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 [...]

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 [...]

Last week in Texas Wine Country 2009, Part One, I shared with you my initial impressions of Texas wines in 2009 and how much better they are today than in 2002. Now after visiting a total of 23 wineries and tasting a total of 169 wines from 28 wineries, let me give you a summary [...]

Regular readers may remember that I visited several wineries in the Texas Panhandle about a year ago. Prior to last year, I had not been impressed at all with the Texas wineries I had visited. However, based on my limited sampling last year, I wanted to make a more comprehensive survey of Texas wines and [...]

Cabernet Franc is generally thought of as the quiet little brother of Cabernet Sauvignon. Some people even refer to it as the “other” Cabernet. However, Cabernet Franc is actually one of the genealogical parents of Cabernet Sauvignon. Originating in Bordeaux, France, Cabernet Sauvignon is a cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. Well-known as a [...]

The tagline used by the Washington Wine Commission to describe Taste Washington is “the ultimate wine experience.” That phrase definitely sums up this past weekend. Taste Washington is a wine and food lover’s paradise. The festivities kicked off on Friday with the Washington Wine Restaurant Awards, picked up steam on Saturday with Education Day, and [...]

Carpenter Creek Winery, located in Mount Vernon, Washington, was founded in 2001 by owner/winemaker Jeff Hammer and his wife Tara. They opened their tasting room in 2003 and did an extensive remodel in 2006. Their remodeled tasting room is very nice and quaintly situated off the road among fir and cedar trees. Currently, Carpenter Creek [...]

The inaugural Sip of Snoqualmie, benefitting Encompass, was held last Saturday at the Snoqualmie Casino in Snoqualmie, Washington (about 26 miles east of Seattle). Encompass is a non-profit organization whose mission is to nurture children, enrich families, and inspire community in the Snoqualmie Valley. Thirty-two Washington wineries were on hand pouring their wines during this [...]

On our first day in Stellenbosch, our first wine farm stop was at Hartenberg Wine Estate established in 1692. The tasting room hostess was nice, but she was juggling our tasting with a phone call about a doctor’s appointment. We tasted four wines at Hartenberg, and while all of them were decent wines, none of [...]