I have to admit to neglecting dessert wines in this blog and in my cellar. Today I picked up a couple of half bottles of 1998 Baumard Quarts de Chaume. Next to Riesling, there is no white grape more incredible than Chenin Blanc. From bone-crushingly dry to intensly sweet and concentrated wines, Chenin Blanc from [...]

I have been making the lightest, fluffiest, best damn pancakes in the world. (Click on the title of this post for a link to the recipe.) Every time I pour real maple syrup over them I think of a Rutherglen Tokay or Muscat. Selling these wines is always fun, especially after tasting them. I always [...]

I was speaking with the charming owner at one of my favorite wine shops about writing wine descriptors. This all started when I poured a 2004 Dutton-Goldfield Pinot Noir (RRV), and just told her, “This wine makes me happy.” It did, and it still does. It’s a Pinot Noir with this incredible kind of star-anise/nutmeg [...]

I have come across so many cringe-worthy words and phrases to describe wine, but this one really irked me. Describing the 2005 Winemaker’s Collection Episode One-Michel Rolland*, a wine critic called it “super-endowed“. UGH. What is this, the John Holmes of the Medoc? *Yes, this is the name of the wine. Oh, and I also [...]

Picpoul! Picpoul! Picpoul! I love saying the name of this grape! The H. Beaulieu Picpoul de Pinet is in my Hall of Fame for French whites with searing acidity that are under 10 bucks. It’s from the Coteaux du Languedoc AOC. Fooling around on Google, I found out that Picpoul vineyards overlook oyster and mussel [...]

Usually you think of something like a dry cracker when you are trying to get a taste out of your mouth to retry a wine. I came across a couple of wine stewards who employ strange but effective palate-cleansing means: Teriyaki Beef JerkySmoked Almonds With Jalapeno* Weird. Very weird. But effective! I think that the [...]

How about a moderate alcohol (10.5%) crisp, lively wine with a teeny-tiny touch of sweetness? Check out the Whidbey Island Winery Island White. What a chugger! From grapes grown on Whidbey Island! A blend of Madeleine Sylvaner and Madeleine Angevine! (HUH?) These grapes seem to combine the raciness of a Loire Muscadet, a little bit [...]

One of the great pleasures of my job is traveling all over the Seattle area and beyond, leaving no grocery store or wine shop unturned. Although I am there to sell wine, I keep finding myself buying wine. Why? In the strangest of places if you look right (to paraphrase a song…free bottle of wine [...]

I have been anti-zinfandel for the past few years. For me, they were the epitome of everything I hated about new world wines: boozy, hot, over-extracted, port-like, no acidity. Needless to say, I had strong feelings about zins. Reflecting upon my tender youth, I recalled some of the first wines that I really dug, when [...]

One of the cool things about the Washington wine industry is the dogged determination of a few wineries to keep making wine from grapes that are a tough sell. Like Lemberger. Not only does it sound like that infamously stinky cheese, but its stoic, Germanic name isn’t sexy like, say, Syrah. However, Lemberger is a [...]