William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

  "The Good Life" - As of this post the winery still had six cases of the 2008 Bona Vita. Strongly Recommended. Last week I visited Hamilton Cellars at their new location on Red Mountain . Previously they had a tasting room in South Richland. They have closed the original location and moved all operations to a beautiful new facility on Red Mountain. The new winery is just past Fidelitas Wines on Sunset Road. I'm not surprised if this is news to you, the new location only opened in late September. Hamilton Cellars new Tasting Room and Winery. Hamilton Cellars Red Mountain AVA Estate Vineyard. Hamilton Cellars new tasting room is solar powered. They are powering their winery and even selling back to the PUD when they generate extra electricity. They expect to break even with the solar power system within 5 years. From the tasting room there is a beautiful view of their 10 acre estate vineyard planted this year by Dick Boushey; planted ...

"Concordia" means "harmony" in Latin. "Luxurious and a little naughty." A Syrah dominant wine, Concordia delivered a "harmony" of flavors. I was duly impressed by this second vintage from the Mackey brothers. Philip and Roger Mackey launched their Walla Walla, Washington winery, Mackey Vineyards in 2010. The 2008 vintage was their first. This second exposure to Mackey Vineyards was provocative. Expect more great things from this winery.

2011 Estate Bottled Red Wine Blend Columbia Valley Goose Ridge Vineyards was founded by the Monson Family in 1999. Goose Ridge is an estate winery dedicated to handcrafting wines from grapes grown on their 1,400 acre vineyard. Veteran Columbia Valley winemaker Kendall Mix joined Goose Ridge Vineyard & Estate Winery as head winemaker in April of 2010. While I have had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Mix at tasting events, this is my first review of one of his Goose Ridge red wines. Visiting with him at the winery is on my list. Call me.

Put a Big Red Hiney on your table. There's a winery on the outskirts of Walla Walla you must not miss visiting. It's called Skylite Cellars. Before the new section of highway went in, you passed Skylite Cellars as you drove into Walla Walla from Seattle. The modified highway to Walla Walla now bypasses them, so you are likely to miss them. Don't make that mistake. Very little of their wine is sold in the Tri-Cities where I live, so when I saw their second label, Hiney Wine in the local grocer I grabbed it. Skylite Cellars makes the Big Red Hiney red wine blend in Walla Walla, Washington. Though the name and the label are intentionally humorous, I will restrain myself from making the inevitable tongue in cheeks joke.

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.

photo: 2009 Horsepower and roasted leg of lamb pairing. Horsepower Proprietary Red Blend - A great match to roasted leg of lamb. My previous post I shared my recipe for Roasted Boneless Leg of Lamb . The wine I paired with the lamb was the newly released McKinley Springs 2009 Horsepower Proprietary Red Blend. It was a very good pairing. Wine and food pairing can be tricky - I don't always succeed. The meal and wine should compliment each other - neither should overpower the other. There are many variables that come into play in the dance of wine with food at home; in this context I wanted a food friendly, Syrah dominant red wine. At 43% Syrah, the 2009 McKinley Springs Horsepower was a good match.

Oops, I did it again. As lovely as the 2005 Tradition was upon opening, it was even better on day two. Tonight, as the last bit of this delectable wine left my glass, just as it was going past my lips, I found myself thinking, "Oh...this is good, it's just now, so very good and it's now gone". I certainly enjoyed this wine, it was immediately approachable at opening. But the true merits of this wine did not manifest, for me, until the second day. Soft, silky, earthy/leather, touch of graphite, floral elements, good mouth feel (chocolate covered cherries on the sides of my tongue), balanced (by day two) and only 13.5% alcohol - if you have some, stash it away for a few more years. If you can't help yourself, open, taste and save most of it for day two. I purchased this bottle at the Gordon Brothers winery during Crush weekend this September. Winery notes: Estate Grown, Columbia Valley, 65% Sauvignon, 27% Merlot and 8% Syrah. Production: 1,201 six packs (600 ...

Red Mountain I've enjoyed Hedges wines for many years. You can find their signature Red and White CMS wines all over the state of Washington. Two years ago, we enjoyed a private "Star Party" at the beautiful Hedges Family Estate chateau. The head winemaker Pete Hedges and his wife were enchanting hosts. They provided food and libations into the evening, after sunset, we were joined by the Tri -City Astronomy club for a night of star gazing. It's so dark on Red Mountain, it seems as if you can almost touch the heavens. A truly one of a kind experience. Hedges also makes a fantastic Rose wine. Crisp, dry and fruity, the way I like it. The 2008 vintage should be seeing the light of day soon. Look for it if you live in King county (alas, not much of a market for it in SE Washington). Locally you have to purchase the Rose from their Red Mountain winery. But this post isn't about Rose. Yesterday, I cracked open a bottle of Hedges 2006 Three Vineyards. This is a robust...

Kestrel Lady in Red 6 th Edition The attractive label on the bottle was designed by marketing students at Columbia Basin College in Pasco , Washington, http://www.columbiabasin.edu/ The clever design has been a great success for Kestrel. Even so, I never sought out the label and usually avoided it entirely. Until now. My wife is famous for bringing home wine, "I would never purchase" and once again she's made a marvellous selection. Wow, it's good. Raspberry jam, with a touch of marmalade on the nose, medium heavy, cherry vanilla, a truly vibrant wine, with firm tannins , a bit of oak, which works for me, some sedimentation, deep garnet in color. Good cherry cola hang time on the finish. I enjoyed this bottle over three days. Day one, the wine was immediately easy to appreciate, the flavors and tannins were more intense, and held up through day two and by day three the wine had smoothed out a lot, but still had a lot going on. You can probably get several years...