During the recent Wine Bloggers Conference in Portland, Oregon, Dad (John), Colby, and I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon in the Dundee Hills. These wine country visits are always a highlight of the conference. When we boarded the bus, we did not know where it was going as each bus had a different […]

Earlier this month, Dad (John), Colby, and I spent three jam-packed days in Portland, Oregon, for the fifth annual Wine Bloggers Conference. We were joined by over 300 fellow wine bloggers, wine industry participants, and media members for tastings, keynote addresses, breakout sessions, and visits to local vineyards and wineries. During the conference, we participated […]

Oregon ranks third in the number of wineries and fourth in wine production in the United States. In its relatively short 40-year history, the Oregon wine industry has evolved into a world-class wine region. Today, Oregon boasts over 400 wineries and 16 AVA’s (American Viticultural Areas). With those AVA’s found in both warm and cool […]

To kick off Oregon Wine Month, the Oregon Wine Board hosted a large-scale tasting event in Portland called Unwine’d, Celebrate Oregon Wine on Sunday. The concept was similar to Seattle’s annual Taste Washington event. The inaugural event featured 100 wineries pouring their wines and 14 restaurants serving small bites. With approximately 450 wineries now open […]

Founded in 1997 by businessman Terry Peabody and Master of Wine Steve Smith, Craggy Range is located in Hawkes Bay on the North Island of New Zealand. Together, Terry and Steve purchased vineyard land, forged partnerships with top grape growers, and chose the location for their winery and fine-dining restaurant, Terroir. Since the beginning, their […]

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 […]

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 2010 House of Independent Producers Chardonnay from the Columbia Valley of […]

Hedges Family Estate, located on Red Mountain, is the largest family-owned winery in Washington State. Founders Tom and Anne-Marie Hedges created an export company called American Wine Trade in 1986 to sell wine to foreign importers. Out of that business came the establishment of a négociant-inspired wine called Hedges Cellars. Tom and Anne-Marie bought land […]

Founded in 1961 by Sir George Fistonich, Villa Maria Estate is New Zealand’s 4th largest winery yet remains family-owned. Villa Maria has two wineries, one located in Auckland and one located in New Zealand’s famous winegrowing region of Marlborough. They source grapes from all of New Zealand’s main winegrowing regions. Villa Maria produces between 800,000 […]

Summer has finally arrived in Seattle. When the sun is shining, we tend to turn our attention to white wines. Last Friday, we hosted our 98th wine tasting dinner and featured Washington Chardonnay. While we have had tasting dinners that featured Washington Chardonnay in the past, we realized that we had been remiss in having […]