We recently spent a wonderful weekend in Washington wine country. We visited vineyards and wineries on Red Mountain, in the Yakima Valley, and near the Tri-Cities. We met some wonderful people, tasted some great wines, and spent time in some of the state’s best vineyards. On the way from Seattle to our hotel in the […]

Thank you for joining us for the June roundup of the Wine Book Club. Dr. Debs of Good Wine Under $20, who founded our monthly Wine Book Club, selected La Vie en Rosé: A Very French Adventure Continues by Jamie Ivey (St. Martin’s Press, $24.95; Amazon.com, $16.47) as the book for this month, and it […]

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 […]

Looking out my window, I see the sun shining, the lake glistening, and a slight breeze blowing. Summer is officially upon us. And what is the perfect beverage to enjoy on a hot summer day? For us wine lovers, this is the time of year when we turn our attention to rosé wines. In fact, […]

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 […]

A few months ago, I saw a list of America’s most popular restaurant wines that was published in a post on the popular wine blog, Vinography: Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay Beringer Vineyards White Zinfandel Cavit Pinot Grigio Italy Sutter Home White Zinfandel Inglenook Chablis Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio Italy Yellow Tail Chardonnay Australia Copperidge Chardonnay […]

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 […]

On our next South African wine adventure, we headed out to Franschhoek to visit wineries that we were unable to visit earlier in our trip when I was ill. Franschhoek, a village settled more than 300 years ago by the French Huguenots, is a picturesque town full of art and antique shops and galleries, coffee […]