Port comes from the Douro Valley in northern Portugal. While there are port-style wines made around the world, strict use of the term Port is reserved for fortified wines produced in Portugal. Most Port producers in Portugal now label their wines as “Porto” and the bottles bear a neck label with the Instituto do Vinho [...]

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 [...]

Pecan pie is one of the Wine Peeps’ favorite desserts. In fact, it is John’s absolute favorite! Kori is actually the pecan pie maker in the family; although, I made the one for this challenging wine pairing. Each year, Kori makes pecan pie for her dad’s birthday in November as well as for Thanksgiving and [...]

Founded in 1995, Planeta Winery encompasses six distinct wine estates throughout Sicily. The Planeta philosophy is, “For each terroir, its own winery.” Planeta has tried to identify the area within Sicily where certain varieties grow best and then has established a boutique winery with its own surrounding vineyard in that respective area. Planeta’s boutique wineries [...]

Recently, Dad (John), Colby, and I spent three jam-packed days in Portland, Oregon, for the fifth annual Wine Bloggers Conference. Over 350 fellow wine bloggers, wine industry participants, and media members participated in tastings, keynote addresses, breakout sessions, and visits to local vineyards and wineries. [See the bottom of this post for a recap of [...]

Recently, 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 350 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 in two [...]

Santorini is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, about 120 miles southeast of Greece’s mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago, which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera. Best known for its deep blue waters, breathtaking sunsets, and distinct red, black, and white sand [...]

Metropolitan Market, founded in 1971, is an award-winning grocery store with six locations in the greater Seattle area. They sell more than 1,200 different wines and beers and have recently added spirits as well. Seattle Magazine has recognized Metropolitan Market as the Grocery Store with the Best Selection of Washington Wines three times. Recently, I [...]

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 [...]

Brian Carter has over thirty years of winemaking experience in California and Washington. He arrived in Washington State in 1980 to be winemaker for Paul Thomas Winery and has since founded Apex Winery and served as consulting winemaker for a number of other wineries. He officially opened his own namesake winery, Brian Carter Cellars, in [...]