William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

“ ...nature’s quintessential beverage is the fruit of the vine”  Rabbi Tzvi Rossen, The Art of Kosher Winemaking I never planned on becoming enamored of wines of Israel. It just happened.  Many thanks to Benhaim Family Winery for opening my eyes to their tradition of excellence. Benhaim is a boutique winery dedicated to the family’s tradition of making high-quality hand-crafted wines going back six generations to 1932. All estate vineyards are situated in the Upper Galilee. Production is at 35,000 bottles. Founders: Ruth and Elie Benhaim In 1970 Ruth and Elie Benhaim founded their eponymous family winery, making and selling wine at their house in Ramat Gan, and after 27 harvests opened a boutique winery in Kfar Azar. A decade later the winery moved to a large, new building in Ramat Hasharon – where it continues to operate today. Chief Winemaker: Itay Benhaim Itay Ben-Haim is Benhaim’s chief winemaker and a sixth generation vintner who draws inspirat...

Another premium Washington wine by Jessica Munnell. It was a pleasure to enjoy a lovely Cabernet Sauvignon made by Jessica Munnell from her Wautoma Wines label. This review follows another wine review about a Rose' also made by Ms. Munnell from the Mercer Estates label. She's a busy and talented winemaker. If you are not familiar with Wautoma Wines, it is a partnership between vineyard manager Tom Merkle and winemaker Jessica Munnell. Tom provides the premium Washington grapes and Jessica makes the wine. Tom  and Jessica met at Tom's Wautoma Springs vineyard in January 2000. Working together, they became friends. The friendship developed into a business partnership which became Wautoma Wines in 2008. Wautoma Wines are made of the best Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Wautoma Springs Vineyard  and of Malbec from Wahluke Slope’s Stone Tree Vineyard . This bottling is 100% Wautoma Springs Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Tasting Notes 2011 Wautoma Cabernet Sauvi...

What is RESERVE? Only the highest rated wines please. Part Two: Destination Woodinville Wine Country.  Wine country in Woodinville, Washington. What does that mean to you? For me it used to represent a lot of Woodinville labels disconnected from faces and place. No longer. If you missed the previous post, I'm re-counting a weekend spent in Woodinville Wine Country. This was my first visit to Woodinville Wine Country. *Read the  Introduction Woodinville a First Weekend "No Longer Strangers"  if you missed it. After freshening up in my room at the Willows Lodge and Spa , I prepared for the Über exclusive wine tasting events RESERVE and North of 95 . RESERVE is an annual event featuring only award-winning, 90+ rated Woodinville wines. Convenient for me because the venue was at the Willows Lodge. RESERVE a room of very happy people. New this year was the optional  North of 95 tasting, where only the peak vintages of 95+ rated Woodinville w...

INTRODUCTION  Woodinville a First Weekend. What is the proper voice for sharing? Sometimes I forget this is a blog, a collection of my personal experiences and opinions. What I do not forget is the privilege of sharing with you the reader my sincere thoughts. Free to choose my words for this blog, as many as I wish, I choose to focus on the positive. I would rather build-up than tear-down. Occasionally an experience overwhelms and is too big for one post. Patterson Cellars Pour of Chardonnay. Many of my wine friends have encouraged me to visit a place I did not understand. "There is a lot going on in Woodinville, I'm surprised you have not visited." My typical response was, "They don't grow grapes there." Novelty Hills Januick Winery. Living in eastern Washington as long as I have, you know, where the grapes are grown, one can develop a little sensitivity to the dichotomy inherent in Washington state. Urban vs. agricultural, wet vs. dry,...

Out of the park! It was my sincere pleasure to receive this bottle of Sheldrake Point Dry Riesling to taste and review at home. This bottle of Riesling is the third of four samples I received featuring the 2012 Finger Lakes Rieslings.  Riesling quality is strong in the Finger Lakes. The 2012 vintage so far is showing well in the samples I am enjoying at home. "The Finger Lakes is a goldmine for world-class Rieslings."  - Mary Ewing-Mulligan, MW, Author, Columnist, Wine Educator, International Wine Center