Here are the outstanding new wines by Hambledon. Today we share the oldest sparkling wine producer in England. Hambledon Vineyard was originally planted back in 1952 by Major-General Sir Guy Salisbury-Jones. Hambledon is set in the 'Cradle of Cricket’ and vines are planted on chalky soils that resemble some found in champagne. In fact, the soils are the Newhaven Chalk formation that developed between the Santonian and Campanian eras of the Upper Cretaceous period (known as the Senonien period in Champagne). The same chalk, with the same Belemnite content, is found in some of the most famous C ..read more

It was a fabulous afternoon tasting with legendary Washington winemaker, Chris Upchurch. It my pleasure to share one of the great wineries of Washington on Red Mountain, Upchurch Vineyard. I think this is one of the most beautiful locations in the Pacific Northwest, with sweeping views of the Columbia Valley. Chris Upchurch is a legendary winemaker, having crafted an incredible range of wines for DeLille Cellars before starting his first outpost more than a decade ago. For years Upchurch made some of the finest Bordeaux style white wines in Washington State and he has continued that trend wit ..read more

It was a great Friday afternoon spent with Steve Wells, founder of Time & Direction. Steve Wells is unabashedly obsessed with the ‘80s. He has an '80s themed tasting room that is tons of fun to visit.  Wells makes a range of amazing mineral-driven wines that are well-priced and really easy to drink. The idea behind Time & Direction was inspired by his move from Manhattan to Walla Walla. This pilgrimage was made as Wells joined the winemaking program at Walla Walla Community College. “I wanted the name to be unique and individual. I didn’t want to use my name or the names ‘cellars ..read more

Here are the great new 2023 Pinot Noirs by Holocene. Today we share some of the finest wines of Oregon. Holocene began in 2015 and the new releases come from the warm 2023 vintage — one that was hot but had few major heat spikes. 2023 continues a long line of warmer vintages in Oregon, -- years like ’16, ’18, ’20 and now ’23. Regardless of vintage winemaker Todd Alexander has crafted consistently great wines for this brand. I’ve now tried every vintage of this wine and I have also found that the wines have gotten better and better. I love the 2023 Holocene ‘Memorials’ Pinot Noir (OB, 96) whic ..read more

Here are the world-class values by Result of A Crush. Somehow it has been more than a year since I have written about some of Washington’s finest value wines. Result of A Crush was a project that was started more than a decade back to create a second tier of Reynvaan wines. Amanda Reynvaan and Angela Reynvaan Garratt, sisters of consulting winemaker Matt Reynvaan, sought to create wines that are more readily available and affordable than the Reynvaan wines. These wines totally over-deliver at the 20-30 dollar range. They are essentially ‘baby-Reynvaans.’ You don’t really find QPR like this an ..read more

Here are two of the beautiful new Lange releases from the warm 2023 vintage. I love Oregon wineries that continue to deliver year in and year out. Such is the case with Lange, one of Oregon’s historic wineries. It was back in 1987 that Don Lange took a chance by acquiring a large chunk of land that had sweeping views of the Willamette Valley. Don made his namesake wines for many years and over time his son Jesse transitioned into their head winemaker, taking over for his father. Jesse’s formal winemaking training occurred at New Zealand’s Lincoln University while on a student exchange scholar ..read more

Here is the stunning range of Cayuse Vineyards wines, alongside some others from the Bionic Wines collection. It is my distinct honor to share some of the finest wines in North America. Cayuse Vineyards was founded by vigneron Christophe Baron back in the 1990s. Baron was raised in Champagne and was was the youngest heir of the famed Champagne house, Baron Albert. His ancestors had worked the land at Baron Albert since 1677. As a young boy Christophe worked harvests and eventually studied viticulture in Burgundy and Champagne. After some travels he was drawn to the Willamette Valley, and was ..read more

It was a delight to stay once again at Hotel 1000, Seattle. I had another fabulous stay at Hotel 1000, roughly one year after my last stay. A really world-class boutique hotel in the heart of Seattle, Hotel 1000 began with a seamless check-in to our room on the 5th floor. Room 510 was located in the western edge of the hotel with a view looking west. It was a normal sized guest room but had a street view of 1st Ave. I had stayed in a suite before and this was a normal sized room. For the square footage, everything was laid out perfectly and the bathroom felt particularly expansive While not ..read more

Here is The Walls team of proprietor Mike Martin with winemaker Sally Johnson Blum. Today we share the wines of The Walls, founded by former Microsoft executive Mike Martin. Martin has created an incredible space in Walla Walla for his winery with a scenic backyard feel and beautiful interior. A few years back he made a major purchase in acquiring the Rockgarden Vineyard from Nina Buty. The wines from this site are really exciting and stony. New executive winemaker Sally Johnson Blum and Associate Winemaker Peter Urian joined the team somewhat recently. Johnson Blum has a massive amount of ex ..read more

Here are some of the beautiful new Pasxa wines. Today we share an electric brand out of the Walla Walla Valley. Pášxa wines captures the essence of great fruit sourced from The Rocks District of Milton- Freewater. The Pášxa wines were a huge hit right out of the gate, and back in their inaugural 2018 vintage they focused on River Rock Vineyard fruit. They now have an estate program with the 2020 purchase of ‘Rockgarden Vineyard.’ This is a huge development for this program. Soon after additional blocks at the estate ‘Petros Vineyard’ in the Rocks AVA were planted and will continue to be added ..read more