Wine Yakima Valley
We were lucky enough to enjoy a bit of the summer in Washington’s Yakima Valley. Barbara Glover of Wine Yakima Valley took time out of her day to meet us to talk about the Valley. While we were there she also filled us in on their upcoming event Catch the Crush happening October 12-13th 2019. […]
The Scenic Route Part 8 – Johan and Quady North
The Van Duzer Corridor… it’s the newest AVA in the Willamette Valley and it is also home to one of our favorite wineries Johan. We stopped last year and spent an hour or so with Jack Tregenza in the tasting room and were looking forward to getting back for a more in depth conversation. Van […]
The Scenic Route Part 7 – Du Brul to Hiyu
Our time in Washington was nearing it’s end. Morning had us traveling from Walla Walla west to the Yakima Valley once again to visit with Kerry Shiels of Côte Bonneville. We met her for an interview at their tasting room in Sunnyside. Côte Bonneville Driving through the small town of Sunnyside you come upon a […]
Corsica – An Island and it’s wines #Winophiles
Close your eyes. When I say Corsica, what comes to mind. Cliff side villages, overlooking the bluest of waters, sea breezes, perhaps a crisp white wine to take the edge off the heat? This island sits closer to Italy than France, but…it is French, although the people consider themselves decidedly Corsican. The culture blends Italian […]
The Scenic Route Part 6 – Visiting Rioja in Washington and dinner at a gas station in Walla Walla
It was a quiet morning as we drove south of Walla Walla toward the Oregon border. Pulling off Peppers Bridge Road into an area with several large wineries, we headed to the one that stood out architecturally. This was Valdemar. Bodgas Valdemar is known in the Rioja region of Spain, and has ventured to Washington […]
The Scenic Route Flash Tour 2019 Part 5 – One day 3 Washington AVAs
Roskamp Vineyard in the Snipes Mountain AVA After a good nights sleep, we were up early, but not too early, (not pre-dawn like the day before!) to meet Co Dinn up at Roskamp Vineyard on Snipes Mountain. As you are driving through the Yakima Valley, Snipes Mountain is hard to miss. It bubbles up in […]
The Scenic Route – Flash Tour 2019 Part 4 – Naches Heights and Yakima Valley
Day 5 What were we thinking!? A sunset shoot, followed by a sunrise shoot in Washington! Days here are longer. In July they are about 15 hrs. Sunset was 8:57 pm and sunrise is about 5:15 am. At least today we did not have a ton of driving to do. We were up really early […]
Stems
While in the Yakima Valley, we wanted to catch up with Barbara Glover who heads up Wine Yakima Valley. She had put together an amazing tour for many of us in the Wine Media for the conference held in Walla Walla in Oct 2018. The tour gave us an in depth look at this region […]
The Scenic Route – Flash Tour 2019 Part 3 – Columbia Gorge to the Yakima Valley
Day 4 – On to Washington Wine We stayed in Newberg in the Willamette Valley on the night of our third day. Sadly while this area is heaven for wine, we did nothing but sleep. But sleeping here got us closer to our morning stop, the Columbia Gorge. It would also put us closer to […]
French Poets, Philandering Kings and little sweetness from Jurançon #Winophiles
This month the French Winophiles are heading to the Sud Ouest of France. That south west corner that seems rather quiet. You don’t hear much about it. Within it you will find French Basque Country and Jurançon. On the coast is the Pays Basque with it’s wine region of Irouleguy. When you continue east […]
The Scenic Route – Flash Tour 2019 Part 2 – Southern Oregon Applegate and Umpqua Valleys
Day 3 Southern Oregon & the Applegate Valley Day 3 had us up early and traveling back the way we had been the afternoon before. The Applegate Valley AVA in Southern Oregon established in 2000, is actually a sub AVA of the Rogue Valley AVA. From California’s border runs north 50 miles to the Rogue […]
The Scenic Route – Flash Tour 2019 – Part 1 Vegas to Southern Oregon
We headed out early. Not pre-dawn, but early enough to beat the heat in Death Valley. It was the top of a 12 day road trip that would take us almost 3800 miles, through so much stunning scenery that we almost became numb to the beauty. Almost. This was the Flash Tour 2019, that we […]
Los Hernández – Great authentic food in the Yakima Valley
So when you are in Yakima (probably tasting wine and visiting vineyards) and you ask where to go for lunch, everyone will say the same thing…”Los Hernández“. No fewer than 5 people told us this was the place to go. (we did have a shout out for Los 3 Pancho in Toppenish, where we were […]
Amphorae, riesling, Jura varieties and more with Beckham Estate Vineyard
Located in the Chehalem Mountains, Beckham is actually on Parrett Mountain on the south east end of the range. We visited them in July of 2018 to hear their story. It was a beautiful morning and Annedria set us up on the patio next to the tasting room, (which has a beautiful view), for our […]
Beckham Estate Vineyard – The story
It was early morning of our last day in the Willamette Valley and we drove North from (where we were staying) heading toward the Chehalem Mountains. The road into Portland was moving fast and we came up a hill, with the side of the roads deeply forested. There was our turn. We had to make […]
Tasting blind – globetrotting at home
We gathered a bakers dozen of folks for a blind tasting of 3 white wines and 3 reds. There were aroma jars and tasting sheets and lots of glasses! After the reveal for each, we had small bites to pair with each of the wines. People discovered varieties and places they did not know they […]
A tale of two Malvasia Biancas
Malvasia Bianca…does it sound exotic? A little Italian right? This is not a wine you come across very often, but, it is gaining ground, at least with a couple of my favorite winemakers. I first had Malvasia Bianca at a winemaker dinner. Actually the very first Larner winemaker dinner, held at Ballard Inn with Larner […]
A Loire rosé, a Bordeaux from Pommerol and…..cheese #winophiles
A while back the French #Winophiles decided that June would be about French wine and cheese. This is a traditional pairing made in heaven that can go in so many different directions! You can join us to see the wide range and variety of wines and cheeses explored on Saturday June 15th at 8 am […]
Sparkling Vermentino – “tears of laughter and joy”
As I went looking for a bottle to open for a simple evening dinner, a small celebration of the end of a work week, I came across a bottle of sparkling vermentino in the wine fridge.
Faults in wine
We’ve all had wines that we didn’t like. Perhaps it smelled a little funny, or was just bland. Sometimes, that’s a wine that is just not for us, or is poorly made, but sometimes it is the result of a wine fault. Now wine faults can arise from poor wine making, but they can also […]
The chemistry of wine
Wine. It’s simply crushed and fermented grapes. Yep, that was me. That’s the first line in our Crushed Grape Chronicles trailer that we put together….years ago. And it’s true…mostly. (whole berry ferments do happen, but eventually the weight of the grapes on the grapes causes them to be crushed.) So wine is made of 5 […]
Exploring the Grand Terroir of Gérard Bertrand with Tautavel and La Clape
A tasting and pairing of Gérard Bertrand wines including a Crémant from Limoux, and red blends from Tautavel & La Clape in France's Languedoc-Roussillon region.
It’s Oregon Wine Month
It's Oregon Wine Month! Here are a few of the great Oregon wineries we have visited. Take a road trip, visit for yourself, or at least grab a great bottle of Oregon wine and celebrate.
Elephant Mountain Vineyard in Yakima Valley’s Rattlesnake Hills
Visiting Elephant Mountain Vineyards in the Rattlesnake Hills AVA of Washington's Yakima Valley
Yakima Valley Seminar
We spent a glorious evening at Owen Roe Winery, tasting wines and meeting winemakers from all over the Yakima Valley. Now it was time to get into the nitty gritty geeky stuff. Wine Yakima Valley, set us up with a morning seminar for a video flyover of the Yakima Valley with Co Dinn and Kerry […]