William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

Can you really find good Washington wines at reasonable prices? Last week I was snowed in for three days. My little car had a tough time on the icy roads, so I figured it was safer for my son and I to stay home. On the weekend my wife took us out in her SUV to run errands. Powering through snow and slush, we headed for the local grocer to stock up on supplies. My priority on our outing was to bring home wine to prevent me from raiding our home cellar. I'm saving most of those bottles for special occasions. Of the wines we purchased, I found three reasonably priced, locally produced, red wines. Two of the wines were priced at $10.99 and one was priced at $8.99. The prices were reasonable, but how did they taste? 2007 Powers Merlot 2007 Merlot is just one of many excellent wines by Powers Winery. The first wine I enjoyed was the Powers Winery 2007 Merlot. Powers is about a 10 minute drive from my home, so they are very local to me.  Bill Powers and his family have been crafti...

An Outstanding $20 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from Powers Winery. Powers 2007 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Coyote Vineyard Wahluke Slope. Mickey Dunne of Powers Winery guided me through a delectable private tasting last week. While I'm still composing my review, I had to share with you today my thoughts on the Powers 2007 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Coyote Vineyard. Loved it. Delivering on Quality vs. Price There's been an ongoing conversation by wine bloggers and tweeters, about Washington State wines. Asking the question, “Can Washington State be defined by grape variety?” The spotlight often ends up focusing on Cabernet Sauvignon. Who doesn’t love a great Cabernet Sauvignon? And there are some truly stellar Washington State Cabernet Sauvignons. But how much should you have to pay for a great Cabernet? Hence, the dialogue is also about quality vs. price.

Organic and NSA Goodness in a Pretty Blue Bottle Now that I am back in town, I made a point of visiting the Badger Mountain Certified Organic Vineyard & Powers Columbia Valley Winery. The winery is located on top of Badger Mountain, in the Rancho Reata area of Kennewick. Lucky me, they are only 15 minutes from my home. While I am focusing on the Organic NSA Chardonnay, I did enjoy tasting many of their wines at the winery. I was honestly impressed by the quality and value of every one, white and red. When I have time, I’ll review some of their other tasty wines. Back to the Chardonnay, I like the bright blue bottle this wine is in. It protects and presents well and tells everyone that there is something special waiting inside. The enticing aroma is the first thing you’ll notice when you screw the cap off the bottle. This is a smooth, easy to appreciate Chardonnay. You’ll find it easy to impress your friends with this wine. At first you might mistake this for a “sweet” wine, because...