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 […]

Domaine Ste. Michelle, located in Paterson, Washington, has been producing an excellent array of value sparkling wines for over 30 years. DSM is one of the largest sparkling wine houses in the United States, producing more than 300,000 cases each year. Rick Casqueiro has been head winemaker since 1994. I had the pleasure to meet […]

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, located in Napa, California, was founded by Warren Winiarski in 1970. Bitten by the wine bug when he spent a year studying in Italy, Warren and his family moved to California in the early 1960s to pursue his winemaking dream. He gained experience working for Souverain Cellars and then Robert Mondavi […]

During our recent trip to Spokane, we had the pleasure to visit Mountain Dome Winery, the only dedicated independent sparkling wine producer in the state of Washington, and interview winemaker Erik Manz. Founded in 1984 by Erik’s parents, Michael and Patricia Manz, Mountain Dome is located on 84 acres just outside of town in the […]

Recently during Vintage Walla Walla weekend, we had the opportunity to sit down for a nice visit with owner/winemaker Dave Stephenson of Stephenson Cellars in Walla Walla, Washington. While Stephenson Cellars, founded in 2001, is located in the Walla Walla airport complex, Dave recently moved his tasting room to downtown Walla Walla. Mom (LaGayle) and […]

On our recent trip to South Africa, we had the opportunity to have a private tasting, tour, and very nice visit with Chris Williams, winemaker at Meerlust and owner/winemaker of The Foundry. I previously reported on the tasting in my February 27th post, South Africa: Day 2 in Stellenbosch. During our visit, Chris was kind […]

On our recent visit to South Africa, we had the opportunity to have an extended visit with Charles Back, proprietor of Fairview Winery, one of South Africa’s larger winemaking operations and producer of the “fun” Goats do Roam label widely distributed in the United States. Charles also owns Spice Route Winery and is a partner […]

Recently, we came across Cork Pops for sale in a winery gift shop. Billed as “the fastest and easiest way to open a bottle of wine,” we wondered if it really worked or if it was just a gimmick. After trying it out ourselves, the answer is yes, it does work (at least, most of […]

While corks continue to be the most commonly used closures, more and more wineries are experimenting with alternative closures such as screwcaps in an attempt to eliminate cork taint. Therefore, these days you don’t always need a corkscrew to open a bottle of wine. However, sometimes opening a screwcap can be just as difficult. Here’s […]