To kick off Oregon Wine Month, the Oregon Wine Board hosted a large-scale tasting event in Portland called Unwine’d, Celebrate Oregon Wine on Sunday. The concept was similar to Seattle’s annual Taste Washington event. The inaugural event featured 100 wineries pouring their wines and 14 restaurants serving small bites. With approximately 450 wineries now open [...]

Woodinville has definitely become a must-visit destination in Washington wine country. Home of the state’s oldest, largest, and most well-known wineries, Chateau Ste. Michelle and Columbia Winery, the Woodinville area is also home to over 90 wineries and tasting rooms, with new ones opening all the time. Woodinville boasts the second largest concentration of Washington [...]

Taste Washington, held in Seattle annually, is the nation’s largest single-region wine and food event. This past weekend brought Washington wine lovers from around the country to Seattle to drink, eat, and be merry. This year, the event was expanded to two days, with Seminars offered each morning followed by the Grand Tasting each afternoon. [...]

Washington State ranks second nationally in wine production with over 740 wineries and 40,000 vineyard acres. As I’ve said numerous times before, Washington wines are perfectly positioned to thrive in our current economy. Washington State is producing outstanding wines that consistently deliver great bang for your buck. If you love Washington wine or want to [...]

The holiday season is upon us! Retail stores already have Christmas decorations up, and Starbucks is featuring eggnog lattes and peppermint mochas. Thanksgiving is next week, and while I don’t want to gloss over that holiday because of premature Christmas excitement, it is time to make plans for December events. For those of you who [...]

During the summer, the Wine Peeps team hosted our fourth Digging into the Cellar Party for about a dozen of our closest wine loving friends. For our first DITC Party last year, the theme was Rhone-style wines. For our second DITC Party, the theme was Red Blends. For our third DITC party, the theme was [...]

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 [...]

Col Solare, located on Red Mountain in Washington State, is a partnership between Marchesi Antinori of Italy and Chateau Ste. Michelle of Washington State. Italian for “shining hill,” Col Solare produces one Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine each year with the goal to reflect the characteristics of both Old World and New World styles. The idea for [...]

This past weekend, the Washington wine industry hosted its 24th annual Auction of Washington Wines. The Auction has raised more than $24 million since its inception in 1988 to benefit the uncompensated care program at Seattle Children’s Hospital and since 2001, the Washington Wine Education Foundation, funding viticultural and enological research across the state. This [...]

2011 Iron Vintner Challenge (June 8, June 15, June 22, and June 29) The second annual 2011 Iron Vintner Challenge, hosted by Willows Lodge in Woodinville, Washington, is a month-long culinary competition where local winemakers battle for the title of Iron Vintner. The cooking competitions will take place on three consecutive Wednesdays in June at [...]