Washington Tasting Room Magazine is a brand new quarterly magazine aimed at wine enthusiasts of every age and from novice to collector. As the name implies, it focuses on Washington State wine with articles about wineries, vineyards, travel, and lifestyle. I am proud to announce that I am a Contributor to the magazine. The article […]

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 […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is sommelier. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Sommelier is a widely used French term for a specialist wine waiter or wine steward. The sommelier’s job is to ensure that any wine ordered is served correctly and, ideally, to advise on the individual characteristics […]

Thank you for joining us for the August “virtual meeting” of the Wine Book Club. Many thanks to Dr. Debs of Good Wine Under $20 who originally proposed the idea for the WBC where bloggers and wine lovers come together for book reviews and discussions after reading a selected text. Dr. Debs chose A Vineyard […]

Today’s post is part of a series featuring the Women of Washington Wine. In an industry once dominated by men, more and more women are joining the ranks as winery owners, vineyard owners, and winemakers. Being a woman myself, I am fascinated by these women and what they have done and continue to do. Through […]

I always find it interesting when I hear or read someone describe a wine, that I consider to be terrible, as complex or a product of unique terroir. Who is right in a situation like this? Fortunately, in wine, there is no right or wrong answer. It’s what you like that counts. But be sure […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is Meritage. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Meritage is the name coined in 1981 by the winner of a competition in the Los Angeles Times for American wines made from a blend of grape varieties in the image of Bordeaux, devised to distinguish […]

If you are a fan of Shiraz or Syrah and have not tried Dutschke St. Jakobi from the Barossa Valley of Australia, you are missing out. We stumbled upon Dutschke when we were visiting Australia in 2005. One night when we were out to dinner at a restaurant in Adelaide, we ordered a bottle of […]

As a student of history as well as Washington wine, it was probably inevitable that I eventually found a copy of this book, The Wine Project—Washington State’s Winemaking History by Ronald Irvine with Walter J. Clore. Ronald Irvine founded Pike and Western Wine Shop in Seattle in 1975. In 1991, he sold his ownership and […]

We recently spent a long weekend in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada, relaxing, visiting family friends, and of course, wine tasting. The Okanagan Valley is Canada’s most well-known wine region. Located about 100 miles east of Vancouver, B.C., it is about a six hour drive from Seattle. The Okanagan Valley stretches over 100 […]