Last Friday was a cold, dark, and rainy fall evening here in Seattle, not exactly perfect weather for crisp, refreshing white wines. Nevertheless, we wanted to feature Washington Pinot Gris in one of our monthly wine tasting dinners and simply ran out of summer months to do it. So we just turned up the heat […]

Our host for the October edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday, the blogosphere’s monthly virtual wine tasting event, is Dale Cruse of Drinks Are On Me. He selected A Grape By Any Other Name as this month’s theme and issued a semantic challenge to “taste wines labeled with their lesser-known varietal synonyms.” He also offered, “Extra […]

Recently, we had what turned out to be an Australian Shiraz blends showdown in one of our double blind private tasting dinners pitting the 2006 Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet against the 2006 Mollydooker Two Left Feet. The Mollydooker is a very good wine but the Penfolds Koonunga Hill is excellent. At $8 and with […]

Over the past two years, we have devoted a number of posts to great value bargain wines. You can buy great value wines for under $20 (some under $10) Great Value Wines Super Bargain Wines for Tough Times Super Bargain Wines in the $10 to $25 Range Since our last post on this topic, we’ve […]

2:30pm Dad (John), Colby, and I are here at the Wine Bloggers Conference in Sonoma County, California. We are just about to begin the Live Wine Blogging segment featuring wines poured for us by the winemakers themselves. We will update this post as we go. Having major wi-fi issues at the host hotel. So they’ve […]

Last Friday evening was a beautiful, sunny, summer evening here in Seattle. It was the perfect night to gather with friends to enjoy a fabulous meal and good wines for one of our monthly wine tasting dinners. And what is the perfect wine to enjoy on a hot summer day? This is the time of […]

First off, as regular readers know, I love Syrah, and I believe that some of the best Syrah in the world is made in Washington State. In fact, the first wine that ever garnered our highest quality rating, 5 stars (out of 5) was a Fielding Hills Syrah from Washington. But as the title of […]

Last Friday evening was a gorgeous, sunny summer evening here in Seattle. It was the perfect night to gather with friends to enjoy a fabulous meal and good wines for one of our monthly wine tasting dinners. In February of this year, Mom (LaGayle) and Dad (John) spent three weeks in South Africa visiting the […]

When most people think of wine country destinations in Washington State, Walla Walla, Yakima, and Woodinville immediately come to mind. One area that I have rarely heard mentioned is Spokane and that is truly a shame. We had the pleasure to spend the long Memorial Day weekend in the Spokane area, and I must say […]

Last week in Texas Wine Country 2009, Part One, I shared with you my initial impressions of Texas wines in 2009 and how much better they are today than in 2002. Now after visiting a total of 23 wineries and tasting a total of 169 wines from 28 wineries, let me give you a summary […]