William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

New Zealand Wine Rocks! Another hot day on the sunny SE side of Washington state is wearing. The forecast is continued triple digit temperatures. With weather like this my favorite go to wine is Sauvignon Blanc. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Today, I recommend you seek refuge from the heat from a selection of refreshing New Zealand white wines: Kim Crawford Pinot Gris, Unoaked Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. In my part of the world Kim Crawford has become synonymous with quality New Zealand wine. After enjoying these three wines I can confirm it is a well deserved reputation. *Note : Regular readers know that in 2011 I started a New Zealand wine blog with my friend Juli Crompe, www.kiwidaydreaming.com , because of a mutual fixation with wines of New Zealand. Sadly, our New Zealand blog has lost steam, so I will post my New Zealand wine reviews to this blog. Juli is well and keeping busy. I had a pleasant visit with her earlier this year in Seattle at the Washington State Wine ...

30th Edition of #VAWinechat  On 25 June 2015 I participated in another fun #VAwinechat twitter wine tasting featuring Early Mountain Vineyards of Madison, Virginia. My friend Frank Morgan of Drink What You Like  is the host of #VAWinechat. He started Virginia Wine Chat  to bring wine bloggers and consumers together via a virtual gathering to discuss the wines, winemakers, wineries and regions of Virginia. I have been fortunate to participate in several Virginia Wine Chat wine tastings. Quality is strong in Virginia. Thank you Frank for the invitation and thank you Early Mountain Vineyards for sharing your lovely wines. A conversation with  Early Mountain Vineyards ​Twitter: @earlymountain Follow the twitter discussion #VAWineChat​ (L to R) Frank Morgan, Jonathan Hollerith, Ben Jordan.  Frank Morgan hosted the wine tasting with Early Mountain Vineyards' new Winemaker Ben Jordan and exiting Vineyard Manager and Winemaker Jonathan Holle...

"Soléna is the combination of the French and Spanish words "Soleil" and "Luna" celebrating the sun and the moon." I recently participated in a twitter wine tasting of the biodynamically farmed organic wines of Soléna Estate from Dundee, Oregon.  Winemaker Bruno Corneaux was in attendance. The tasting included the Soléna Willamette Valley Pinot Gris, Soléna Grande Cuvee Pinot Noir, Soléna Hyland Vineyard Pinot Noir, and the Soléna Domaine Danielle Laurent. Unfortunately for me, the wines I was expecting were delayed due to heat. It was just too darn hot to ship the wines. My samples arrived during a brief cooling period. Since these wines arrived too late for me to taste with everyone participating in the twitter tasting, I'm catching up and sharing my personal impressions of these Oregon wines. I try to be as unbiased as possible and to judge each wine on its own merits. When you have four premium wines from the same winery to taste and r...

Electric wine, think summer downpour, ozone and lightning in a bottle! You want this wine. I want more of this wine. Order the Holman Ranch 2012 Estate Grown Pinot Gris when you see it on the menu or  buy it direct from the winery . Highly Recommended + Great Value. Tasting Notes : Color : Pale gold with green highlights. Nose : Essence of stone fruit, mineral, ginger skin, a spicy floral note with a hint of pineapple. Palate : Fresh, mineral, unripe peach pith, dry slate mid-palate, almost tart, with lemon peel on the clean uber dry finish. Yowza! Screams for raw oysters. Would suit soft creamy cheese, bread dipped in olive oil, and fried chicken. Grabbed my attention. Day Two : Still crisp, good acidity, tingle on teeth, vibrant on the tongue, focused with a long satisfying tart lemon/tangerine with slate finish. So my speed, craving BLT and Mac and Cheese. A satisfying crisp, dry wine. Highly Recommended + Great Value . ABV: 12.5% Closure: Real cork SRP: $...

An intriguing and sexy artisanal Washington Pinot Gris. ar·ti·san·al [ahr-tuh-zuh-nl, ahr-tiz-uh-] "pertaining to or noting a high-quality or distinctive product made in small quantities, usually by hand or using traditional methods." The Lupin Vineyards Pinot Gris was called "Lyric" in Keeping with a theme of music (their Chardonnay is named - "A Cappella", the Viognier - "Madrigal").  Neglected Pinot Gris. This is an extremely small production wine. A great deal of TLC went into the making of this Pinot Gris. The Lake Chelan AVA vineyard these grapes were sourced had zero positive attention. No spray, no water, no mowing, no roundup- nothing for more than 5 years. Without pruning, the clusters had to be hand picked. Only clusters that were both ripe and free of problems were selected. Common thought is that these grapes would be sub-standard at best and probably un-useable. The location, the wind, the minimal ground water ...

Big Fire = everyday drinking. Last summer I met winemaker Rob Stuart at his McMinnville, Oregon winery. It was a surprise to learn that I first enjoyed his wines more than 20 years ago when he was winemaker for a now defunct Washington winery - Staton Hills . When I first began to take wine seriously, Staton Hills was one of my favorite Washington wineries; and the winemaker too of course.

Five wonderful days in Oregon Wine Country.  Photo: Phelps Creek Vineyards view. There's a treasure trove of wine across the Columbia River. While I've preoccupied myself with my Washington wine pursuits, I've ignored a wealth of wine next door. I'm referring to Oregon Wine. This month I spent five enlightening days in Oregon, sampling the best of Oregon wine. The fifth annual Wine Bloggers Conference was hosted in Portland, Oregon. I was fortunate to attend. There are not enough words for me to express how affected I was by my experience in Oregon. Oregon winemakers are creating and expressing true wine passion. You can tell by the exquisite wines they are making. Oregon is an environment where sharing and inspiring each other is the norm. Environmentally aware, Sustainable, Organic and Bio-Dynamic are natural topics of conversation in Oregon wineries. Northern Oregon wine country is minutes from the vibrant city scene of Portland. I visited wineries a...

Not your everyday Pinot Gris.  I have not listed a “Wine of the Week” in some months. Vin du Lac so impressed me with their 2009 LEHM Pinot Gris, that I feel it is a perfect choice for the week. My first experience with a Vin du Lac LEHM wine was at Taste Washington Seattle in 2008 . I was impressed then and I'm impressed now. There's a lot going on with this wine and I love how dry, dry it is. 100% Pinot Gris from Lake Chelan Fruit. The 2009 LEHM Pinot Gris opens with melon rind, petrol, chamomile and fresh bread. I enjoy how the pale gold color catches the light and reflects in the swirls. Good mouth feel, while it is 14% alcohol, there is no intrusive heat. Dry, tart, apricot and mineral finish. Beautiful crisp spike of flavor down the center of the mouth. This wine would be a perfect companion to oysters on the half shell, sashimi, tempura and Dungeness crab. This wine stimulated my appetite and I'm now craving the above food. I wish the local sushi restaurant ...