This month’s wine tasting dinner, held last Friday night, featured Oregon Pinot Noir. Regular Wine Peeps readers know that Pinot Noir is not our favorite varietal. However, since we live so close to Oregon, generally considered the best growing area for Pinot Noir in the United States, we have made a conscious effort to continue […]

Boudreaux Cellars, located just outside Leavenworth, Washington, was founded by owner/winemaker Rob Newsom in 2001. A Louisiana native, Newsom has lived on the property that is home to both his log home and Boudreaux Cellars since 1981. He began making wine in his garage in 1998 and started building the winery facilities in 2001. Boudreaux […]

When you hear the grape varietals Barbera, Sangiovese, and Dolcetto mentioned, you probably think of Italy. These three varietals are all native to Italy but are now being grown in other parts of the world as well. While many traditional wineries make the occasional Barbera or Sangiovese varietal wine, one winery in California is focusing […]

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, […]

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 […]

When most people think of wine country destinations in Washington State, Walla Walla, Yakima, and Woodinville immediately come to mind. One area that I have rarely heard mentioned is Spokane and that is truly a shame. We had the pleasure to spend the long Memorial Day weekend in the Spokane area, and I must say […]

As expected, Lake Chelan was approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), the government agency that oversees all things wine, as Washington State’s newest American Viticultural Area (AVA); it becomes official this Friday, May 29. Lake Chelan is home to 15 wineries, including Nefarious Cellars, Tsillan Cellars, and Chelan Estate Winery, […]