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? Many of our readers have said this is something they would like, so here is this week’s selection, the 2010 Mercer Estates Pinot Gris from the Columbia Valley of Washington […]

Founded in 1961 by Sir George Fistonich, Villa Maria Estate is New Zealand’s 4th largest winery yet remains family-owned. Villa Maria has two wineries, one located in Auckland and one located in New Zealand’s famous winegrowing region of Marlborough. They source grapes from all of New Zealand’s main winegrowing regions. Villa Maria produces between 800,000 […]

Founded in 2007 by brothers Pinto and Billo Naravane, Rasa Vineyards has already become a superstar on the Washington wine scene. Their beautiful winery is located south of downtown Walla Walla near the Washington/Oregon state line. Both Pinto and Billo have engineering and mathematical backgrounds and worked in the computer industry. As for their official […]

Recently, I had a meal with blackened rockfish and enjoyed it very much. So I decided to plan a challenging wine pairing with this fish. If you are not familiar with rockfish, here are the descriptions of halibut, cod, and rockfish for comparison. Halibut has a firm-fleshed texture and mild flavor, cod has a flakey […]

Jim Bernau founded Willamette Valley Vineyards, located in Turner, Oregon, in 1983. Through his work as a small business lobbyist, he helped pass legislation to develop the Oregon wine industry. He was also involved in the establishment of the Oregon Wine Advisory Board. When he planted his estate vineyards, he chose to focus on Pinot […]

Woodinville has definitely become a must-visit destination in Washington wine country. Home of the state’s oldest, largest, and most well-known wineries, Chateau Ste. Michelle and Columbia Winery, the Woodinville area is also home to over 90 wineries and tasting rooms, with new ones opening all the time. Woodinville now boasts the second largest concentration of […]

Located in central Washington State halfway between Seattle and Spokane, Cascade Valley Wine Country is home to around 50 wineries and tasting rooms in Wenatchee, Chelan, and Leavenworth. Cascade Valley Wine Country is a marketing alliance formed in 2009 by area wineries and funded by the Port of Chelan County and the Port of Douglas […]

We spent Labor Day Weekend visiting the Walla Walla Valley AVA. The Walla Walla Valley AVA was established in 1984 as Washington State’s third AVA. It encompasses areas in both Washington and Oregon. When you are visiting wineries and vineyards in the valley, it is easy to forget which state you are in. The lines […]

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? Many of our readers have said this is something they would like, so here is this week’s selection, the 2009 Turning Leaf Pinot Grigio from California. Our selection criteria include: […]

Since we live in Washington State and often drink wines from Washington State, we want to make sure that we continue to hone our knowledge of the entire world of wine and maintain well-rounded palates in order to make us even more objective when we evaluate wines from Washington State. Therefore, we are thoroughly enjoying […]