William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

Wines not Reviewed now Reviewed Say goodbye to summer friends, it’s gone and now it’s time to welcome fall and cooler weather. Fall in the Columbia Valley is one of my favorite seasons. Crisp mornings, clear skies, warm comfortable clothing and the essential fruit hanging from the vines. While a cool season has delayed harvest by a couple of weeks, I'm told the fruit of the year is of excellent quality. Growers and wineries will be very busy for the next several months. Although I look forward to enjoying the 2010 vintage next year and in the years to come, today I’d like to reminisce about some of the wines I enjoyed this summer. I have not figured out a practical method for documenting all the wines I enjoy. In some instances, I am able to photograph the wine, but lack the time to properly review them. Facebook and twitter assist to partially “document” some of these wines. But, I’m often left with just the memory of the wine. Friends and sp...

A Red Mountain Winery There’s a winemaker with his own unique vision who’s moved to the Red Mountain AVA. His name is Bill Kimmerly, the winery is named Masquerade Wine Company. I had the pleasure of visiting with Bill last Friday afternoon. Some of you may remember Masquerade as a Prosser winery, but Masquerade Wine Company is now a Red Mountain winery. Bill and his wife Jennifer have had quite the adventure, moving from California to Washington State and from Prosser to Red Mountain. I found their story a fascinating read; Bill tells a good tale about their many adventures in the world of wine - it's on their website . Entry to Masquerade Wine Company. While Masquerade is not on the Red Mountain Sunset Road, they are just across the street and part of the Red Mountain AVA. You’ll pass them either entering or leaving the Red Mountain area. They have a newer, larger, better secured sign on their property – you can’t miss it. The road to the tasting room is framed by sagebru...

Spreading the Word - I'd Love to Attend a Wine Wednesday Seattle Wine Gal (Barbara Evans) is hosting Wine Wednesday at thinkspace , in Redmond, WA on Wednesday, September 8th from 5-8pm register at Eventbrite if you are not a thinkspace member. This months theme: Meet the Creators of Children's Educational Math Game Application Kosmic Math! With WineMaker: Kevin Correll of Barrage Cellars . Partial Food Sponsorship Provided by Coho Cafe and Vantage Seafood. Bring a bottle o’ wine and a snack to share and come meet, greet, and tweet with some of Seattle’s most amazing noggins! The second Wednesday of each month, they are featuring one of the local ‘over-achievers’, who will share insights and stories while you mingle and sip on wine at thinkspace! They occasionally have on-site wine maker tastings and mini-seminars, as well as raffles. This is a Monthly Social Meet and Greet… with wine on the second Wednesday of each month at  thinkspace 1st fl...

Kirkland 2007 Napa Valley Meritage Here's the photo of the wine I enjoyed last night and tonight. While I'm mainly a Washington wine drinker, I did enjoy this Kirkland 2007 Napa Valley Meritage. On impulse I bought it at Costco for $11. It's a medium firm wine with flavors of cherry and vanilla with a bit of oak, but not too much oak. Tanins were just right to go with the grilled steak last night. Yes, I admit I liked it and found it a great value for the money. Call it, "broadening my palate." While I'm not a Napa wine drinker, it's good to sample and try wines from other regions you're not familiar with. I enjoyed this wine. And for $11 it's worth the money to evaluate and consider that Costco is selling some great wine under that Kirkland label. Maybe I'll visit Napa one of these years. But not too soon. Cheers!

Quick post. Grilled a most awesome steak tonight. Enjoyed the steak with hot peppers from my garden - they bit back - so good. And...I...enjoyed dinner with a...2007 Napa Meritage. That's right - Napa Meritage (it's a place in California). I know, this is a Washington wine blog. Well, my last five posts were about some fantastic Washington wines/wineries. Go read if you have not. Blame the local big box store (yes, Costco) for the great steak tonight, and that wine from California. Hey, I could not pass it up for $11. And I'm not a Napa wine drinker, so what the heck. Am I wrong to let you know I liked it? It was good...I'll consider adding more details and photo tomorrow. I have to sleep on it. Cheers!

A Rhone Style Red by Hightower Cellars While I was out visiting Red Mountain today, I stopped by Hightower Cellars for a tasting. My last visit to Hightower Cellars was two years ago. I was there as a volunteer helping bottle several hundred cases of wine. That was also the day I had too much heat and was put to rest on the tasting room floor ( read about my embarrassment here ). Today Tim and Kelly Hightower were not around, but the friendly tasting room manager was. She was a great hostess and very knowledgeable about the current releases. The current tasting line-up, they are all good. All of the Hightower wines I sampled today were very good. While these are all red wines, I'm told there is an upcoming white wine release, soon, soon. Okay, enough already, what I came home with was a bottle of their 2008 Murray Syrah. That's Murray on the bottle. This wine is named after Tim and Kelly's first winery dog, Murray - his picture is on the bottle. What's especi...

You're Invited Made a run to Red Mountain today; I timed my driving and it took 13 minutes from home to Red Mountain. Isn't that convenient? Owner/Winemaker Neil "Coop" Cooper and his dog DB The reason today for my drive, is that there’s a new winery on Red Mountain – Cooper “A Red Mountain Winery”. The owner/winemaker is Neil “Coop” Cooper. His winery is to open very soon. While Coop did not have time to review his wines today, he did take time for an amiable chat. Thanks Coop. Cooper Winery is now the first winery you see when you turn onto Red Mountain’s Sunset Road. Traces of the previous winery have been carefully removed. Coop has worked hard on getting his winery ready for visitors – the exterior of his facility is due to be painted soon. Soon enough for his Grand Opening on September 11th. You’re Invited While we were visiting today, Coop invited me and all my wine friends (that’s you too) to join him on Saturday 11 September, 3pm until 9pm for his...