One of the things that I knew that I would need to get a handle on when I moved to Washington, was the layout of the various American Viticultural Areas (AVAs). This can sometimes prove to be more difficult than you might think, as the AVAs here have this tendency to overlap, or possibly to be contained within the boundaries [...]

I’m going to be dropping off the map over the Thanksgiving holiday, but I wanted to post a quick little note of thanks. I’m actually composing this post on my iPhone from the road, so don’t expect anything too fancy, or even correctly spleed (or spelled). First of all, I’m thankful to all of you have read my lowly little [...]

Last week I risked life and limb to make the drive across the Snoqualmie pass in the snow, although Mrs. Vinotology and I chickened out and took a longer route with less snow coming back, and thereby avoided the kind of mess that this video captures (courtesy of a tweet from my friend Claire McCool). Anyway, my trip was due [...]

Okay, so last week was so ridiculously busy that Friday came and went without my usual installment of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. I was traveling pretty much non-stop from Wednesday on last week, and I just ran out of time to get it done. If I had produced my usual post, there is one item from last [...]

It isn't often that you get a truly unique experience at a retail wine establishment. Sure, there are lots of stores that I have their niches, but for the most part you always come away with an experience that you have had a thousand times before in other shops. Last week I visited AVA Wine Rooms, a local wine room [...]

So my little Movember project has gotten off to a somewhat slower start than I was hoping for. I have discovered that the possible injury to my person that my wife has threatened is apparently not enough to encourage my dear readers to donate, although I do thank the two awesome people who cared enough about my wine lovin' carcass [...]

When you think of fine dining, where is the first place that you think of? A trendy downtown restaurant? Maybe even some obscure and off-the-beaten-path place that is cool enough to make people go search for it? What about a hotel? While the hotel used to be a destination for fine dining, that association has long since dissipated, but the [...]

The Good Every once in a while I come across a post that is so imaginative and hilarious that is makes me laugh audibly (or LOL for you hip young folks), and possibly even wet myself a little. This week Joe Roberts, THE 1WineDude, had a great post about the alleged abductions of Pennsylvania shoppers by the state’s “MCP” Wine [...]

Over the last several years we have seen almost everything subjected to the public experiment that is known as crowdsourcing. These efforts have had mixed results, ranging from big successes to massive failures. There have been previous efforts by wine brands to leverage their customer's ideas to incorporate into their brand, and there have even been previous attempts at crowdsourcing [...]

One of the great things that I am finding about Washington is that there are so many different experiences within an easy driving distance. The East side of the state, where I am currently living, is all high desert. The desert has its own kind of beauty, with the rolling hills and rivers flowing in every direction, but drive a [...]