William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

Feeling a bit pressed for time this month, I could not resist sharing with you my Wine of the Week pick a little early; enjoyed too many iced café mochas this evening, and I’m wide awake, buzzed. Goose Ridge 2009 Estate Bottled Chardonnay.

Local Winery - Great Blend This weekend I had the pleasure of enjoying a bottle of Goose Ridge 2008 g3 . The Goose Ridge g3 is a red wine blend of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot and 24% Syrah with 14.2% alcohol. Some Background Goose Ridge 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. I have not had the pleasure of Meeting Mr. Mix or of sampling his wines, yet, but I look forward to that day. The Goose Ridge tasting room is located in Richland, off of Dallas road, about a five minute drive for me. Back to the 2008 g3 I have to admit that, while I drank the 2008 g3 a year ago, I did not review it. Why? Because, a year ago the 2008 g3 seemed too thin, and did not excite my senses – today the g3 is splendid. I try to keep my posts positive, so...

Catching Up with July It was my good fortune last month to sample many excellent Washington wines. I'm including a few pics of some of the wines I enjoyed. This list is certainly not complete, but I don't snap photos of every bottle I drink. Some of the bottles you don't see here, that must be mentioned, include: Fidelitas and Kestrel. My palette must be shifting around, as I really enjoyed both Kestrel and Fidelitas wines - several bottles mind you - just to be sure. Fidelitas: http://www.fidelitaswines.com/ Kestrel: http://www.kestrelwines.com/ Here are some photos in no particular order. Hightower Cellars - located on Red Mountain, I enjoyed their 2006 Pepper Bridge, Walla Walla red wine with friends - it was fricking awesome - go find some and enjoy. Check out their tasting room if you are in the area. Tim and Kelly Hightower are a blast to visit with. Hightower Cellars: http://hightowercellars.com/ Goose Ridge, g3 2006 Red Wine, a tasty red with a good dose of Syrah. ...

Stonecap Monson Family Estates Syrah 2005 Columbia Valley This was supposed to be another white wine post. By now, you may realize my penchant for Washington Syrah . SO you may understand my eagerness to sample the Stonecap 2005 Syrah . This wine was cellared and bottled by Goose Ridge Vineyards, Richland , Washington. I have a lot of respect for Goose Ridge wines. Naturally I was curious about this new label. I opened the wine, had a short glass, and closed it again for three days before drinking it again. Screw caps do come in handy sometimes. What was it like on day one? When I first opened the wine, it had a distinct tomato soup nose - extremely vegetal , with a touch of celery. Not my speed, which explains why I ignored it for three days. Day three, or is it day four? Today I was immediately impressed by the glorious deep purple color, inky purple, the color of the Syrah of my dreams. Thankfully, the strong vegetal aroma has gracefully retired, replaced by the subtle arom...