William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

Snooth Virtual Tasting of Villa Maria, New Zealand wines. "The origin for Villa Maria came about from George (the founder) choosing “ Villa ” as a common name for a house in New Zealand and “ Maria ” a popular name from Croatia (where George's family is from)." Tuesday evening I had the opportunity to taste six wines from Villa Maria winery in New Zealand. I tasted live, via video, with Villa Maria winemaker Helen Morrison, hosted by snooth media co-founder Mark Angelillo, along with numerous wine media friends. This tasting was particularly interesting because some of the wines we tasted are just being introduced to the US market. We sampled a key part of the Villa Maria portfolio. Impressive wines. Winemaker Helen Morrison Winemaker Helen Morrison was engaging, her passion for winemaking obvious. She seems an evident reason the wines showed so beautifully. Her intensity made me curious about wine trends in New Zealand. I asked, regarding wine preferenc...

There's a new winemaker in Walla Walla, Washington, by the name of Brad Binko. Write that name down. Now go look for his wines. "Life is about stories so let’s go make one!" Brad Binko Brad is a big guy, with a friendly smile and warm personality. He's quick to shake your hand and ready to talk wine. I enjoyed meeting Brad and enjoyed tasting his first releases. First releases? Yep, Brad has done a wonderful job crafting white, rose' and red wines. I'm quite impressed at the quality, depth of flavor, maturity of style and his cool label designs. Have you written down his name yet? Originally from Buffalo, New York, Brad Binko is a Certified Sommelier and today is making small lots of terroir driven Washington wines. He focuses on Rhone Varietals and single vineyard wines using native fermentation, extended maceration, and non-intrusive wine-making techniques.  Eternal Wines  only uses hand harvested fruit from premium vineyards. Production is at 400...

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...

A Mercer Small Lot Wine, unique and unquestionably hand-made.  Produced in small quantities. Hand-crafted and meticulously tended to from the vineyard to the bottle. This bottle is a tribute to Don and Linda Mercer and all of the many cousins and friends who helped plant the original Mercer Ranch Vineyards back in the early 1970s. Named in honor of Carma Mercer, who was fond of a charming, hand-raised, bell sheep named Sadie Louise. For fifty years, many successor ewes carried on the name. The estate Spice Cabinet Vineyard, located in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA , provided 100% of the fruit for this wine. This vineyard sits on a southeast slope above the Columbia River. Mercer Estates Tasting Room in Prosser, Washington. Wine Bar at Mercer Estates Tasting Room. *Note: It was my pleasure to visit Mercer Estates Winery during harvest this year. I tasted through many delicious wines and also enjoyed a tour of their winery. It was a thrill to sample unfiltered ...