With just one day left in June, I am suddenly realizing what little has been done in the way of my getting out and exploring the places producing wine in the Pacific Northwest. To be fair, a couple of trips took me away to Colorado for vacation and then Oklahoma for a family visit. But even still, the rest of month seemed to have slipped away. Fortunately, I have been able to travel virtually to wine country by following the posts of a couple of fellow Washington wine bloggers. Both Gene of Seattle Wine Blogger and Catie of Through the...

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Posted by Thad at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Would you like to learn more about Washington cabernet from folks around the world? Are you interested in sharing your experience drinking Washington cabernet with others online? Are there stories about a Washington cabernet that go beyond the bottle worth sharing? If so, then I encourage you to participate in today's Wine Blogging Wednesday event, which is being hosted by Cattie of Through the Walla Walla Grape Vine. As host, Cattie will post contributing blogs and their links on her site, which will hopefully build into a useful collection of tastings, experiences, and stories about Washington cabernet. Even if you're...

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Posted by Thad at 06:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm glad Craig Camp blogs. I have never met Craig nor have I ever spoken to the guy. But I've been following his blog for almost a year now and am better off for it. You see, I believe Craig is changing the way folks approach, drink, think, and talk about wine. He's a counter-balance to the ongoing trend of wine critics/reviewers/bloggers taking a glass of wine and distilling it into a number, usually on a 100 point scale, and just leaving it at that, a score. I am a huge fan of Craig writing about wine in a broader...

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Posted by Thad at 07:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the things I enjoy most about wine is how each bottle can connect me to people and places, near and far, past and present. Wine makes me think about where, when, how, and even why it was made. As I have experienced wine through the years, my desire to better understand each wine's context, to go beyond the bottle, has become insatiable. Why? Most importantly, wine encourages me to stop and think about things I would otherwise not take time to ponder. When opening a new bottle, I often turn to my trusty wine encyclopedia, look up the...

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Posted by Thad at 09:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Eric Asimov of The Pour has posted an interesting commentary entitled, A Plea for Finesse, which once again confirms why I think he's one of the better wine critics/bloggers out there. Like Eric, I find it a rare occasion where I am able to enjoy a high alcohol wine with a meal. In fact, many of the big fruit bomb cabs or syrahs from Washington are more enjoyable as dessert wines or merely as cocktail wines. Even with high alcohol pinot noir from Oregon, I avoid them altogether, regardless how balanced they might taste. Unfortunately, both states produce some white...

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Posted by Thad at 07:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)