Washington Wine

Washington WineAugust 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.

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Andrews Family Vineyards

Todd Chapman, Jeff Andrews, and Ray McKee at Andrews Family VIneyardsTwo weeks ago, we visited with the dream team at the beautiful Trothe facilities at Andrews Family Vineyards in the Horse Heaven Hills in Washington state. While we tasted their recent vintages, I told Jeff Andrews – innovative managing partner of the winery and Andrews Family Vineyards – that I’ve run out of superlatives to describe their wines. Previous words I’ve used after tasting three vintages: world-class luxury wines, magic, opulent, stunning, magnificent, exceptional, elegant, impressive, classy, remarkable, incredible and amazing. So Jeff helped me out. He called them “sophisticated wines with finesse.” We agree. Read on to learn about our visit with Jeff, acclaimed winemaker Ray McKee, and extraordinary vineyards manager Todd Chapman. Continue reading

Favorite Wines in 2022 – Part 4

Favorite Wines in 2022Here are our favorite wines in 2022 – Part 4. You might recall that in early January we revealed our favorite 20 wines last year. We compiled the list after tasting hundreds of wines in 2022. These 20 wines made a lasting impression. However, at that time, we only published a list of the wines, with links to their wineries. Now we are sharing more details. Read on for Part 4.

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Trothe Syrah

Trothe Syrah 2020Trothe quickly built a reputation as a producer of world-class luxury wines. And the dream team at Trothe has done it again! The just-released Trothe Syrah 2020 is ready to join other exquisite Trothe wines on the world stage. It is impressive – classy, structured, complex and elegant, more like an old-world Syrah. This reflects how Trothe proprietor and fourth-generation farmer Jeff Andrews and talented winemaker Ray McKee worked closely on their Horse Heaven Hills vineyards with renowned French winemakers Philippe Cambie (a Rhône legend) and Michel Gassier.

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