William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

Adamant Cellars tasting room is out near the Walla Walla airport. The first time I visited with them they were out at the Wine Incubators . So happy that they now have their own facility. I've been holding on to this and it is past time to open and review. Cool label too.  Winemaker Devin Stinger on Release Weekend. Make plans for Release Weekend   April 3 - 5, 2015 Walla Walla,  10:00am – 5:00pm Visit the Adamant Cellars tasting room for a weekend of outstanding new and current releases. Featured Walla Walla Valley Varietals: 2014 Bijoux and Albariño, 2011 Nalin and Winemaker’s Select Cabernet Sauvignon, 2012 Artisan Syrah, Merlot, & Cabernet Franc. Check them out on your next visit to Walla Walla. Tasting Notes 2012 Bijoux: Color : Palest straw, almost silver. Nose : Tropical, yeast, river rock, fresh spring rain, white peach, pineapple. Palate : Creamy, crisp, nice weight, stone fruit, tingle way in the back of the mouth, peach, focused with a l...

The February Virtual Tasting Featured this month was the Saviah Cellars 2012 The Jack Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley. This wine retails for $18 and is widely available. The tasting took place on twitter, Thursday, February 26th, from 7-8 pm Pacific. What you needed to participate in this virtual tasting: 1. Buy this month’s wine from the winery or a local retailer 2. Tweet your comments about the wine on Twitter between 7 and 8 pm Pacific on the specified date using the hashtag #saviah. For those on Twitter, follow @wawinereport. Check Washington Wine Report for future virtual tastings. We discussed aromas, flavors, label design, price, availability and general thoughts. Most participants rated this wine a "BUY" after an hour of tasting and tweeting, especially at the price. Tasting Notes 2012 Saviah Cellars THE JACK Color : Ruby purple. Nose : Cherry, sharpened pencil. Palate : Fruit, dark plum, cherry, brambly, coffee, smooooth, only a little tin...

Companion Post for The Wine Muse February Podcast There are so many wines and so little time, how do you know where to start?  The Wine Muse hosts Linda Rez and William Pollard invited four wine industry experts to the #ThirdThursday #WineMuse show to share their sentiments about their favorite wine LIVE. Listen to The Wine Muse February podcast . Linda and I each brought or own bottle of wine for this show. Naturally, I brought a Washington Syrah from one of my favorite wineries, a'Maurice Cellars of Walla Walla. Linda had a bottle of Townshend Cellar Washington Reserve Red. This was one of our favorite podcasts. Time went far too quickly as our guests shared their thoughts about what the topic of "favorite wine" meant to them. We were quite taken with our guests, we want to invite each of them back again. And we'll allow more time for each of them. Below is a list of our guests with their bios and links to their sites. I have also included tasting not...

"Drink me." Alice never had it so good. This is a wine we often serve at home parties. We drink it, so I never have a chance to review a bottle. This week I took time for tasting notes and reflection. Glad I did, and I discovered it is popular with many friends. I'll have to buy more for the next party. “The Mad Hatter: "Would you like some wine?" Alice: "Yes..." The Mad Hatter: "We haven't any and you're too young.”  ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland Tasting Notes Dunham Cellars 2011 Trutina : Color : Plum red/purple. Nose : Earthy cherry, nice spike of violets, pencil, white pepper, rose petal. Palate : Lovely at first taste, fluid cherry cordial, root beer hard candy, orange zest in background, lifted finish, graceful. Big Like. After 15 minutes : Black cherry, brown sugar, pepper mill, ginger bread, root beer, orange cordial aromas. Cherry cordial, delicate tannin on the tongue and gums, vanilla, brown sugar/ca...

Taking my nose in for an alignment at Fidelitas. Last night, Enologist and wine instructor Hillary Sjolund was at Fidelitas Winery on Red Mountain. She was leading a sensory session focusing on identifying aromas in wine. I arrived just as the sun set behind the Horse Heaven Hills. A key part of describing wine is accurately describing what you smell. Taste and smell are inextricably intertwined. Accuracy of describing smells is important to the wine consumer, but critical to the wine professional. Ms. Sjolund lead us through a sensory exercise practiced by those studying wine. Hillary Sjolund guiding us through the sensory session. I've practiced similar exercises in different environments focusing on smell and taste. At this session we focused only on smells/aromas. As Hillary emphasized, it is important to agree on descriptors. A common vocabulary is essential to those growing grapes and making wine. For someone writing about and describing wine, it is a pract...

Taste Washington,  Seattle, Washington The nation's largest single-region wine and food event March 26-29, 2015 You owe it to yourself not to miss Taste Washington Seattle this year. This is one of my favorite Washington wine events. Don't come only for the wine, some of the best Washington restaurants will be serving delicacies to accompany all of those amazing wines. Over 200 Washington Wineries and over 70 Restaurants in attendance, this is your opportunity to truly experience a Washington Culinary Adventure. ** Update: 21 March 2015 - Here is the complete 2015 Program for Taste Washington! *Update: 12 March 2015 - Here's a complete printable list of all the participating wineries and the wines they will be pouring. Wow! I advise looking it over carefully and then select the most important wines you wish to sample. Impressive. Thursday - Sunday Taste Washington Experiences The Grand Tasting is a two day event on Saturday and Sunday. But there is...

It's All About Romance, Food + Wine Pairings. It's the second Saturday of February and time for Wine Pairing Weekend! February's iteration of Wine Pairing Weekend #winePW we are sharing our favorite romantic recipes with a wine pairing. Food + Wine shared with romance in mind on wine Pairing Weekend #9. Especially appropriate since it is Valentines Day. Our gracious host this month is Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla . We are on twitter at 8 am Pacific/11 am Eastern today sharing our recipes for romance and wine pairings using #WinePW. You are invited to join us. It is an engaging, fun and passionate group of food and wine bloggers. A list of todays participants and links to their romantic recipes is at the bottom. Back to this months theme, Food + Wine = Romance My take on this months romance theme is more of a post romance recipe for revitalization. After the passion you need to fuel up for round two, or three. My choice is a Frittata wit...