Hedges Family Estate, located on Red Mountain, is the largest family-owned winery in Washington State. Founders Tom and Anne-Marie Hedges created an export company called American Wine Trade in 1986 to sell wine to foreign importers. Out of that business came the establishment of a négociant-inspired wine called Hedges Cellars. Tom and Anne-Marie bought land […]

Founded in 1961 by Sir George Fistonich, Villa Maria Estate is New Zealand’s 4th largest winery yet remains family-owned. Villa Maria has two wineries, one located in Auckland and one located in New Zealand’s famous winegrowing region of Marlborough. They source grapes from all of New Zealand’s main winegrowing regions. Villa Maria produces between 800,000 […]

On Friday evening, we hosted our 100th wine tasting dinner. Early on in our wine journey when we found what we thought was a good wine while visiting a winery, we would buy a case and take it home. Too often the wine did not taste nearly as good at home as it had in […]

Founded in 1987 by Champagne Taittinger of France in partnership with Kobrand Corporation, Domaine Carneros is located in the heart of Carneros in California’s Napa Valley. Claude Taittinger, the president of Champagne Taittinger, began searching for a site to open a winery in the United States in the late 1970’s. He selected a site in […]

Chateau Ste. Michelle is Washington State’s founding winery with its roots dating back to the repeal of Prohibition. In 1976, Ste. Michelle built a French-style chateau in Woodinville, just northeast of Seattle. While all of Chateau Ste. Michelle’s vineyards are located on the east side of the Cascade Mountains, all of their white wines are […]

Northwest Totem Cellars, founded by Mike and Kate Sharadin, is located on private property in Redmond, Washington, just outside of Woodinville. Kate Sharadin grew up in the Vancouver, BC, area so it is not surprising that the Sharadins settled in the Pacific Northwest. In 1996, they moved to the Woodinville area after careers had taken […]

Mackey Vineyards, located in Walla Walla, Washington, is a newcomer in the Washington wine industry. Brothers Roger and Philip Mackey relocated from California to Walla Walla in 2007. They bought a farm with apple orchards and grape vines. The Mackeys brought the vineyard on their farm, now named Mackey Vineyard, back to life. They also […]

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 […]

Friday was the official first day of fall. However, it was more beautiful and sunny here in Seattle than most days this summer. It was a perfect night to gather with friends to enjoy a fabulous meal and good wines for one of our monthly wine tasting dinners. This month’s dinner featured Washington Viognier, a […]

Winemaker Sean Boyd founded Rôtie Cellars, located in Walla Walla, Washington, in 2007. As his winery’s name indicates, Boyd is dedicated to producing Rhone-style wines from Washington State fruit. Before pursuing a career in the wine industry, Boyd was a field geologist who worked in oil and gas exploration. Prior to opening his own winery, […]