavy, but, importantly for long-term aging, they are inert. A standard bottle contains 75 cl/27 […]

Last Friday, I shared with you my analysis of our Wine Peeps coverage of Washington State wines as compared to the three major print publications. To recap: According to statistics cited by Sean Sullivan on his Washington Wine Report and a tally of our reviews on this blog, we at Wine Peeps review more Washington […]

Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? Many of our readers have said this is something they would like, so here is this week’s selection, the 2008 Chateau Ste. Michelle Pinot Gris from Washington State’s Columbia Valley. […]