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December 2005

T'was the night before...
T’was the night before Christmas, and all through the Wineshop, People were searching for adult soda-pop...  “I know what will go with your feast”, I say, “A Meritage, (pronounced like ‘Heritage’)  will save the day...”

Making a Case
For a wine lover or a host, little makes a more impressive gift than a case of wine.

November 2005

Guzzlin’ Wines for the Gobbler
Thanksgiving is upon us! It is a major wine holiday, although more wine is drunk during your typical New Year’s Eve parties. It is the one of the only holidays where the celebration is centered around eating a meal. Which brings me to the question, "What wines go with Thanksgiving dinner?"

Canon De Sol Successfully Blends Culture
Canon De Sol winery in Benton City has parlayed its Mexican heritage and outstanding winemaking into an international reputation. Awards earned with the first bottlings brought quick recognition for Canon De Sol within the Northwest...

October 2005

Cellaring Without a Cellar
How to get a taste of the benefits of aging wine when you don't have a serious wine cellar.

Atlantic City Wine Director Shares Favorite Washington Wines
Those of us who have been drinking Washington wine for decades know it's good stuff, but it was nice to have an outsider validate that opinion recently. Shawn Dore, wine director for Atlantic City's swank new casino Borgata, which features a cellar with 15,000 bottles of wine and at least five gourmet restaurants, did just that at the Taste Washington event held in Kennewick a few weeks ago...

September 2005

Thoughts on Vintage
Before I grew up to become a wine "geek," I thought one of the most confusing things about wine appreciation was all that business about vintages. Good years, bad years, even mediocre years ... how can you keep all that information straight in your head, I used to wonder ...
and does it really matter anyway?

Wine Appraisal - Protecting your Assets!
Many of us who are enophiles have amassed quite a valuable collection of fine and rare wines. But are you protecting your wine as you do with your other valued assets?

Washington Wine Commission’s 2005 PICNIC
Washington State wineries were recently out in force on the grounds of Chateau Ste. Michelle Estates in Woodinville, Washington, pouring some of the top wines in the world at the “Washington Wine Commission’s” yearly PICNIC charity event....

August 2005

The Acid Test
What's so good about acid? Check the dictionary, and it doesn't look like something that you'd really want to put in your mouth. But show me a wine without acid, and I'll show you a wine that's dull, "flabby" and not much of a match with food...

Storing Wines to Allow Aging can be Quite a Gamble
Generally, Washington and other Pacific Northwest wines are ready to drink the moment you take them from the winery or the store shelf. We are known for our fruit-forward wines, most of which can be kept for a few years without losing any quality. Notice I said without losing any quality, not gaining quality...

Mondovino: Shaky, not Stirring
Documentaries analyze social reality. If you want hard core social (or political or economic) analysis—you know, with data and theory—turn to academia. Even though they have nowhere near the amount of viewers as feature films, documentaries do however attract a larger audience than academia while being a similar sort of endeavor. So it was with great relish that I went to see Mondovino, the controversial new documentary about globalization in the wine world...

July 2005

Uncorking the Industry
It's hard to believe that it has been only five years or so since the concept of sealing quality wines with anything but a natural tree-bark cork seemed like a weird and offbeat idea. But attitudes are changing fast, and I don't think it's over-reaching to suggest that we are close to or perhaps past the tipping point...

Bidder Beware: Succeeding at Wine Auctions
Auctions offer excellent opportunities for the wine enthusiast to acquire rare wines and special buys. Wine auctions can be very entertaining and rewarding, but they provide challenges for even skilled bidders...

Taste Washington, Often! (Please.)
With more than 350 bonded wineries, Washington State is the second largest producer of premium wines in The United States, producing award winning red and white wines such as: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese, Chardonnay, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc. While we have a nationwide and worldwide market for our diverse selections of high-quality wines, one is still more likely to see French, Australian or Californian wines being served in our own homes and neighborhood restaurants. A statistic I found is that only one out of five bottles of wine bought in Washington State is a Washington State wine...

Australian Wines Go Red, White and Green to Save U.S. Waterways
The Banrock Station United States Wetlands Conservation Program has just awarded grants to 12 environmental groups committed to saving wetlands across the U.S. It is the third successive year for the groundbreaking partnership between internationally-acclaimed Banrock Station and The Conservation Fund...

June 2005

Sangria Fresca
One of the things I like best about Sangria is that you can make it from whatever is on hand, and with some simple guidelines, it will always turn out good. This simple recipe is perfect for making and serving on the spot.

German Wine: Old vs. New
On simple analysis, you might expect Germany's signature Riesling to be one of the world's most popular wines. But the fact is that German wines remain immensely unfashion-able in the marketplace. What's the problem? The conven-tional wisdom holds that two barriers stand between German wines and an adoring public...

Buying Opportunities at Wine Auctions
As wine enthusiasts and dedicated collectors, we are always looking for ways to acquire rare or harder to find vintage wines... Have you considered buying wine at wine auctions?

May 2005

St. Charles Winery and the Mosquito Fleet Museum
In 1872, in western Washington, Lambert B. Evans homesteaded and planted vines on Stretch Island. These vines and land eventually became Washington state's Bonded Winery No.1...

Washington Merlot
Washington makes great wine, period. And the best red, and some of the best values, to come out of Washington is still Merlot...

The Importance of the Importer
Knowing where the wine came from, who made it, and what it's made of is all important information. But for me, if the wine is unfamiliar, then checking the importer's name will often sway the "buy" or "don't-buy" decision...

April 2005

What's the Matter with Merlot?
Merlot, a classic French wine grape and a key player in the Bordeaux varietal blend, a grape of noble lineage and even gravitas, suddenly a laughingstock? Who knew?

Allergies, Sinuses and Tasting Wine
It's that dreadful season again for many of us who suffer from some form of hay fever. If your sinuses are currently suffering from allergies, consider waiting before opening any special wines, or any wine at all...

March 2005

What's Up With French Wine?
France's grape farmers are protesting again, reportedly parading through at least one wine-country village last month in a mock funeral cortege surrounding a coffin marked "Here lies the last wine maker..."

WT101: Syrah, Shiraz, Sirah
This month in WINE TASTING 101, we'll sort out the differences among these familiar names. Today, let's touch lightly on all three...

Wine Wars: Tech vs. Tradition
Science is driving changes across the wine industry, "to the horreur of traditional winemakers in old Europe." Check out how innovations in irrigation, vine genetics, and disease control; along with micro-oxygenation, yeast research, and even corking are transforming the art of making wine...

February 2005

Aged Champagne
Recently, I was pleasantly surprised by a delightful old bottle of a non-vintage Chandon Reserve. I did not previously appreciate the development that aging could bring to sparkling wines. Oh! The missed opportunities of laying down even inexpensive champagnes along with my red wines... Time to fix that!

Wine from ... India?
India is not a country that many would list among the top wine-producing nations. But that might be a mistake. In today's globalizing world, India - like China - is rapidly developing a home-grown wine industry...

January 2005

What Bidders Should Know About Wine Auctions
Have you ever considered wine auctions as a tool for acquiring rare vintages or special buys? Wine auctions are quickly emerging as one of the hottest trends for the wine enthusiast, investor or avid collector in purchasing wine...

Memories are Made of This
What makes wine different from just about any other beverage? I submit that the fruit of the vine offers such an intriguing blend of history, geography, science and so many other things that it catches our imagination in a way that most other drinks can't do. Even the most everyday wine can bring back memories of a happy journey, a literary allusion, a familiar face or even a yet-to-be- realized dream...

Sideways, The Movie, The Wine
The more you know about a given subject, the easier it is to pick out flaws in a given movie. That's why I was surprised to find fewer blatant flaws in Alexander Payne's new wine-drenched movie, Sideways, than there are curves in a Rabbit wine opener. The movie has rightfully received high praise from movie critics including a composite score of 92 on Metacritic (harder than a Parker 92, I might add)...

Additional Articles

Article Index 2004
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Article Index 2002
Article Index 2001
Article Index 2000

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