Our 59th wine tasting dinner on Friday evening was one of our best ever. We enjoyed the evening with wonderful friends, Mom’s (LaGayle) delicious meal, and a fabulous set of wines. Not only were all the wines good to excellent but they are all outstanding values. Never before have all six wines from one of […]

Dad (John) and I ventured into Esquin Wine Merchants on Saturday looking to pick up a bottle or two of French Cabernet Franc for the upcoming Wine Blogging Wednesday. While we were there, we were able to taste some more Washington wines and have another excellent Washington wine book signed by the author. Like last […]

“Though the Wine Advocate has been bellowing it for years, it is worth repeating: Columbia Crest is the source of some of the finest values in the world. I am awestruck that winemaker Ray Einberger and his team can produce such quality in industrial-size quantities.” –Pierre Rovani, Wine Advocate, April 2006 If you want to […]

On Saturday, we spent part of our afternoon at Esquin Wine Merchants here in Seattle for a book signing and wine tasting. Paul Gregutt was there signing his book, Washington Wines and Wineries: The Essential Guide. This book is an excellent resource for anyone wishing to learn more about Washington wine or planning a trip […]

Our good friends, Ross of Decanted and his wife Alison, recently hosted the Zinfandel Olympics. Over the course of six weeks, a group of us gathered weekly to taste a number of Zinfandels. The rough format (with a few exceptions) was that in each of the preliminary five rounds, we tasted six Zins, each from […]

After Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, Syrah is the third most common red grape variety in Washington State. The total amount of Syrah grapes planted in Washington has greatly increased in recent years. As fans of the Shiraz/Syrah varietal, this is a trend that the Wine Peeps are excited to see. Since we enjoyed all of […]

On Friday, Dad (John) and I made the trek across the Cascade Mountains to Ellensburg to attend another one of the consumer courses offered through Central Washington University’s World Wine Program. Led by noted wine industry professional Amy Mumma, this program featured Unique Wines from Around the World. As the program title suggests, during this […]

This year’s Open That Bottle Night was last Saturday, February 23. Open That Bottle Night, created by Wall Street Journal wine columnists Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher, is the one night a year that we are all encouraged to get out that bottle of wine that is so special that no special occasion seems special […]

This month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday is more of a writing challenge than a tasting challenge. Andrew of Spittoon, our February host, asked us to drink any Italian red. That’s easy enough, we thought. But here’s where the tricky part comes in…after drinking that Italian red, he challenged us to review the wine in Just Seven […]

Our February wine tasting dinner last Friday night proved to be an eventful one. The evening began with much anticipation as all we were told by John was that the six wines that we would be tasting were Washington Syrahs that ranged in price from $7 to $70. Given the Wine Peeps love of Australian […]