For those of you who have never been, Leavenworth, Washington, is a quaint and beautiful Bavarian Village nestled in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains in the heart of the state. No matter the season, it is a great get-away tourist destination. And in recent years, it has also become a destination for wine lovers […]

We recently spent a long weekend in the Columbia Valley visiting a number of wineries, some we had visited years ago and others we had not previously visited. The Columbia Valley, established in 1984, is Washington State’s largest AVA (American Viticultural Area). Six other AVAs are located within the borders of the Columbia Valley AVA, […]

In a blind tasting of six excellent Washington State Syrahs, we tasted what we rated as a “Wow!” wine, the first Washington Syrah we’ve ever given a 5-star (out of 5) Quality Rating, the 2005 Fielding Hills Syrah. We had heard good things about Fielding Hills but had never tasted one of their wines until […]

Three of Washington State’s largest and most opulent winery facilities are located in Woodinville, a suburb of Seattle. Chateau Ste. Michelle, Columbia Winery, and Novelty Hill/Januik make excellent stops on anyone’s wine tasting adventure. In addition to the “Big Three,” Woodinville is also home to a number of small, garagiste wineries. But instead of being […]

Even though Mom (LaGayle) and Dad (John) were recently in Walla Walla as a part of their two month cross-country road trip (see Dad’s previous Walla Walla posts: Day 1 and Day 2), all of us Wine Peeps recently spent a weekend in the Walla Walla Valley visiting some wineries that Mom and Dad missed […]

The wine industry around Chelan, Washington, is relatively new, with a mixture of what I call “foo-foo” wineries and serious winemakers. The tourist industry in the area will probably keep the former in business, while I’m interested to see how the serious winemakers progress as their vineyards mature and they see what works and doesn’t […]

As our road trip took us to Spokane, Washington, we tried to visit a representative sampling of wineries in the Spokane area. Our first stop was at Latah Creek Winery. Latah Creek, owned by Mike Conway and his wife, has been in business 26 years and produces about 15,000 cases per year. Our friendly hostess, […]

Last Friday was a beautiful, sunny day in Seattle, the perfect day to enjoy some crisp, cool white wines for summer. Our wine tasting dinner this month was a slight departure from our normal tasting format. This tasting featured six different white varietals instead of six different wines within the same varietal. Since the Wine […]

The Rhone Rangers—Advancing the knowledge & enjoyment of Rhone grapes grown in America and of the wines produced from those grapes. Last Tuesday, Dad (John) and I attended the Rhone Rangers Trade/Media Tasting in Seattle. The Rhone Rangers are a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting American Rhone varietal wines. To be members, wineries must produce […]

On our second day in Walla Walla, Washington, during our cross-country road trip, we visited five wineries. All of them were new to us, but they had come highly recommended and we were not disappointed. The tasting room personnel were very friendly and the wines were generally very good, although some were a bit pricey. […]