William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

Looks like a Pepi party! Put some Pepi in  your glass! My first exposure to Pepi wines was at the 2012 Wine Bloggers Conference . The 2011 Pepi Sauvignon Blanc was one of the wines featured at the speed tasting session. The wine was quite lively. Since then, I have had the pleasure of enjoying the other three Pepi white wines: Pepi Pinot Grigio, Pepi Chenin Blanc-Viognier and Pepi Chardonnay. Pepi wines are sourced from grapes grown in cool-climate vineyard regions of California. Cheers to the 2011 Pepi Pinot Grigio. 2011 Pepi Pinot Grigio Tasting Notes Color of pale straw, with mineral, slate, fresh pear nose, light pear flavor and wonderful minerality through the finish. Clean, crisp, dry white wine. This would be a good seafood wine. I'd pair with steamed clams, oysters on the half shell, Dungeness crab, halibut, sashimi, cheese fondue and pasta alfredo. I liked this wine. Big value at this price. Recommended. Blend: 90% Pinot Grigio, 10% Chenin B...

Today I am pairing the music of Rodriguez with the wine of Gilbert Cellars . Pairing Music with Wine is obviously a personal opinion, biased just like recommending a favorite wine. Either you get it or you don't. This week I've been telling friends and posting on twitter and facebook about a musician I just discovered. My buzz of the week. Actually, a lot of people this year have been "discovering" the music of Sixto Rodriguez, aka "Sugar Man." On Sunday, 60 Minutes feature story was on Rodriguez, and a 2012 Sundance Film Festival awarded movie about his life "Searching for Sugar Man."  His music is 40 years old. FYI: Rodriguez, aka Sugar Man, is on tour. He's playing in Seattle tonight and Portland, Oregon tomorrow. Sadly, I can't make it to either performance. I have a  link to his Tour Dates , maybe you can go. He's  touring the U.S. and then Europe . Gilbert Cellars 2009 Allobroges red wine is also a recent discovery...

Syrah Harvest 4 October 2012 Photo: Syrah clusters, ripe and ready for picking. Yesterday morning, I visited Gordon Estate to photograph harvest in the vineyard. They were picking Syrah. Winemaker Tim Henley was not sure when they would start harvest, so he told me to wait for his text. At 10:30 am he texted that they had begun. Photo: Mechanical harvester. When I arrived at the vineyard, I saw the mechanical harvester 3/4 of the way down the row. I parked my car and hoofed it to grab some photos of the harvester in action. The Syrah clusters looked good to me. Photo: Vineyard manager Ramon riding the harvester. The tractor pulling the harvester was not moving too fast, so I was able to reach the harvester, grab some shots and then walk back to where I started. Looking at the clouds of dust, I noticed that the soil in the vineyard is fine and powdery. After walking down the rows, my boots looked like they were covered in talcum powder. Photo: End of the ...

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...

Today I am tweeting about the  2011 vintage Rieslings from the Finger Lakes. Saturday, September 22, 2012 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. EST. We will be using #FLXwine in our tweets. Samples provided by:  Finger Lakes Wine Alliance . Photo: My four samples of Finger Lakes Riesling. This year twenty Finger Lakes wineries are participating in the Riesling Launch.  Look for the Rieslings from these producers at your local wine shops, restaurants and wine bars.  Photo: Riesling vineyard, Courtesy Finger Lakes Wine Alliance. Quick facts on the Finger Lakes Established October 1, 1982  100 plus wineries  11,000 cares under vine  600 + acres of Riesling  100,000 cases of Riesling  Small, specific producers whose wine reflects place and personality  Strong, regional aromatic whites with a focus on Riesling. The average producer makes 2.5 styles of Riesling wine a year.  The Finger Lakes is home to over 20...

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...

Red-Mountain-Merlot.  Three words with deep meaning for those of us who know. Last month I was in Portland, Oregon for the fifth annual Wine Bloggers Conference . There's a lot of wine poured and consumed at these events. A lot. So, why did I bring along a bottle of Fidelitas Red Mountain Merlot? It was my hope to find an opportunity to share this wonderful wine. A few quiet moments, and  a couple of fellow wine compatriots was all I needed to open this lovely bottle of Washington wine. Photo: Empty bottle of Fidelitas 2009 Red Mountain Merlot. Winemaker Charlie Hoppes has spent the past 20 + years as a leading winemaker for several noted Washington wineries. He was Assistant Winemaker at Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville, then Head Red Winemaker at Chateau Ste. Michelle's facility at Paterson, where he helped create the premium label for Col Solare's first two vintages. In 1999 Charlie worked to help start Three Rivers Winery in Walla Walla. He created his own ...