The unassumingly delicious wines of Woodinville’s Esja
“Not every wine has to be big and jammy and bold,” says Esja owner and winemaker Tanya Bjornsson. “I think more and more people are leaning towards picking earlier.” Indeed, Bjornsson and her Esja wines Read more...
Willamette Valley and Columbia Basin winter and spring weather patterns
The following article was written by Michael Fagin. Fagin is an operational meteorologist providing weather forecasts to clients in the Pacific Northwest and providing custom forecast for groups climbing Mt. Everest and other major peaks. Fagin Read more...
An auspicious start for Walla Walla’s Prospice
Prospice Wines’ origin story sounds much like the beginning of a joke. A lawyer and an architect walk into a vineyard. The winery’s website even notes as such. If so, the punchline is that together Read more...
What ChatGPT gets right – and wrong – about Washington wine
The AI is, generally speaking, either largely correct or flat out wrong, with a troubling tendency to bullshit ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence chatbots have dominated the news recently. Last weekend, I asked ChatGPT a Read more...
Which wine closures are sustainable and recyclable (and is that even the right question to ask)?
There are a variety of closure types in the wine industry. The most common closures are natural corks, closures made from ground-up natural corks (such as agglomerated and micro-agglomerated closures), screwcaps, and synthetics. (See explanations Read more...
Through the looking glass at Woodinville’s Sightglass Cellars
Sean Boyd of Sightglass Cellars in Woodinville grew up in the wine industry.Born in Colorado, Boyd spent his early years in San Diego where his father, Gerald D. Boyd, was editor of Wine Spectator in its earliest days when Read more...
2022: Washington’s “impossible” vintage
A cool, wet start to the growing season contributed to a delayed harvest and a very large crop. An unseasonably warm October both rescued the vintage and resulted in high quality. Read more…
A word on closure listings after tasting notes
After my tastings notes, I am now listing certain closure types, specifically, wines that use alternative closures. Personally, I am much more likely to buy a wine and buy it in some quantity if I know Read more...
Wautoma Springs offers a lesson on how to start a winery
When Jessica Munnell of Wautoma Springs had her first child, she did what any winemaker would do. She started a winery. “I decided this was my opportunity to start my own thing as a way Read more...
The Year in Review & Current Trends in Washington Wine, 2023
There’s no question 2022 will be looked at as a year of dramatic changes in the Washington wine industry. Here, I review the stories that defined the year as well as current trends in the Read more...
An interview with David Adelsheim, Willamette Valley pioneer and founder of Adelsheim Vineyard: Part II
Since first purchasing land in the area in 1971, David Adelsheim of Adelsheim Vineyard has been involved in nearly every aspect of the evolution of Willamette Valley. This spans from near the valley’s earliest days as a Read more...
