Silhouette of Washington State with "WA" on it, overlaid on top of an image of wine grapes

WA White Wines

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…

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…

A piece of cork fresh from a cork tree

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…

Sommelier at work. Confident male sommelier pouring wine to decanter while standing near the wine shelf

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…

Animation of guests enjoying a formal dinner party with wine

Our Top Tips for Hosting a Dinner Party

It takes all kinds… Here to illustrate that idea is our staff’s list of the top tips they have to offer for hosting a successful dinner party. Let us state: this was intended to help initially, but as most things go around here, it devolves into foolishness pretty…

Image showing 12 bottles with their tops connected making a colorful and delicious circle

For Our Guests: About the Lot Series & More…

New customers are sometimes confused when they find out that a Lot wine is sold out “forever,” and not just awaiting the next vintage. Barring the rare occasion where we are able to source from the same winery again, the chances of finding that Lot wine you loved…

Drawing of an older delivery truck

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…

How to Survive Wine Tasting!

Summer is fast approaching, and with the weather comes the mass exodus for wine country.  Our staff has taken some time to compile their personal tips & tricks for surviving a full day of tasting wines: Get a ride. Doesn’t matter if it is a limo, Über, Lyft,…

Many glasses of rose wine at wine tasting. Concept of rose wine

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: 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…