William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

Photo: 2010 Poet's Leap Riesling. Wow! The Poet’s Leap Riesling is made by German winemaker Armin Diel, proprietor of the renowned Schlossgut Diel. Mr. Diel makes the Poet's Leap Riesling at the Long Shadows Winery in Walla Walla, Washington. I first tasted this wine in February at the Long Shadows winery, then again in July during a virtual tasting (I had my bottle at home and tweeted about it). I believe this wine has improved in bottle. This time at opening, the wine was steely, it reminded me of polished steel. It was crisp, bright with wonderful minerality. It was not austere, it was tantalizing. Wow! After 2 days in the refrigerator, it was even better. Tonight, it was beautifully integrated, sublime, full of introspection. Pale gold in color, with a lively aroma of soft petrol, nectarine, toast and river rock. Bright, round and spiky flavors front palate, crisp, with lovely apple-pear and honey flavors mid-palate, exiting with a refreshing tart finish of granny...

An extra special Long Shadows Rosé. Juliette's Dazzle 2010 Rosé is a dry rosé made by Gilles Nicault for Allen Shoup, CEO and founder of Long Shadows Winery. Last month when I  visited Long Shadows in Walla Walla , I saw several bottles of the new vintage of Dazzle in the cellar. This is a special wine. It is special because it is a Rosé made from Pinot Grigio...yes, white wine grapes. How was this accomplished?  (I thought that you can make white wine from white and red wine grapes, but you can only make red, and in this instance ro sé,  wine from red wine grapes.) A special block of grapes at the Benches Vineyard was left on the vine until they developed a bright tint then they were slowly fermented. Presto, Rosé from white wine grapes.  A lot of care went into making this wine. I hope by now, most people understand that Washington Rosé = bright, tasty, food friendly wine. And not the overly sweet, pink wines of days, and hangovers, bes...

Ooh, Aah, Sock It 2 Me. Last week I was in Walla Walla, Washington with fellow wine blogger, Ben Simons of vinotology.com . Our first stop was at Forgeron Cellars, where we enjoyed meeting winemaker Marie-Eve Gilla . Marie-Eve is married to Gilles Nicault, Director of Winemaking and Viticulture for Long Shadows Wineries. Marie-Eve was a gracious host, and surprised us in arranging an unscheduled visit with her husband at Long Shadows. The contrast between the two wineries was striking. Forgeron Cellars tasting room is located in downtown Walla Walla. It's cozy, intimate, informal, the wines diverse and the feeling...feminine.   Long Shadows, however, is located outside of Walla Walla, on a rural road in the countryside. It is  surrounded by fields and distant farm houses. An impressive, modern looking facility, made of tilt-up concrete slabs painted brick red, the building is incongruous with the rustic countryside, yet fitting in its setting. Chihuly glass suitable fo...