William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center, view from Heritage Garden. August was a busy and full month of wine. Wine sales, service and events. But not wine writing. If you have visited Prosser, Washington, or plan on a visit to the real Washington wine country, then the must stop destination is the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center (Clore Center). Which is where you can often find me pouring Washington wine and telling stories of Washington wine country. August was an especially busy month at the Clore Center. Wonderfully busy! One of my Instragram posts. To keep current on my “live” wine adventures, you can follow my wild4wawine instagram account . This summer I began to embrace instagram in preparation for my trip to Catalunya. It is now my go to application for sharing photos of my wine experiences. While I'm still tweeting, instagram is the best place to find out which wines I'm tasting and pouring. Pretty pictures too. DO Emporda, Catalunya. Cat...

Minstrel and Muse #WineMuse Podcast  New World Pinot Noir Show -  Part 1  "...the delights of Pinot Noir - without a physical confrontation." William Pollard Jr.  This month on our WineMuse Podcast we have explored the topic of New World Pinot Noir. Ten years ago Pinot Noir became hugely popular in the United States. You can blame the movie "Sideways" for helping emphasize this trend. Pinot Noir is associated with the Burgandy region of France and is also a primary variety used in sparkling wine production in Champagne. Recently, other regions of the world have gained a reputation for quality Pinot noir, this includes the Willamette Valley of Oregon, the Carneros, Central Coast and Russian River AVAs of California and the Central Otago, Martinborough and Marlborough wine regions of New Zealand. Linda and I decided to focus on New World Pinot Noir from Carneros in California, Oregon Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley and a Pinot Noir from Chil...

I've become quite fond of the wines of  Viña Los Vascos. They deliver a lot of value at reasonable price points. This Chardonnay for example can be found for about $10. This wine was young and fresh with the potential to improve in bottle over the next 5 years. Chile is the next up and coming wine region to watch. Great value today and perfect for summer entertaining. "The grapes were picked early and the harvests took place in excellent conditions between March 11th and 15th. Harvesting was done early in the morning, when the temperatures were low,  which allowed for preserving the wine’s full potential. After sorting, the bunches were carefully pressed for fermentation in stainless steel vats at controlled temperatures between 57º and 61ºF." Tasting Notes 2013 Los Vascos Chardonnay Color : Light gold. Nose : Melon, banana, yeast, mineral note, breathe of cinnamon and sandalwood with rose petal. Palate : Honey, melon, focused acidity, touch of heat at open...

Tell me Again, Rose' is for Summer. “I could not resist being a pioneer in Chile and giving a challenge to my team. We chose the place for its unique location and land”   - Baron Eric de Rothschild Rose' is one of those wines I automatically think of when I think summer wine. I was going to review several rose's in one post to give you a snapshot comparison. In this instance it did not seem fair. Rather, I will have a few more individual reviews of rose' wines. When I think rose', I think fresh, crisp, dry, flexible wines and the color of passion. The Los Vascos 2013 Rose' did not disappoint. Tasting Notes Los Vascos 2013 Rose' Color : Lovely dark pink/pale red color. Nose : Toasty with vanilla cream and strawberry skin. Palate : Strawberry on the palate, fresh, nice crisp tang on the tongue. Happy finish with this wine. Thoughts : Enjoyed this wine with dinner of broiled salmon with garlic butter, French green beans with soy sauce, mirin, gin...

This time of year I crave Sauvignon Blanc. Sauvignon Blanc in its many aspects delights and refreshes. My first choice for tempering the heat of summer is a dry, crisp Sauvignon Blanc. A versatile wine, Sauvignon Blanc can be enjoyed with company on the patio, or at table with seafood, poultry and even grilled lamb. I recently participated in a tasting of four Sauvignon Blancs provided by my friends at  Pasternak Wine Imports . They delighted. It is truly Sauvignon Blanc season. Dashwood Sauvignon Blanc 2013 New Zealand When I think Sauvignon Blanc, I immediately think New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. I also think Dashwood Sauvignon Blanc - Dashwood is one of the wines responsible for my  New Zealand wine epiphany  two years ago. Color: Pale straw with green highlights. Nose: Heady, mineral, grapefruit, grass, lime. Palate: Zing, fresh, vibrant, grapefruit, lime, kiwi. I'm alive! With long mineral, dry, kiwi and lime finish. KerPow! This wine held up beautiful...

Impressive Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon  Ready to drink now - repeat as needed  My first exposure to Los Vascos wines was two years ago when I enjoyed their 2009 Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon . This month I have had the pleasure of enjoying their 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon. Produced at the Viña Los Vascos Estate in Chile. Los Vascos wines are distributed widely around the world. I will be reviewing more of their wines soon.

Los Vascos Wines of Chile by Lafite. What? Lamb with white wine? Yes, yes, yes! Discover the wonderful aspect of pairing lamb with a crisp white wine. Savor how the wine slices through the flavors of the lamb - enjoy lamb, enjoy wine, repeat. You do need a suitable wine, recipe and cut of lamb to pull this off. The Los Vascos Sauvignon Blanc does, plus I've included the recipe below.

Los Vascos Grande Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2009. Real Value Chilean Wine. The weather in the Columbia Valley is starting to improve. Our days are intermittently blessed with sunshine and spring showers - the mornings and evenings are still chilly. The other night, I decided to relax on the back porch and take in the last rays of the sun. Orange, pink, and purple lined the horizon, like splashes of wine. It was not warm. Bundled up in a sweater, cap and wool slippers, I kicked back and enjoyed a bottle of Los Vascos 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Reserve. Los Vascos is one of Chiles oldest wine estates. It is managed by Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) which began modernizing the estate in 1988. This was a brawny wine, very firm and deserved a grilled steak. On opening it had a classic Cabernet nose of cherry and vanilla, followed by tobacco and some chalk. It was dry with medium grip, and plenty of  chocolate on the finish. After an hour, this wine exploded with fl...

This morning Dave Mathews song “So Much to Say” is on my mind. Feeling the need to press on and share this weeks wine chats. Time to finish some reviews too. #winechat: Santa Rita, Medalla Real, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2008, from the Maipo Valley. Last nights #winechat featured two wines from Chile. For me, it was an eye opening experience. Chile is producing some spectacular wines. In particular, the featured Santa Rita, Medalla Real, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2008, from the Maipo Valley, blew me away. The #winechat crowd was exuberant in their response too. It is an impressive Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon, especially once you consider the retail price of US $18. Santa Rita, Medalla Real Gran Reserva, Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 D.O. Maipo Valley, Chile. Ripe and round, dark color, dark fruit, the concentrated palate grows into and expansive finish at the 2 hour mark. Gorgeous wine. You could drink this wine with food, but why bother? Decant this wine for an hour or two, then kick ba...

Tonight: March Virtual Tasting #lecole41. Tomorrow: #winechat Chile’s Cool Coastal Wines. Tonight: Washington Wine Report March Virtual Tasting 7-8 pm PST, Tuesday, March 20, 2012. March Virtual Tasting - Featuring L'Ecole 2009 Red Wine. Sean Sullivan of Washington Wine Report has arranged another virtual tasting, tonight it is a tasting of the 2009 L'Ecole No 41 Red Wine. This wine retails for $18 and is fairly widely available. What you need to do to participate is: 1. Have a *twitter account - a great excuse to use twitter. 2. Buy this month’s wine from a local retailer or from the winery. I found a bottle for $18. 3. Tweet your comments about the wine on Twitter between 7 and 8 pm Pacific using the hashtag #lecole41 and follow Washington Wine Report @wawinereport on twitter. My first time participating was last months virtual tasting, a lot of fun. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tomorrow: Twitter #...