To celebrate Washington Wine Month and National White Wine Day, we’d like to brush over Washington wine history and take a look at the more interesting portion of the 2nd largest wine producing state’s variety of white plantings. Washington State is known for its plantings of lesser known…
WA White Wines
International Albariño Day!
It’s International Albariño Day and what better way to celebrate than drinking some! Well, as Americans, it isn’t commonplace to have some just laying around the house or in our cellars – in fact, most supermarkets won’t have it in the wine isle, so let’s take a moment…
Decoded: Different Types of Corks
We believe it is best to get this out of the way upfront: not all closures are made the same. No one type is better or worse than another, they – like humans – are just different. It takes all kinds. That said, let’s take a look at…
Decoded: On Breathing & Decanting
Today we’ll learn about breathing and decanting wine. Most simply put, Breathing is allowing the wine to interact with Oxygen with the cork removed or poured into a decanter. Decanting is the process of separating the sediment in your wine from the juice you desire (and possibly waited…
Decoded: Blends
Let’s talk blends, and what the language your local wine shop representative uses actually means. At the top of the blending language list we have Champagne and Bordeaux. The word Champagne is synonymous with being expensive, of quality, for celebrations, and from Champagne, France. Champagne is generally made…
Transportation & Enjoyment (Musings on Bottle Shock & Travel Conditions)
To understand the ideas behind travel & bottle shock (bottle sickness, travel shock, shipping shock), we must first understand that wine is a living, breathing organism. This is from the same understanding that is the basis of aging wines. We’d always prefer a cool, dark cellar with stable…
What Is Rosé?
It’s synonymous with summer. It’s fashionable. It’s crisp. It’s light. It’s not just your grandmother’s White Zinfandel anymore. But what, exactly is Rosé? Speaking in broad general stokes, Rosé is not red wine mixed with white wine – The majority of France actually makes it illegal to do…
Decoded: Blending
Blending is essential for all wines. It can be argued that if it were not for blending by way of cross pollination or grafting of rootstocks most varieties of grapes that wines were originally made from would have gone extinct at this point in time, replaced by a…
Decoded: Oregon Chardonnay
While Chardonnay takes a distant third place in plantings in Oregon (behind Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris), more interest, investment and development has continued to be behind growth and plantings of the grape to develop its market presence and the potential diversity of its stylings. Oregon Chardonnay runs…
