Brothers Butch and Jerry Milbrandt planted their first vines in Washington’s Columbia Valley and Wahluke Slope in 1997. Today, Milbrandt Vineyards is comprised of over 2,000 acres of estate vineyards. After selling their grapes to wineries throughout Washington for years, the Milbrandts launched their own winery in 2005. Joshua Maloney, who previously worked for wineries […]

Recently, a recipe for braised beef short ribs caught my eye. It sounded delicious, and I thought it would make for a good challenging wine pairing dinner. The Wine Peeps like just about any cut of beef, so I’m always looking for beef recipes that we haven’t already tried. Even better—this was a simple preparation […]

Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? If so, you might want to check out the 2012 Chateau Ste. Michelle Gewurztraminer from the Columbia Valley of Washington State. Our selection criteria include: A very good Quality rating […]

Watermill Winery is located in Milton-Freewater, Oregon, in the heart of the Walla Walla Valley AVA just 10 miles from downtown Walla Walla, Washington. The Brown family, a third generation apple-growing family and the owners of Blue Mountain Cider, founded Watermill in 2005. Rich Funk of Saviah Cellars initially oversaw the winemaking operations until Andrew […]

Founded in 2007 by brothers Pinto and Billo Naravane, Rasa Vineyards is a bona fide Washington wine superstar. Their beautiful winery is located south of downtown Walla Walla near the Washington/Oregon state line. Billo serves as winemaker and Pinto as managing partner, but the brothers collaborate on every aspect of the business. They both have […]

Michelle sparkling wines from Washington State launched nationwide this fall. Previously known as Domaine Ste. Michelle, Michelle is a fresh take on their sparkling wines and feature new packaging. Located in Paterson, Washington, Michelle by Domaine Ste. Michelle is the largest producer of sparkling wines in Washington State and one of the largest sparkling wine […]

Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? If so, you might want to check out the 2011 Chateau Ste. Michelle Columbia Valley Syrah from the Columbia Valley of Washington State. Our selection criteria include: A very good […]

There are as many different types of wine parties as there are wines. Through the years, we have hosted numerous wine parties. Regular readers are familiar with our regular Wine Tasting Dinners and have probably read about our Digging into the Cellar Parties, Tasting Groups, and Open That Bottle Nights. Recently, we had the opportunity […]

Riesling has become known as Washington State’s signature white variety. Washington is the largest Riesling producing state in the United States. And, Washington State’s own Chateau Ste. Michelle is the largest Riesling producer in the world. While Washington Riesling has been around for many years, the big leap forward came in the late 1990’s when […]

Chris Camarda made his first wines in the basement of his mother’s house on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, Washington. After spending 20 years in the restaurant industry, Chris had developed a good palate and decided to try his hand at winemaking. He founded Andrew Will Winery in 1989 and named it for his son […]