William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

photo: Hightower Cellars 09 Cabernet Sauvignon. Hightower Cellars is located at the very top of Red Mountain. To visit the tasting room, you drive to the top of Sunset road, take a left on to a gravel road and then take the second right, that is the gravel road which will lead you to Hightower Cellars winery and tasting room. They have a lovely view of the valley below, and even lovelier wines. Tasting notes. My first impressions of the Hightower Cellars 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon: Bottle is tall, punt is deep; which I like when pouring for guests. The long cork presented well and was fun to remove. Dark color, a bit cloudy. Cherry, vanilla, chocolate, truffle oil, pepper mill on nose at opening. Good mouth feel, silky tannin, pleasantly bright top of palate. Cherry, vanilla, cocoa slid into the medium finish. At the 30 minute window: Nose had expanded, cherry/chocolate with a minty floral quality, unexpected and delightful. Fuller in the mouth, cheek...

Christophe Hedges. Part of a series on the Context of Wine,  Inspired by an afternoon conversation with Christophe Hedges. Last Friday I enjoyed lunch with Christophe Hedges and his lovely wife Maggie at their Red Mountain home. Christophe cooked while we talked about our favorite topic, wine. Christophe is responsible for Sales and Marketing for his family owned winery, Hedges Family Estate . A tall man, lean, with an introspective look, he struck me as friendly, focused, intelligent and a fervent individual, proud of his family heritage and his family winery.

Hightower Cellars 2008 Out of Line and 2008 Murray Syrah Friday, I was out looking for a birthday present, for a fellow wine lover. While browsing through the birthday cards, I started to think about the most memorable wines of 2010. Which wines did I truly enjoy last year? And which of those wines would be the perfect wine gift? Ah ha! Hightower Cellars Murray Syrah! I last reviewed Hightower Cellars 2008 Murray Syrah in August 2010 . Tim and Kelly Hightower planted the vines for that wine on their Red Mountain property, a mix of mostly Syrah and some Viognier – a classic Rhone style blend. They enjoyed the first fruits of their labor in their 2007 Murray Syrah – a vintage I missed out on. The 2008 Murray Syrah really appealed to me. But where would I be able to purchase a bottle, in time for the party? When in doubt, drive to their Red Mountain winery of course. Open for Tasting: Hightower Cellars Red Mountain Winery Hightower Cellars is located at the very top of Red Moun...

An Evening at Col Solare Evening View of Col Solare What a lovely time we had last Saturday. My wife and I were at Col Solare for the release of their 2007 Col Solare red wine. We ran into friends and ended up staying longer than planned. A strong crowd attended the event, happy to sample the newly released 2007 vintage and to barrel sample the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon from Klipsun Vineyards. Indeed, there were many cheerful faces. I found the facility quite striking; along with the live music and plentiful finger food, everyone was kept entertained. Afternoon View of Col Solare from the Vineyards Col Solare Vineyards in Front of the Winery Since Col Solare is typically not open to the general public, this was one of the few opportunities to visit the facility and sample their wine. Interestingly, Col Solare is a collaboration between Tuscany’s Marchesi Antinori and Washington State’s Chateau Ste. Michelle. The winery is located on Red Mount...

A Rhone Style Red by Hightower Cellars While I was out visiting Red Mountain today, I stopped by Hightower Cellars for a tasting. My last visit to Hightower Cellars was two years ago. I was there as a volunteer helping bottle several hundred cases of wine. That was also the day I had too much heat and was put to rest on the tasting room floor ( read about my embarrassment here ). Today Tim and Kelly Hightower were not around, but the friendly tasting room manager was. She was a great hostess and very knowledgeable about the current releases. The current tasting line-up, they are all good. All of the Hightower wines I sampled today were very good. While these are all red wines, I'm told there is an upcoming white wine release, soon, soon. Okay, enough already, what I came home with was a bottle of their 2008 Murray Syrah. That's Murray on the bottle. This wine is named after Tim and Kelly's first winery dog, Murray - his picture is on the bottle. What's especi...

You're Invited Made a run to Red Mountain today; I timed my driving and it took 13 minutes from home to Red Mountain. Isn't that convenient? Owner/Winemaker Neil "Coop" Cooper and his dog DB The reason today for my drive, is that there’s a new winery on Red Mountain – Cooper “A Red Mountain Winery”. The owner/winemaker is Neil “Coop” Cooper. His winery is to open very soon. While Coop did not have time to review his wines today, he did take time for an amiable chat. Thanks Coop. Cooper Winery is now the first winery you see when you turn onto Red Mountain’s Sunset Road. Traces of the previous winery have been carefully removed. Coop has worked hard on getting his winery ready for visitors – the exterior of his facility is due to be painted soon. Soon enough for his Grand Opening on September 11th. You’re Invited While we were visiting today, Coop invited me and all my wine friends (that’s you too) to join him on Saturday 11 September, 3pm until 9pm for his...