Brothers Butch and Jerry Milbrandt planted their first vines in Washington’s Columbia Valley and Wahluke Slope in 1997. Today, Milbrandt Vineyards is comprised of over 2,000 acres of estate vineyards. After selling their grapes to wineries throughout Washington for years, the Milbrandts launched their own winery in 2005. Joshua Maloney, who previously worked for wineries […]

Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? If so, you might want to check out the Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut Cava from Spain. Our selection criteria include: A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of […]

Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? If so, you might want to check out the 2012 Canoe Ridge Vineyard Expedition Pinot Gris from the Horse Heaven Hills of Washington State. Our selection criteria include: A very […]

Rodney Strong founded Rodney Strong Vineyards, located in Healdsburg, California, in 1959. Current owner Tom Klein and the Klein family purchased the winery in 1989. Head winemaker Rick Sayre has been with the winery since 1979. Rodney Strong sustainably farms thirteen estate vineyards in Sonoma County. Recently, we had the opportunity to taste the 2010 […]

Kim Crawford Wines, located in New Zealand, was founded in 1996 by owner/winemaker Kim Crawford and his wife Erica. In the beginning, Kim Crawford Wines was one of New Zealand’s first “virtual wineries.” They sourced their grapes from growers across New Zealand, made the wine at other wineries, and managed their sales and marketing from […]

Sweet and sour pork is a popular dish and one that easily lends itself to a challenging wine pairing given both its sweetness and tartness. The main dish included the pork, green bell peppers, celery, and onion in the sweet and sour sauce that included pineapple, apple cider vinegar, and sugar, as well as other […]

Over the past few months, I have highlighted some of the people and places I encountered on my media trip to Chile in October. Chile is a long, narrow country that runs 2,600 miles along the southwestern coast of South America between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains. But don’t let its geography fool […]

Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? If so, you might want to check out the 2011 Pepi Chenin Blanc-Viognier from California. Our selection criteria include: A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5) […]

During my media trip to Chile in the fall, I had the pleasure to visit a number of its wineries and vineyards and meet many of the movers and shakers in the Chilean wine industry. I am individually highlighting some of the wine regions we visited including reviews of wines I tasted from those regions. […]

Pacific Rim Winery, located in West Richland, Washington, is almost exclusively a Riesling producer. The first Pacific Rim Riesling was produced in 1992 as a brand within Bonny Doon Vineyard in Santa Cruz, California, and used grapes from California, Washington, and Germany. In 2007, Randall Grahm decided to downsize Bonny Doon and spun off Pacific […]