William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

Still making changes to this blog. Just added links to Wine Blogs. I'm still sorting through business cards and blog links after the Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla. Don't be surprised to see the layout of this blog change over the next month. A lot of great ideas and conversations from the weekend have me excited to put some of them into action. There's even the possibility of helping wineries meet some of their needs in future. I have work to do, emails to fire-off, video to edit and more posts to write. Cheers!

Winemaker Erik Dahle of Tasawik Vineyards , hosted a wine tasting at wonderful Monterosso's Italian Restaurant in Richland yesterday. During dinner, Erik poured 2005 Merlot, 2007 Sangiovese and 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon. Erik and I have been Facebook friends for over a year and this was the first time I’ve had the opportunity to sample his wines. I loved his ’05 Cabernet Sauvignon and my wife really liked the Tasawik Sangiovese. Typically, she let's me drink from her glass too, last night, she would not let me touch her glass to steal a sip. Tasawik Vineyards is located in Prosser, Washington in the Vintners Village. At dinner, I enjoyed the Stuffed Pork Tenderloin, while my wife raved about the Shrimp Fettuccini. She said it was the best she’s had in many years. And she thanked me for a wonderful dinner. Wines of Italy Tasting If you missed yesterdays dinner, then don’t miss the “Wines of Italy Tasting with Appetizers” at Monterosso's on Sunday, July 11th with a 3...

More About the Wine Bloggers Conference Pamela Nieto with the Sherry Council of America This type of conference always has surprising discoveries. One of the first “surprises” for me was the Sherry/Jerez, being poured from Spain. Pamela Nieto, representing the Sherry Council of America , was pouring half a dozen Sherries Friday afternoon. She even had a chilled white Jerez. My mother-in-law and I used to sit together after dinner and enjoy drinking Sherry downstairs, while everyone was sleeping upstairs. It’s been ten years since my mother-in-law passed, so that’s how long it’s been since I last enjoyed Sherry. Ah, I found the Solera 1847 Oloroso Dulce , to be my speed, coffee colored, nutty nose, smooth, honeyed, pleasantly sweet finish and unexpectedly good. Sherry is back on my menu, and I enjoyed some last night. Thank you. I’ll be sampling more Sherry in future and posting my thoughts here. Sunday wrapped-up with a fabulous wine and food pairing lunch. Anyone who has attem...

Reflection Monday, today, a sunny 90 degree, kids in the park afternoon. I’m sitting comfortably with a broad view of the Columbia River. After a restless evening, I’m assembling my thoughts about the Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla. I’ll remain restless until I’ve posted the words and images revolving in my head. In one of my recent posts, Garrison Creek Cellars , I mention how I lost my palate last year, and to my great pleasure, unexpectedly found it in Walla Walla. What was it doing there? No one was more surprised than I, that I found myself back in Walla Walla for the 2010 Wine Blogggers Conference last week. This event sold out two months ago, and I was not able to register. Because of a conflict of interest (my High School reunion in Seattle) I asked to be taken off of the waitlist. All packed for a weekend in Seattle, last Wednesday I received a call from Zephyr Adventures . They said they needed help with the event and could I please volunteer? I told them “N...

Tom Waliser of Beresan Cellars . We enjoyed a gorgeous sunny day in Walla Walla Saturday. While we tasted three Beresan reds, Tom discussed geology and climate and how it affects vineyards and their location. This vineyard is in Oregon, but since it is part of the Walla Walla AVA - it's still Walla Walla fruit, and the wine is still a Washington wine - that bit of information I did not know. Semillon Tasting at Buty Winery Caleb Foster and his lovely wife Nina Buty Foster of Buty Winery , hosted an enchaning and educational Semillon tasting at their winery. Along with, Marty Club of L'ecole No 41 winery and Jay Soloff of DeLille Cellars . For about an hour they discussed Washington Semillon, while we sampled their impressive vintages. I'm a big Semillon fan. We sampled 2005 and 2008 Semillon from each winery. There was even a surprise $200 bottle of Semillon from France we had a chance to compare them against. Jeez, can these guys make great wine. Ther...

Quick update - great venue and my first time attending the Wine Bloggers Conference . Last month I mentioned that I was going to miss-out on the sold-out conference in Walla Walla, Washington. Nope. Zephyr Adventures , the organizers of the Wine Bloggers conference, called me Wednesday and asked if I could volunteer and lend a hand. Lend a hand? You bet! Working as a volunteer is nothing new. Working as a wine event helper is one of the perks of keeping active in the Washington wine community. What an amazing time. I have videos and photos to transfer from phone and camera to computer. Maybe tomorrow. Great turnout, bloggers like me, bloggers for companies and wineries, sales reps, marketing types (Hi Matt). Did I mention the wines? It's been a gauntlet of wines from Washington, California, Spain, Portugal, France, Australia, Austria and Italy. Did I miss anyone? I'm not a good speed blogger, but I made my best efforts on Facebook. It'll take me a few days to gather ...

Party at Charles Smith winery. Am I getting old? Wow, great music. Large crowd.

Wine bloggers conf - speed tasting of white wines soon. Met some great people so far.

On My Way I'm attending the Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla. I'll try to keep updated via sms, email & regular posts. Cheers!

New Rob Griffin interview by Wine Press NW. Interview focuses on Cabernet Sauvignon , specifically on the award winning Barnard Griffin 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon  and also touches on recent climate change.

Cha, Cha, Changes... Several changes have gradually taken place on my blog this year. There's the new background image, which I keep tweaking. Then Google enhanced the design/layout tool for blogger - of course I've tried some of the new layouts - of course the new layouts broke some of the Gadgets I use. Oh well. Recently, the more important changes include, the most important change: http://www.wild4washingtonwine.com/ Yes, it was time to get a real domain name for this blog. You can still find my blog at: http://wild4washingtonwine.blogspot.com/ but use http://www.wild4washingtonwine.com/ if you share. Another change includes, my new Wild 4 Washington Wine Store . The store is powered by Amazon.com so purchases are actually from Amazon.com. My role in this? I manage and provide links and information for the products I recommend; the ones I like to use, want to own or just desire. My favorite wine glasses are made by Reidel and my favorite choc...

Rob Griffin does it again. The Barnard Griffin 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon was just awarded "Best in Show" at the Washington State Wine Competition. I was lucky to be visting the winery in March when they were bottling their 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon. With permission, I was allowed to take some pictures and record some video. Awards will be officially presented on June 26th at Sunshine and Wine in Yakima, Washington . Tickets are on sale now and include all wine, beer and food tasting. An event not to be missed! Cheers!

Wake Me Up Walla Walla Two years working for a winery instilled a lot of confidence in my palate. Not that I did not enjoy wine before then, it just confirmed for me that I know what I like and I like good wine. At least that is, until last year. Last year I lived in a Muslim country, with minimal access to wine. So what could a Washington wine drinker do, when he can’t personally purchase Washington wine, or any wine? Making Do Without Wine Interestingly, I became fascinated by Middle Eastern perfumes and incense (Bakhoor). The range of styles and exotic aromas fascinated my Western senses ( see my post on UAE perfumes here ). After returning to Washington State, I noticed that my focus on perfume and incense had a negative effect on my wine appreciation. Syrah, once my go to, drink any day varietal, just no longer toots my horn. In general, I find Syrah too acidic to appreciate. Sadly, my enthusiasm for wine also became rather subdued. Difficult to believe, I know. Should I...

On impulse last week, I bought a small grape vine. A seedless Suffolk red table grape, not wine grape this time. Now that it's planted, what do I do next? After some Internet searching, I found a great resource for growing grapes yourself. The Oregon State University Extension site has much of the information needed to grow grapes at home. Topics include: Grape plant growth, Selecting a site, Soil, Selecting a cultivar, Planting stock and propagation, Establishing your planting, Care of established plantings, Pruning and training, Harvest and dealing with Pests. The included diagrams are a huge help in explaining how to properly train and prune your vines. Check it out. Link to web page  - This information is also available as a .PDF file:  Link to PDF file . If you have planted, or are thinking about planting grapes at home, then check out this resource. Cheers!