William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

A Kosher Wine not just for the High Holy Days Psagot winery was founded in 2003 by Yaakov and Naama Berg. By 2013 annual production was up to 200,000 bottles. Vineyards are located on limestone terraces 900 meters above sea level in the settlement of "Psagot" in Binyamin. The winery is located in a beautiful stone structure overlooking the Kelt Wadi and the mountains of Edom surrounding Jerusalem. Psagot Winery ages its wines in an ancient underground cave that was used for wine-making in the Second Temple period. I'm naturally fascinated by wines sourced from ancient winemaking locations. The wine making traditions of Israel go back millennia. Naturally, our human heritage has been influenced by wine and winemaking, for longer than many assume. I have strong opinions on this subject. Would we be who we are today without wine? Philosophical question aside, it is with pleasure I share my first Kosher wine review on this blog. "Winemaker Yaakov Oryah has creat...

Snooth Virtual Tasting of Villa Maria, New Zealand wines. "The origin for Villa Maria came about from George (the founder) choosing “ Villa ” as a common name for a house in New Zealand and “ Maria ” a popular name from Croatia (where George's family is from)." Tuesday evening I had the opportunity to taste six wines from Villa Maria winery in New Zealand. I tasted live, via video, with Villa Maria winemaker Helen Morrison, hosted by snooth media co-founder Mark Angelillo, along with numerous wine media friends. This tasting was particularly interesting because some of the wines we tasted are just being introduced to the US market. We sampled a key part of the Villa Maria portfolio. Impressive wines. Winemaker Helen Morrison Winemaker Helen Morrison was engaging, her passion for winemaking obvious. She seems an evident reason the wines showed so beautifully. Her intensity made me curious about wine trends in New Zealand. I asked, regarding wine preferenc...

Planning a trip to Walla Walla? Eternal Wines must be on your itinerary.  Over the last year, I have come to know winemaker Brad Binko of Eternal Wines and Drink Washington State. He is talented, friendly and supremely dedicated to Washington wine. You can taste the passion in every bottle of wine Brad makes. Last month I visited with Brad in his downtown Walla Walla tasting room. Located on 1st Avenue, half a block from Main Street, and two doors down from a tasty cupcake bakery. Easy to find, and full of delicious wines and light. You can't miss visiting this cool space. Brad Binko, Eternal Wines, pouring rose' for guests. Mr. Binko has a full set of wines available to taste and purchase at his tasting room. I'll get into more detail about Brad and some of his other wines in a future post. When you drop by his tasting room, tell him Wild 4 Washington Wine sent you. Check out their  website  as they host special tastings and sometimes have live music. ...

Quick update. Just wanted to touch base and let everyone know that I am still enmeshed in the Washington wine industry. Pouring and sharing my passion for wine almost daily. Whew...busy, but having a great deal of fun. You can see my daily wine interactions on my Instagram . Winemaker Brad Binko sharing his Eternal Rose'. Eager to share my conversation with Walla Walla Winemaker Brad Binko of Eternal Wines and Drink Washington State. More soon. Just need a little quiet time to gather my words. Cheers!

Big bang for the buck here friends. Master winemaker Rob Griffin brought out the big guns for this wine;  Counoise, Cinsault, Durif,  Grenache, and Mourvedre. This is no ordinary Washington wine. One of my favorite jobs was working for the family owned Barnard Griffin Winery . Hand-selling wine, meeting and greeting visitors from around the world and sharing stories of Washington wine. These were some of my best experiences. Period. It also pushed me to learn more about wine. I strongly recommend seeking out the Barnard Griffin 2013 Cotes du Rob. Tasting Notes 2013 Cotes du Rob Red Wine Barnard Griffin Winery Color : Plum, cranberry highlights. Nose : Engaging, cranberry, pomegranate, breath of fresh earth, orange peel, graphite. Palate : Pleasant weight, bright, red berry flavors, dusted with light spice, electric on the tongue, modest spicy finish. Shy, friendly opening. 15 minutes : Soft berry and spice on the nose, a touch of armpit odeur. Très European....

Welcome the new year in style with French bubbles - à votre santé! Toast the season with bottles of crisp, sparkling Lucien Albrecht Brut Rosé. At my home, we enjoy bubbles year-round. If you only drink Champagne or Prosecco, then it's time to try something different. remuage : the periodic turning or shaking of bottled wine, especially champagne, to move sediment toward the cork. The history of the Albrecht family as winegrower can be traced back to 1425 with Romanu Albrecht, who was settled in the town of Thann. During the fifteenth and sixteenth century in Thann, several generations of Albrecht were elected as Bangard vinegrowers. Lucien Albrecht pioneered Crémant production in 1971 and helped gain an Appellation Contrôlêe for the wine and for Alsace. The wines are vinified in the classic Champagne Method. Tasting Notes Lucien Albrecht Crémant d'Alsace Brut Rosé Method : 100% Pinot Noir free-run juice. Whole cluster hand picked grapes are softly p...

There Was a Time... There was a time when I thought I would stop writing about wine. A time, between 2009 and 2010, when I thought my fascination with wine was at an end. Obviously, something happened to cause that thinking, and something happened to put me back on track. I'll address that further on. This post has become rather long. It is in my nature to want to share. Ten years on and there's a lot I want to mention and get out of my thoughts. My thoughts pester me. I hope you find something interesting in these self obsessed musings. There's a lot I left out. So the temptation to add and tweak is strong. Not sure I can resist. When I began this blog ten years ago, I was working for Barnard Griffin Winery . After Fourteen months of hand selling wine, many industry events and daily customer interactions, my head was full of new to me wine related information. I was not sleeping well with a jumble of wine experiences and knowledge swirling around my head at nigh...