William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

There Was a Time... There was a time when I thought I would stop writing about wine. A time, between 2009 and 2010, when I thought my fascination with wine was at an end. Obviously, something happened to cause that thinking, and something happened to put me back on track. I'll address that further on. This post has become rather long. It is in my nature to want to share. Ten years on and there's a lot I want to mention and get out of my thoughts. My thoughts pester me. I hope you find something interesting in these self obsessed musings. There's a lot I left out. So the temptation to add and tweak is strong. Not sure I can resist. When I began this blog ten years ago, I was working for Barnard Griffin Winery . After Fourteen months of hand selling wine, many industry events and daily customer interactions, my head was full of new to me wine related information. I was not sleeping well with a jumble of wine experiences and knowledge swirling around my head at nigh...

Me writing blogging and smoking shisha, May 2009 Abu Dhabi. Last year, I read that one of the differences between blogging and journalism, is that a journalist has an editor. An editor would be very helpful at times...just saying. Don't ask me to weigh-in on the "blogging vs journalism" credibility debate. In 2010, I increased my wine blog posts to 69, up from 25 in 2008. This year I hope to exceed those 69 posts. Reaching that goal would be a lot easier with a second pair of eyes helping out. If you have spent any amount of time writing/blogging, then you know what I mean. I welcome your comments when you notice something amiss (palate/palette for example). So far, I blog for fun, not profit. Looking forward to visiting a new, local winery next week. I'll let you know how it goes. Cheers!

We're heating up in the Columbia Valley, expect to see 100 degree days by the weekend. Feedback from local growers is that they've not minded the cool weather this year. Now that the heat is here, a lot of renewed attention to the vineyards. I'm lining up some winery visits - yes, looking forward to talking to local winemakers and hopefully some vineyard tours. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying what other wine/food bloggers are talking about. On the right column, I keep adding links to other bloggers. There is a lot of good information on these blogs and worth the time to check them out. Rick Bakas has a blog called Back to Bakas , he has a good mix of tasty looking recipes, wine reviews, as well as blogging advice. I really like his World Cup wine and food pairing - great recipes folks. I'll keep you posted to any new developments. Cheers!

Okay, still not 100% happy with the layout of this blog. I've managed to cram more information on screen than before. But I'm starting to think a white background is needed. A design with a white background will be more work, if I want  a custom background. I'm most pleased with the list of Wine bloggers (and growing). There's so much good information out there, I had to share. After the Wine Bloggers Conference, I'm starting to think I'll have to begin using my Twitter account - just to stay in the looop. I'll keep you posted (wild4wawine). Cheers!

Cha, Cha, Changes... Several changes have gradually taken place on my blog this year. There's the new background image, which I keep tweaking. Then Google enhanced the design/layout tool for blogger - of course I've tried some of the new layouts - of course the new layouts broke some of the Gadgets I use. Oh well. Recently, the more important changes include, the most important change: http://www.wild4washingtonwine.com/ Yes, it was time to get a real domain name for this blog. You can still find my blog at: http://wild4washingtonwine.blogspot.com/ but use http://www.wild4washingtonwine.com/ if you share. Another change includes, my new Wild 4 Washington Wine Store . The store is powered by Amazon.com so purchases are actually from Amazon.com. My role in this? I manage and provide links and information for the products I recommend; the ones I like to use, want to own or just desire. My favorite wine glasses are made by Reidel and my favorite choc...

If Facebook and Blogger were not enough, now I'm "micro blogging" at http://wild4wine.tumblr.com/ Follow the link for more wine posts. I'll keep linking back to and from all of my wine sites. Hope everyone is well and enjoying wine. Cheers!

This is my first time participating on Wine Blogging Wednesday, a big thank you to Catie our host at http://www.wildwallawallawinewoman.blogspot.com/ . Those of you who know me or have read my previous posts, know that I am partial to Barnard Griffin Wines located in Richland , Washington. I started enjoying Barnard Griffin wines in 1997 when they first opened their tasting room. It is also a coincidence that I recently moved closer to the winery, now just 3 minutes away - how convenient. The winemaker at Barnard Griffin is Rob Griffin. He started making wine in Washington 30 years ago for Preston Cellars. He was also the winemaker for the Hogue winery until about 1991. Rob has made his own Barnard Griffin label since 1983. Every year he receives numerous accolades for his wines. His 2004 Merlot with the tulip label has received a total of 11 tasting event awards! But this posting is not about Merlot . The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon is a delicious Cabernet, especially easy to enjoy at...