Through the years, we’ve had the pleasure of tasting a number of Long Shadows wines. We’ve visited their production facility in Walla Walla, Washington, attended a winemaker’s dinner with Allen Shoup and John Duval, and had their wines in our monthly wine tasting dinners as well as private dinners. However, last month, we had an [...]

It’s time for another food and wine pairing challenge. As you have probably noticed, the Wine Peeps like spicy foods, so this time the menu called for a Creole/Cajun dish. As I planned the meal, I decided to prepare Shrimp Creole which I served with white rice and bayou coleslaw. If I do say so [...]

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 [...]

When you hear the grape varietals Barbera, Sangiovese, and Dolcetto mentioned, you probably think of Italy. These three varietals are all native to Italy but are now being grown in other parts of the world as well. While many traditional wineries make the occasional Barbera or Sangiovese varietal wine, one winery in California is focusing [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Italy says it is #1 in wine production, although it admits it is a close race with France and depends on the vintage. France is #1 in wine exports and historically was #1 in production, too. Spain is #1 in acreage planted to grapes. United States is #1 in wine imports. Today, I’m going to [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]