Guide to Wine Scores

Kelly Johnson entered the wine industry 17 years ago, first as a wine chemist and worked her way up to managing one of the country’s largest wineries, Trinchero Family Estate/Sutter Home. “I learned how to make ‘safe’ enjoyable wines that most consumers found agreeable, but frustrated by the limitations of a 22 million case winery, began making wine myself in the Napa Valley,” … [Read more...] about 4 Releases from Tetrahedron Wines

Bart Fawbush started his journey in 2007 with 600 cases of wine. He has steadily grown his offerings to 2,500 cases annually out of a tasting room in the Old Rainier Brewery building in Seattle. “Initially, we thought we had a calling to produce Bordeaux style varieties,” he says. “When the Carménère continued to be our best seller, we expanded our unique varieties and voilà, … [Read more...] about Bartholomew Winery Shifts Wine Production to Eastern Washington

Victor Palencia recently moved production of his Monarcha brand into the newly opened Columbia Gardens Wine Village in Kennewick, officially dubbed “an Urban Wine & Artisan Village. “I’m excited to host food trucks, food and culture nights and other events tailored around the wineries.” He plans to keep his other winery, the Palencia Wine Company,  at the Walla Walla … [Read more...] about Monarcha Wines Lands in Columbia Gardens Wine Village

Sourced from the Mercer Family’s Horse Heaven Hills Estate Vineyards, this is the fifth wine in the limited edition Cougar Collectors’ Series. The grapes for this wine were grown by Cougs, harvested by Cougs and handcrafted by Cougs. The wine is available direct through Mercer Wine Estates website at their online wine shop or through the Washington State University … [Read more...] about Mercer Estates 2016 Cougar V Red Blend, Horse Heaven Hills AVA, $35

Enough good things cannot be said about the bold caliber of wines being produced by Page Cellars in Woodinville, owned by Jim and Rothelle Page. This boutique winery consistently offers quality and is laser focused on wines sourced from the Red Mountain AVA. This Cabernet, made in a challenging vintage, is yet another standout. Page Cellars 2011 “Preface” Cabernet Sauvignon, … [Read more...] about Page Cellars 2011 “Preface” Cabernet Sauvignon, Red Mountain AVA, $44

September 26, 2018 — Eye of the Needle Winery owners Bob and Lauren Bullock were honored this past week by King County Executives who named their winery as a finalist as “Rural Small Business of the Year.” The Bullocks have also scored another round of hits with their latest wine releases. This Woodinville-based winery built a reputation early on as a “negociant” that sleuthed … [Read more...] about Eye of the Needle Named Finalist “Rural Small Business of the Year”

Prosser-based Mercer Wine Estates and Napa's Delicato Family Vineyards has launched a collaborative new wine from Washington. The new brand is Mercer Family Vineyards, a partnership between the two respected fourth-generation family wine companies. Beginning in August 2018, a range of the new wines will start rolling out with nationwide distribution. The new Mercer Family … [Read more...] about Mercer Estates Joins With Napa’s Delicato Family

If you’ve spent much time in Woodinville, the odds are favorable you’ve come across one of the two Patterson Cellars tasting rooms. Now they’ve expanded beyond the Seattle marketplace into the picturesque town of Leavenworth to set up shop on 9th Avenue (a short side street off the busy main drag). Look for signage over the doorway proclaiming The Wine Cellar: 6 Tasting Rooms … [Read more...] about Patterson Cellars Expands to Leavenworth

Editor's note: Since this article was published, Den Hoed Winery has closed their South Seattle tasting room. For information on the winery, please visit their website at www.denhoedwines.com. “Our annual Wallula Koning Club event offers live music, dancing, great wood fire, grilled food and endless wine with charter buses to and from the hotel,” says general manager Traci … [Read more...] about Den Hoed Wine Estates Opens Seattle Tasting Room

There have been changes afoot at Basel Cellars, headquartered in Walla Walla on a sprawling 96-acre complex boasting a vineyard, estate mansion and tasting room built in Northwest lodge fashion. This past summer the winery opened a third tasting room, this one in Leavenworth, managed by longtime wine ambassador Sue Quigley. General manager Ryan Sams comments on the … [Read more...] about 3 Releases From Basel Cellars

Brett and Denise Isenhower are the rare couple that make wine together, along with handling the many details involved in running a thriving family winery—yet they always take time to get to know their customers, many on a first name basis. During harvest they may walk you through the barrel room of the Walla Walla production facility, showing you what fruit is being crushed and … [Read more...] about 5 Releases From Isenhower Cellars

Before the wine business, Al Mathews had a construction company and his wife, Kathy, was an interior decorator; both indispensable skillsets for building a winery and planting a vineyard from scratch with their own hands. Another set of pluses: Kathy was born in the Napa Valley and had a working knowledge of what it took to grow grapes, and Al had a degree in microbiology which … [Read more...] about Malaga Springs Expands Again

After years of winemaking for friends and family, father and son team Mike and Ryan Seal, along with Ryan’s childhood friend Scott, founded Sigillo Cellars in 2010 (an Italian translation of their last name). “Our belief is wine should be experienced,” says Mike Seal, head winemaker. He opened the winery’s first tasting room in the historic Sunset Theater in the heart of … [Read more...] about Releases from Sigillo Cellars

Josh and Cheryl West were pursuing successful careers in Houston (he was a commodities trader and she was in non-profit fundraising) when they became consumed by everything wine and food. Josh read numerous books on wine, tasted wines from all over the world, fastidiously took thousands of tasting notes, and built a collection of wine. Josh and Cheryl travelled to wine regions … [Read more...] about 3 Wines From Elephant Seven

Winemaker Co (Coman) Dinn says he strives for classically styled wines with exceptional balance, finesse and character. Indeed, if his wines were a silver screen star, they would be a leading man like Cary Grant, exuding that classic, suave radiance about them with faultless delivery. Holding a master’s degree in winemaking from UC Davis, Co has been making wine since 1989, … [Read more...] about Co Dinn Cellars Lands In Sunnyside

Located in the fast growing Artisan Hill Warehouse District of Woodinville, owner and winemaker Lisa Callan is a proven talent whose time has come to shine on her own. Recently the assistant winemaker for Red Sky Winery (where she worked since 2013), Lisa came to a crossroad when her boss decided to retire and close the winery. “This is where the wheels really started turning,” … [Read more...] about 3 Releases From Callan Cellars

Southwest Washington’s newest winery and event center is grand enough to live up to owner Dave Kelly’s vision of “Napa meets the Northwest.” After retiring from over 30 years in the pet food business, Dave looked at doing something different on his land (formerly used as a Christmas tree farm) besides turning it into housing developments. “I wanted to create a place where … [Read more...] about Windy Hills Winery Comes To SW Washington

Archeus Wines may be a newcomer to Washington's wine scene, but the story behind the vino is twenty years old. Co-founders Donn Hogan and Erik Geiger met in medical school on a Southern Caribbean Island in 1997. Through the trials and tribulations of living abroad and the stress of attending medical school, a close friendship was formed. That bond held tight even as they went … [Read more...] about Archeus Wines Inaugural Releases

The Horse Heaven Hills AVA (American Viticultural Area) is a sprawling winegrape growing region and home to a number of the Mercer family’s foundation vineyards. Spice Cabinet is a prime 18-acre vineyard on a gentle slope rising above the Columbia River on the Mercer family farm, where the grapes get an average of 6-9 inches of rainfall yearly. The vineyard name was inspired … [Read more...] about Mercer Estates 2017 Spice Cabinet Vineyard Rosé

Plumb Cellars 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon, $42 Editor’s Choice – Outstanding (91-94 pts.) Lean and focused, with a sultry mix of black raspberry, dark berry and cassis flavors tightly wrapped around a structured core of tobacco, loamy earth, tea leaf and slate. Vivid and expressive, with fine-grained tannins that linger on the cedar-lined finish. Plumb Cellars 2013 Damn … [Read more...] about 5 Releases From Plumb Cellars

Owners Bob and Lauren Bullock of Woodinville-based Eye of the Needle Winery continue to raise the bar with these offerings sourced from premium vineyards in the state.  These two new releases were pulled from their finest barrels: a reserve Cabernet and a special reserve bottling of their popular blend, "The Point." The Reserve Cabernet is a blend of fruit from Dineen … [Read more...] about 2 Reserve Wines From Eye of the Needle Winery