The Rhone Rangers—Advancing the knowledge & enjoyment of Rhone grapes grown in America and of the wines produced from those grapes. Last Tuesday, Dad (John) and I attended the Rhone Rangers Trade/Media Tasting in Seattle. The Rhone Rangers are a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting American Rhone varietal wines. To be members, wineries must produce […]

On our second day in Walla Walla, Washington, during our cross-country road trip, we visited five wineries. All of them were new to us, but they had come highly recommended and we were not disappointed. The tasting room personnel were very friendly and the wines were generally very good, although some were a bit pricey. […]

As our road trip continued, we were excited to arrive back in our home state of Washington. We took two days to tour a select group of Walla Walla wineries. It was our first trip to Walla Walla in several years. Most Walla Walla wineries seem to be going to tasting fees that are refundable […]

As we continued our cross-country road trip, we stopped in Milton-Freewater, Oregon, at a couple of eastern Oregon wineries. What a contrast it was between the western Oregon wineries we have visited in the past and these two eastern Oregon wineries. We didn’t have to pay any tasting fees, the attitude of the winery tasting […]

As we continued our cross-country road trip, we visited three Idaho wineries, one in Glenns Ferry and two in Caldwell, Idaho. They all produce their wines exclusively with Idaho grapes, and we found some pretty good wines at each stop. Our first stop was at Carmela Vineyards, in business since 1988. They produce about 10,000 […]

As we traveled through Colorado, we made several stops at wineries near Palisade, Colorado. We were impressed that each of the wineries we visited sold only Colorado grown grapes, offered complimentary tastings, had nice professional tasting rooms, and their wines were pretty good. Our first stop was at Grande River Vineyards, Colorado’s oldest winery. Their […]

“I’m a big fan of Shiraz…great quality and value.” –Francis Ford Coppola While virtually every wine lover is familiar with Syrah from the Rhone Valley in France and Shiraz [sha-RAZZ] from Australia, I am more and more impressed with the quality of Shiraz/Syrah from areas not traditionally known for this grape, such as Washington and […]

Our next stops on our road trip across these United States of America were Tennessee and Kentucky. We headed for Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and visited three Tennessee wineries, Mountain Valley Winery, Apple Barn Winery, and Smoky Mountain Winery. My opinion after these three visits is that Tennessee is not yet serious wine country. The only wines […]

This event, held last weekend at the Dempsey Indoor on the University of Washington campus, brought together two of my favorite things, Huskies and wine. As a graduate of the University of Washington, I am a tried and true Husky fan. In fact one of my favorite pastimes is attending UW sporting events with my […]

Before this trip, the only New Mexico wine I had tasted was the NV Gruet Brut Sparkling Wine which finished a close second in one of our tasting dinners. I was disappointed that Santa Fe does not seem to be as infatuated with New Mexico wines as was Sedona with Arizona wines. In fact, New […]