International Tempranillo Day

Tempranillo is a Spanish red grape variety whose name alludes to its nature of ripening earlier than the other Vitis vinifera of Europe (temprano = early).  Tempranillo has a very, very long history in the Iberian Peninsula, and is most likely as old as the discovery of wine…

Path with vine tree. Sun light with shadows, Cambados, Galicia, Spain.

It’s Albariño Day!

Only one way to celebrate Albariño Day, and that is with this guy: Whoops!  Wrong guy… This guy: Albariño (or Alvarinho for our Portuguese friends). This botanically aromatic grape has become quite the rage in the wine world in the last few years, largely due to its acidity,…

Modern wine production facility with stainless steel fermentation tanks

What is Carbonic Maceration?

Carbonic maceration is a process by which grapes are fermented in their skins in a carbon dioxide rich environment.  The weight of all the grapes crushes the juice from the lower areas of the tank that holds the grapes and gas, and undergoes a somewhat more conventional fermentation…

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…

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…