William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

Photo: Alexandria Nicole 2009 "a squared" Cabernet Sauvignon. Jarrod and Ali Boyle are producing wonderful Washington wines at their Alexandria Nicole Cellars winery. A wise and loving husband, Jarrod named the winery after his wife Ali. This summer I had an insightful visit  at their Paterson winery and a grand tour of their Destiny Ridge vineyard during véraison . This weekend my wife and I had the pleasure of being guests at the Alexandria Nicole Cellars annual Harvest Party. Photo: Ali Boyle rolling a wine barrel while husband Jarrod cheers her on. Thankfully, we did not have to drive ourselves to the party at the winery. Two large bus coaches received our group of revelers in Richland and delivered us all to the winery. The hour long trip was ameliorated by glasses of Alexandria Nicole Cellars Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. The only way to travel. Photo: Chef Magaña in charge of Oysters and Dinner. The Harvest Party was, well, a party. Oysters on...

As we say goodbye to summer, the Columbia Valley is under a blanket of smoke. Thousands of firefighters are fighting dozens of wildfires. It's been a perfect growing season, a warm, dry summer, with no rain. Earlier this month, lightning started the fires on the east slope of the Cascade Mountains. Locally, in the Tri-Cities and in Walla Walla, air quality has been listed as unsafe for sensitive groups.  In the Wenatchee area, closer to the fires, air quality is listed as "hazardous." Weather forecasters do not expect the smoke to clear any time soon. The forest fires rage on. Yuck. Photo: View east August 2012 Rattlesnake Mountain visible in background. Photo: Smoky view east on 20 September 2012. Photo: Today's smoky view on 21 September 2012. Yesterday, in spite of the smoke, I made time for a brief visit at  Goose Ridge Winery . The Goose Ridge tasting room is located on Dallas Road, in Richland. My visit was short, but I managed to tak...