Here are the beautiful new wines by Jachter. A great story in wine, for 27 years, Dave Jachter owned and operated several successful car dealerships in Oregon. Over decades, Dave cultivated a passion for wine, and a cellar to match. After selling his dealerships Dave has travelled to France, Italy, and California wine regions, and tasted wines from around the world.  He studied at UC Davis, completing a variety of viticultural courses as he and his wife, Karen, purchased 120 acres in the Chehalem Mountains AVA in the heart of the Willamette Valley. These were the first releases that I ha ..read more

Here are the beautiful new wines by Lopai. Today we share a world-class brand new winery. Lopai is led by a father and son team, Paul and Brian Lopez. Their estate-driven wine project located in the Willow Creek district of Paso Robles, California. The Lopez family has roots in San Luis Obispo County of the Central Coast dating back to the late 1800's. Paul (P-Lo) was a popular grocer in Paso Robles for 35 years before entering the wine business. With 14 vintages under his belt and stints at Villa Creek and Alta Colina, he's currently the Cellar Master at Denner Vineyards. Brian pursued a car ..read more

Great photo here of The Setting winemaker Jesse Katz. What Jesse Katz touches seems to turn to gold. Such is the case with The Setting which is a world-class producer of Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa, Oregon and Sonoma. The wines from Sonoma were part of my spring Sonoma report and I am sharing my reviews of the incredible new wines from Napa as well as a new Oregon project. Katz has a longstanding history in the industry, and is formerly the youngest-hired head winemaker in the US at Lancaster Estate. He grew the Roth line of wines by over 800% and received 90+ scores on e ..read more

Great photo of the beautiful wines of Massican. Today we share one of the most intriguing brands of the Napa Valley. It is hard to believe that Massican was founded all the way back in 2009. The brand is the brainchild of innovator and winemaker Dan Petroski, who sought to make old-world inspired white wines in the Napa Valley where Cabernet is unabashedly king. These wines continue to be affordably priced, where entry level Chardonnays in Napa command 100 dollars and sometimes more. For years Dan made world-class wines at Larkmead which rivaled some of the finest wines of the region — at a f ..read more

Here are the brilliant future fall 2024 releases by Soos Creek. Year after year Soos Creek produces some of the finest value wines in Washington State. This small production winery was founded all the way back in in 1989 by David and Cecile Larsen. David Larsen has crafted wines for more than 30 vintages now. Originally starting to make wine in the Boeing Wine Club (and even blackberry wine), David caught the wine big thanks to inspiring trips to Europe and Napa Valley. He is a great dude to chat wine with. David mainly began creating a model after Quilceda Creek, producing only one Cabernet ..read more

Andrew Latta has a world-class new brand, Lucius, named after his grandfather. Today we share a brand new project by the talented Andrew Latta. Latta Wines was founded in 2011 by winemaker and owner Andrew Latta. Andrew came to wine through years of restaurant work, from bussing tables in his home state of Kentucky all the way to a Sommelier position in Thailand, directing one of the finest wine programs in the country. Formerly with K Vintners, Latta has been at his SoDo location since 2015. He has a new line of wines called Lucius which is named after his grandfather. I had the chance to si ..read more

Here is my review of the stunning 2012 Domaine Serene ‘Mark Bradford Vineyard’ Pinot Noir. A few nights ago I decided to dip into my cellar and revisit the beautiful 2012 wines by Domaine Serene. 2012 has taken a long time to develop in the bottle. Moderate temperatures throughout the growing season led to balanced, tension-filled wines that needed a lot of time upon release. 2012 was a welcome departure to 2011 which was a really challenging, cool vintage in Oregon — one where flavor density was an issue. Domaine Serene sits atop the Dundee Hills with expansive views of the Willamette Valley ..read more

Here are the great new wines by Willamette Valley Vineyards and winemaker Terry Culton. Today we share the new wines from one of Oregon’s oldest wineries. Willamette Valley Vineyards founder, Jim Bernau, purchased the winery’s estate back in 1983 and  planted Pinot Noir (Pommard and Wadenswil clones), Chardonnay (Dijon and Espiguette) as well as Pinot Gris. Bernau took winemaking classes at UC Davis and finally started the winery full time in 1989. Willamette Valley Vineyards has grown considerably in the past 20 years, as they merged with Bill Fuller of Tualatin Vineyards (established i ..read more

David Natali crafts some beautiful wines for Robert Biale. A winery steeped in history, Robert Biale has roots in the 1930s where Pietro Biale planted Zinfandel on the Napa Valley floor. HIs son, Aldo, took over making wine during the Prohibition, using the code name ‘Black Chicken.’ Aldo’s Vineyard still stands today in Napa and is one of the premium vineyard sites that Robert Biale sources from, as well as esteemed spots like the Monte Rosso Vineyard and the Stagecoach Vineyard. I have loved these wines for years that are truly one of a kind and a throwback to old-school Zinfandel that show ..read more

Here is the beautiful 2015 FIGGINS Red Wine (OB, 95). Occasionally I have the chance to enjoy wines from my cellar and I am always excited for the next cellar pull. On this occasion I had the chance to taste the 2015 FIGGINS Red Wine (OB, 95) a wine that came from a less than easy vintage. 2015 was the earliest harvest in Washington wine history. This led to some of the regions struggling with obtaining phenolic ripeness in the wines. Some reds from this vintage ended up on the flabby side or jammy side, lacking flavor density and underlying finesse. Even top producers tended to struggle in 2 ..read more