William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

2013 Brut Traditional Method Pinot Noir and Chardonnay Lake Chelan AVA 36 months on lees SRP: $42 Chris Sherry and Miguele de Quadros-Sherry of Elentone This morning, I wanted to share with you what a pleasure it was to meet winemaker Chris Sherry and Director Miguele de Quadros-Sherry of Elentone  wine. Chris is a tall, soft spoken gentleman, and a truly talented winemaker. Yesterday, he was guest winemaker at the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center in Prosser, Washington and was pouring his 2013  Elentone sparkling wine for tasting room visitors. In the United Kingdom, sparkling wine is often referred to as “Fizz.” Chris is originally from sunny England, he studied winemaking in France and was involved in several sparkling winemaking projects in the UK. He is an official judge for the international sparkling wine competition, Effervescents du Monde , held annually in Dijon. He left the United Kingdom to craft sparkling wine in Washington State. Southern...

It was almost impossible to review this wine. My wife kept taking the bottle. Reviewing the Delille Cellars 2015 Chaleur Blanc white wine was challenging. I should mention that I first reviewed the 2015 vintage in October of 2016 . Loved it then too. This time, I thought I'd share with my wife while I was taking notes. Mistake? Before I knew it, half the bottle was gone, and I was only just started on my notes! "Truly a Northwest classic!" I had to hide the bottle just to save some wine for my day two notes and for photographs. She loved the Chaleur Blanc! Note to self, " Delille Cellars Chaleur Blanc is now one of my wife's favorite wines. Don't forget. " That is strong recommendation for this wine. From both of us! 2015 Chaleur Blanc by Delille Cellars. Tasting Notes Nose : Delicious toast, white flower, minerality, citrus. Palate : Good weight, creaminess, tart citrus and toast, lime skin, nice spike of acid mid-palate, leaned ...

A pleasure to review these three current releases from Lauren Ashton Cellars. Two years ago I enjoyed visiting with Lauren Ashton Cellars winemaker Kit Singh at his Woodinville, Washington tasting room. We discussed his wines and philosophy of winemaking while he poured. He's smart, focused, passionate, and earnest about his goals. He makes truly great wines and is still a Dentist first and foremost. Kit Singh and his wife named their Woodinville winery after their children, Ashley Lauren and Ashton Troy. The sophisticated labels on these wines have images reflecting his wife's European and Estonian heritage and culture. With a background in Chemistry, and a DDS, Kit studied viticulture and enology in Seattle and at UC Davis. He interned at DeLille Cellars in Woodinville and even taught wine science at the Northwest Wine Academy at South Seattle Community College. Lauren Ashton Cellars was established in 2009. Yes, impressed by this guy. Lauren Ashton Cellars Woo...

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...

It's always a pleasure to discover a new to me Washington wine. Today, at 860 licensed and bonded Washington wineries, it is difficult for me to keep up, let alone attempt to review all their wines. Thankfully, some of those wineries reach out, introduce themselves and ask me to try their wines and review them if I like them. Lauren Ashton Cellars, a Washington winery established in 2009, sent me this sample of their 2011 Cuvée Méline white wine. I was impressed.

The month of May was a month of Pomum Cellars wines. It was my sincere pleasure to enjoy three wines sent to me by Woodinville winery Pomum Cellars . I met Pomum Cellars winemaker Javier Alfonso and his wife Shyla in Seattle at the Washington State Wine Awards . He and his wines made a strong impression.

A classic Spanish blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha and Graciano. 2010 was an unusually cool year for Washington. Word on the street was that it would be a difficult vintage to execute; but the best winemakers would produce truly spectacular wines. A vintage to remember for some. The Pomum Cellars 2010 TINTO is one of those wines made by one of those talented winemakers. This bottle was provided courtesy of Pomum Cellars.

Sex in a glass of wine. Smell is one of the most prized aspects of my wine enjoyment. The more time I spend smelling and analyzing wine, the greater my appreciation and sensitivity to those characteristics. Smell can also enhance the libido and draw people together. "Smell is not just a biological and psychological experience, it is also a social and cultural phenomenon." Source:  The Smell Report by Kate Fox , Social Issues Research Centre My friends and regular readers know that I am a huge fan of Washington Syrah. Washington Syrah can be very expressive in color, aroma and depth of flavor. Personal experience suggests it will stain your mouth and lips purple. There is no singular style of Washington Syrah; Syrah can be fruity, smoky, meaty, funky, floral and any combination of those elements. Yes, I have been enthralled by the deep properties emanating from a glass of Washington Syrah. This week I had a truly unique sensory experience with the  Pomum Cellars ...

Guest Post by Juli Crompe. I was at Taste Washington Seattle this past weekend (posts coming soon...such a great event!) and learned about a new event that I'm really excited for and had to share! As many of you probably know, Passport to Woodinville has been around for many years, but this year, for the first time, they are adding a sort of "kickoff" event to Passport the weekend before, called Woodinville RESERVE . When? Friday, April 12th, from  7:00-9:30pm, Woodinville RESERVE will take place at the historic  Columbia Winery , featuring 40 Woodinville wineries, all with 90+ point rated wines and limited bottlings. This exclusive event will not only give you access to some of the best wines in Woodinville, but also to many wines which have only been bottled in limited quantities, typically reserved for those who are wine club members or who have some kind of connection to the winery. This event truly will make you feel like a VIP! The best part is tha...

Taste Washington! 2012 Recommended Wines. Michael Florentino Cellars is a small boutique winery that specializes in unique grape varietals from around the world. (Tempranillo, Sangiovese, Primativo, Counoise,etc.).  They are a family run business that started with its first vintage in 2007. I enjoyed all of the Michael Florentino wines I tasted. These wines deserve more than a casual tasting, take some home and find out how good they are. Brad Sherman, Winemaker/Owner The Wines: * Favorite: 2008 Miscoloto - Like, long finish, bigger on end, focused, lovely. Grenache,Tempranillo, Syrah, production 112 cases, retail price $21.50. 2008 Monastrell - Vegetal and fruit, intriguing, good, needs to be studied. Production 66 cases, retail price $25. * Favorite: 2009 Cabernet Franc - Good fruit, heady, luscious, like. Production 112 cases, retail price $26 . Wines listed here are the wines I liked and recommend. My favorite wines appealed to me because they expressed un...

Taste Washington! Recommended Wines. * 4th runner up my 5th favorite winery at Taste Washington! 2012. Mark Ryan McNeilly founded Mark Ryan Winery in 1999 with the goal of making the best wines in Washington State. Largely self-taught, Mark honed the craft of winemaking through rigorous study and the welcomed advice of some of the area's most experienced producers. He settled in Woodinville, WA  in 2003. Mike MacMorran, began his career at Mark Ryan Winery in June of 2008 as Assistant Winemaker, and officially ditched the title of ‘assistant’ and became the winery’s head Winemaker one year later in 2009. Mark and Mike work together to craft outstanding wines. Mark Ryan McNeilly Owner/Winemaker. Mark Ryan McNeilly pouring at Taste Washington! 2012. My first experience meeting Mark, was last year at Revelry on Red Mountain . He was pouring his 2007 “Wild Eyed” Red Mountain Syrah – it was tremendous. Tall of stature, friendly, a winemaker who's  earned many accol...