The 2010 Iron Vintner Challenge, hosted by Willows Lodge in Woodinville, Washington, features cooking competitions that occur on three consecutive Wednesdays in June at Fireside Cellars, followed by a Championship Winemaker Dinner at Barking Frog to benefit Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center. Participating local Woodinville winemakers include: Mark McNeilly of Mark Ryan Winery, Brennon Leighton [...]

When you attend a large public event like Taste Washington, there are a handful of wineries where the lines are extremely long and the wine runs out quickly. DeLille Cellars is in that elite group. DeLille Cellars, located in Woodinville, Washington, was founded in 1992 by the late Charles Lill and his son Greg, along [...]

Last week, we had the pleasure to take part in an online Chilean Sauvignon Blanc tasting hosted by Wines of Chile. Sauvignon Blanc is the primary white variety planted in Chile. Eight Chilean winemakers/winery representatives convened in Chile to talk about their wines via video conference to 51 wine bloggers across the United States while [...]

Would you like to learn more about Washington wine? Are you coming to Walla Walla for the Wine Bloggers Conference and would like to get a head start on your Washington wine exploration? Do you already love Washington wine and just want an excuse to drink more of it and talk about it? If you [...]

Recently, we participated in an event focused on Austrian Grüner Veltliner. We, along with a group of fellow wine bloggers, were sent four Austrian Grüner Veltliners as part of the Grü V Olympics. A fun play on the recent winter Olympics, we were asked to taste the wines head-to-head and score them based on certain [...]

Hosted annually by the Washington Wine Commission, Taste Washington is dubbed “the ultimate wine experience.” This past weekend brought Washington wine lovers from around the country to Seattle to drink, eat, and be merry. The event is a wine and food lover’s paradise. The festivities kicked off on Friday with the Washington Wine Restaurant Awards, [...]

Taste Washington 2010 is now in the books, so it’s time to reflect on what we learned and tasted and look forward to next year. Again this year, we had the pleasure to attend all of the Taste Washington festivities including the Washington Wine Restaurant Awards on Friday, Education Day on Saturday, and the Grand [...]

Our neighbors to the south, the Willamette Valley Wineries Association, recently made a trip to our fair city for their first ever consumer and trade tasting. “On the Road to Seattle” was a block party event featuring over 50 Willamette Valley wineries. All of the AVAs within the greater Willamette Valley AVA were represented including [...]

Taste Washington in Seattle is rapidly approaching. Over 200 wineries and 75 restaurants will be pouring wines and serving bites at the Grand Tasting on Sunday, March 28th, at the Qwest Field Event Center. If you are not familiar with this fabulous event, check out my Taste Washington 2010 Preview post for further information. For [...]

Washington State ranks second nationally in wine production, has over 650 wineries, and is home to the Wine Spectator Wine of the Year for 2009. And 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 [...]