Wine Blog Sipped Reviews News!

4/22/2026 – We are doing a series of wines by Tongue Dancer.  See the reviews!

4/20/2026 – A couple new Trader Joes reviews.  They have not been coming out with very many wines lately.  We even checked the Napa store, but we got nothing.  

4/13/2026 – Just got back from the Seattle area.  Tried some great gins and Rhone varietals from Rush Lattin Cellars.  The Rush Lattin wines are now posted on the Wine Blog.  The new gins are posted on the Gin Page.

4/3/2026 – 2 New Trader Joes wines added, a Merlot from Oak Knoll and a Russian River Pinot Noir.  Both are 90+.

3/30/2026 – As reported below, we hit a couple of great Washington State wineries over the weekend.  Covale Cellars poured us all of their barrel samples of their next two vintages of Cab, Cab Franc and Merlot.

2024 Quintessence Vineyard Red Mountain, barrel tasted, Cabernet Franc – 97 pts
2025 Quintessence Vineyard Red Mountain, barrel tasted, Cabernet Franc – 97 pts
2024 Quintessence Vineyard Red Mountain, barrel tasted, Merlot – 98 pts
2025 Quintessence Vineyard Red Mountain, barrel tasted, Merlot – 97 pts
2024 Quintessence Vineyard Red Mountain, barrel tasted, Cabernet Sauvignon – 99 pts
2025 Quintessence Vineyard Red Mountain, barrel tasted, Cabernet Sauvignon – 97 pts
2024 Eagle and Plow Vineyard, Horse Heaven Hills, barrel tasted, Chardonnay – 98 pts
 – This Chard is one of the best you can taste.  It is lush with crisp acidity and minerality.  

Seriously, this wine is stellar, and these ratings are on the low end.  And the prices are crazy low at approx $60 per bottle.
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Rush Lattin Cellars was the second wineries we visited.   Larry Ransom and his wife, Michelle make some of the best Rhone style wines in Washington.  They do Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cabernet Sauvignon — and combinations of these.  These wines are really rich, intense and full of flavor. Larry graciously also poured me some of their new releases.  We will be reviewing these soon.

3/22/2026 – Added a Beringer Winery review to the winery page.

3/21/2026 – We just received 6 new 2023 Pinots from Wrath Wines, probably one of the best Pinot houses for the price.  Reviews will be coming out in the next few days.

3/20/2026 – Did a review of Covale Cellars 2022 merlot last night on the wine page.  And it is stellar.  They are up in Snohomish, Wa and we intend to visit next week when we fly up to Seattle.

3/4/2026 – Met some friends from Washington State who own Covale Cellars up in Snohomish, Wa.  They offered to take me up to Jarvis Estate Winery.  And what a tour!  Check out the write up:  Jarvis Estate Winery

2/13/2026 – This Friday the 13th was only good!  We paid a visit to B Cellars basically to show the wife what a great winery I’d found.  And my friend Ryan poured us a large selection of wines ranging from Sangiovese, albarino, merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.  This included a peppering of 2023s from the “perfect vintage”.  And they were exceptional.  Click to see the tasting results:  B Cellars Winery

2/9/2026 – We did two winery visits over the last few days.  Added winery pages and reviews for Rivers-Marie Winery and Failla Wines.

2/5/2026 – The botanicals page has been launched.  See the links in the header above.

2/3/2026 – I had a memorial service for a co-worker at Frank Family Vineyards.  This was not a tasting, but I did get to see the extensive property.  So, I put together a quick page for them.

1/30/2026 – Visited Ballentine winery today.  Excellent wine.  Write-up coming tomorrow.

1/29/2026 – Visited the Stags’ Leap Winery yesterday!

1/5/2026 – A list of the best wines we tried in 2025!!
     – 2023 Raen Royal St. Robert Cuvee’ Pinot Noir – 98 pts 
     – 2022 Siduri Hapgood Vineyard Pinot Noir – 97 pts
     – 2020 Jessup Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon – 97 pts
     – 2023 Moret Brealynn Lakeview Vineyard Pinot Noir – 97 pts
     – 2021 Lombardi Olivet and Laguna Russian River Valley Pinot Noir – 97 pts 
Click the link to see the full list!  Best of 2025

1/4/2026 – We visited the lovely Fulcrum tasting room in Sonoma Square.  Very quiet day there.  But we got to try a bunch of their new 2023 wines.  And the great news is that the 2023 rumors of the “perfect year” are holding fairly true.  Click the link to see the new video and the most recent reviews!  Fulcrum Wines