August is Washington Wine Month, and as this 31-day celebration winds down, we wanted to look back on some of the bottles of splendid juice we’ve enjoyed in the last month or so. Most importantly, we celebrate Washington wine every month. But during August, there are even more reasons to rejoice. For example, many wineries, restaurants, bars and wine shops are holding “WAugust” promotions and discounts. Find details at the list of WA Wine events for this last week in August. Meanwhile, here are 12 excellent WA wines we’ve recently tasted.
Tag Archives: Alexandria Nicole Cellars
ANC
We have a long history with Ali and Jarrod Boyle, owners of Alexandria Nicole Cellars (ANC), so we didn’t stop smiling when we saw them again recently and tasted their wines. We first wrote about ANC when we launched this site in 2007, inspired by some fabulous wine at ANC’s new (at the time) Woodinville tasting room. Subsequently, we were among the initial members of their original wine club, and attended many of their harvest parties. We first visited Destiny Ridge Vineyard in 2009, and we glamped there in 2011, when most people hadn’t even heard the word “glamping” yet. And we drank ANC Quarry Butte as our go-to wine during the Seahawks’ road to their Super Bowl win in 2014. From day one, we’ve always said it’s the people, the wines and the events that make a winery special. And ANC continues to check off all those boxes.
Summer White Wines
Our enjoyment of summer white wines increases every year. Until recently, our palates preferred Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris/Grigio. But these days, we also appreciate the refreshing, wallet-friendly Turbiana grape from Lugana, Italy and Marsanne from here in Washington state. Most importantly, there are so many wonderful summer white wines. For example, here are 25 that we have enjoyed from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, Italy, France, South Africa and New Zealand. Most of them are everyday, good-value porch pounders or deck wines, but a few shine with an elegant meal.
Favorite 50 Wines in 2020
Happy New Year! As we begin 2021, it would normally be time for our annual 50 Favorite Washington Wineries List for the previous year. But 2020 was far from normal. Firstly, thanks to COVID, we attended our last wine event on Feb. 29. Secondly, we had to cancel our planned trips to wineries in Walla Walla, Woodinville, Lake Chelan, B.C. and Oregon. As a result, we decided to highlight our favorite 50 wines instead of wineries in 2020. These are the wines we enjoyed at home or with members of our pod on socially-distanced outdoor patios. In addition, we expanded the list to include wines from Oregon, California, B.C., Australia, New Zealand, Italy, France, Spain, Chile and Argentina. Read on for our favorite 50 wines in 2020.
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