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 […]

This month’s wine tasting dinner featured red blends from the 2007 vintage from Washington State. It was another fabulous evening of great wines, the company of wonderful friends, and LaGayle’s (Mom’s) excellent food. All six wines paired extremely well with our dinner of tomato basil soup, arugula peach salad, grilled steaks, sautéed mushrooms, cilantro lime […]

Owner/winemaker David Larsen founded Soos Creek Wine Cellars in 1989. One of a number of Washington winemakers who are “graduates” of the Boeing Wine Club, Larsen worked at Boeing for 29 years before leaving in 2004 to pursue his passion for wine full-time. Located in Kent, Washington, Soos Creek produces only red wine from Bordeaux […]

Last month in Wine Reviews: What Kind Do You Prefer? (Part I), I listed four expert reviews and two ratings for the same wine, which I can tell you now was the 2005 Columbia Crest Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, the Wine Spectator #1 wine for 2009; and asked you to share whether you preferred detailed notes […]

Brothers Jeff and Bill Gordon founded Gordon Brothers Family Vineyards, located in Pasco, Washington, in 1985. Their family-owned winery produces wines exclusively with estate grown fruit. Their vineyards were planted in 1980 on a south-facing slope overlooking the Snake River. Prior to planting the vineyard, Jeff consulted with Walter Clore, the father of Washington wine, […]

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 […]

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 Bodegas Ateca Garnacha de Fuego Old Vines from the Calatayud […]

Dry Creek Vineyard, founded in 1972 by David Stare, is located in the heart of Dry Creek Valley just outside of Healdsburg, California. Well-known for their Fumé Blancs and Zinfandels, Dry Creek Vineyard also produces a number of other good wines. Today, Dry Creek Vineyard is run by David’s daughter Kim Stare Wallace and her […]

Dusted Valley Vintners, located in Walla Walla, Washington, was founded in 2003 by brothers-in-law Chad Johnson and Corey Braunel who are co-owners, co-winegrowers, and co-winemakers. Both Chad and Corey are originally from Wisconsin and are proud cheese-heads. In fact, they bring a bit of Wisconsin to Dusted Valley by using some barrels made from Wisconsin […]

Thai food is so popular that I wanted to do another Thai dish for a challenging wine pairing. Since our family especially enjoys spicy dishes, I decided to try a red curry dish using strips of sirloin steak in this recipe. Delicious! The menu for this pairing consisted of the Thai red curry beef dish, […]