It has been disappointing to me that so many wine shops in the State of Washington carry such a poor selection of Washington wines, especially given the very good quality of Washington wines. However, in our ongoing search for good sources of the wines that we like, we have found several vendors that you might […]

Growing wine grapes is not an uppity business; it is basic agriculture (see my post from June 16). And most growers are salt-of-the-earth folks. A wine grape consists of about 71-85 percent water, on average about 13-27 percent sugar (which is converted into alcohol during the fermentation process), and about 2 percent skin, pips and […]

On February 8th, I did a post on Tips for visiting wine country which included advice on being friendly and polite and respecting the time of the people working in a tasting room. Since then, we have visited over 100 winery tasting rooms in 15 different states. Based on those visits, I’d like to share […]

“It is one of the ironies of the wine market today that just as the price differential between the cheapest and most expensive bottles is greater than ever, the difference in quality is probably narrower than it has ever been. There is good and bad quality at every price level.” –Jancis Robinson, How to Taste […]

“I couldn’t help but think if we’d spent more time researching the business of winemaking, we would have known that success isn’t totally dependent on the quality of the product. As with any other industry, marketing, luck, connections, politics, and—in this case—personal preference can influence any winery’s status in the marketplace.” –Linda Kaplan, My First […]

The wine producing business is not nearly as glamorous as it looks from the outside. It’s basic agriculture. Traditionally, especially in Europe, winemaking was a family farm type business on a small plot of land passed down through the generations. It was an annual struggle to grow the grapes, process them into wine, and sell […]

“Wine tasting is to taste a wine with care in order to appreciate its quality; to submit it to examination by our senses, in particular those of taste and smell; to try and understand it by discovering its various qualities and defects and putting them into words….” –Jean Ribereau-Gayon and Emile Peynaud As you begin […]

“Wine is a little like love. When the right one comes along you’ll know it!” –Anonymous Keep in mind that the wines you prefer may not technically be the best wines, especially early on in your wine journey. And that’s fine. However, as you hone your tasting skills, hopefully you will be able to distinguish […]

Wine rating services, wine critics, wine journalists, and wine bloggers are useful but don’t follow them blindly. Learn which critics tend to like what you like and then let them lead you to some new wine possibilities. Remember, in the end, it’s what tastes good to you, what you like that counts. While the points […]

“What is the definition of a good wine? It should start and end with a smile.” –William Sokolin The two biggest dangers to wine are wide temperature fluctuations and high temperatures for a sustained period of time. For wines that you plan to consume in the next week to the next year, which will probably […]