The Walla Walla Valley is one of the oldest of Washington State’s 13 AVA’s. Established in 1984, it encompasses over 1,600 vineyard acres. Located within the greater Columbia Valley AVA, the Walla Walla Valley covers the area around the town of Walla Walla, Washington, and also dips across the state-line into Oregon near Milton-Freewater. The [...]

For those of you who are not familiar with a vertical tasting, it is a tasting in which you taste different vintages of the same wine from the same winery. We were first “wow”-ed by Fielding Hills in the summer of 2008. Since then, we have visited the winery, tasted all of their new releases, [...]

Jones of Washington is a small, family-owned winery located in Quincy, Washington. The Jones Family has been farming in the Columbia Basin for over 50 years. In 1997, Jack Jones started planting wine grapes in the Wahluke Slope AVA. At first, they sold their grapes to other wineries. Then, in 2001, Jack decided to start [...]

Nota Bene Cellars is a small, family-owned winery located in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood. Owner/winemaker Tim Narby and his wife Carol Bryant founded Nota Bene in 2001. Tim got his start in winemaking over 15 years earlier in the Boeing Employee’s Wine and Beermaking Club. When their youngest child was out of preschool, they decided [...]

Watermill Winery is located in Milton-Freewater, Oregon, in the heart of the Walla Walla Valley AVA just 10 miles from downtown Walla Walla, Washington. The Brown family, a third generation apple-growing family and the owners of Blue Mountain Cider, founded Watermill in 2005. Rich Funk of Saviah Cellars initially oversaw the winemaking operations until Andrew [...]

Brothers Matthew and Patrick Rawn established Two Mountain Winery in 2002. Located in the Yakima Valley of Washington State, Two Mountain Winery is named for the two mountains, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams, which form the beautiful backdrop of their estate vineyard. They planted Copeland Vineyard in 2000 on land that their family has farmed [...]

Fielding Hills Winery, a small, family-owned winery in Wenatchee, is one of the top wineries in Washington State. Owner/winemaker Mike Wade and his wife Karen are longtime apple and cherry growers who have turned a middle portion of their orchard near Mattawa into a vineyard. Their RiverBend Vineyard, planted in 1998, is in the Wahluke [...]

After founding Sineann with Peter Rosback in 1994, winemaker David O’Reilly took his dream solo when he started Owen Roe Winery, named for Irish patriot Owen Roe O’Neil, in 1999. Located in St. Paul, Oregon, Owen Roe produces wines from both Oregon and Washington fruit. O’Reilly sources his fruit from small vineyard sites in Oregon [...]

While I generally prefer flavorful but simple-to-prepare recipes, I decided to make Greek moussaka for this month’s challenging wine pairing meal. Although there are short-cut versions, I wanted to follow the standard recipe. Moussaka is a little like lasagna in that there are layers—potatoes, eggplant, cheese, ground lamb (although beef can also be used) with [...]

Corliss Estates and Tranche Cellars burst onto the scene a couple of years ago and almost immediately received high praise from the critics. Located in Walla Walla, Washington, Corliss’s critical acclaim has not been limited to the confines of Washington State. In fact, their goal is to be considered one of the “grand vins” of [...]