Whenever we visit Boundary Breaks, one of our favorite Finger Lakes wineries, we always love to see what new bottle of Riesling they have available.
In a recent trip, we stumbled upon their #356 Dry Bubbly bottle which was made via CO2 injection of an otherwise still wine (so not via the Champagne method like we're used to drinking).
It was a hit for us, we bought a bottle to enjoy at home, and popped it open for this review!
When it comes to drinking wine in our home of Pittsburgh, PA, we have no shortage of great wine bars to check out (we've been to many of them on our city blog at the previous link).
But only one wine bar stands out as being our very favorite- Allegheny Wine Mixer in Lawrenceville.
This wine bar has all of the things that we love when going out for a glass of wine in Pittsburgh- an intimate ambiance, a stellar by-the-glass menu that changes regularly, competitive prices, and so much more.
So in this one, we thought we'd share a bit more about the best wine bar in Pittsburgh!
Out of all of the wineries near Tri-Cities, Washington, I visited during my trip to eastern Washington, none was more surprising than Bartholomew.
This unassuming winemaker is located in a small complex with several other wineries (not in the heart of the vineyards of Red Mountain AVA nearby), makes a large spread of wines well beyond the typical Bordeaux and Rhone styles you normally see in the state, are all rather delicious, and clock in at a respectable price point, too!
Naturally, during my visit I had to sample my way through every bottle that was available and enjoyed all of them.
One bottle I was not able to sample was the Graciano as they were running low on inventory. I went on faith that it would be just as good as the others I tried (also thanks to a recommendation from a friend, Valerie & Valise, who sampled the last of it before I arrived, too), and bought a bottle to take home.
It was simply delicious.
When we visited several Sonoma wineries on a California trip a few years ago, we made sure to stop at Iron Horse Vineyards to try their acclaimed sparkling wines. We fell in love with them and brought many bottles home with us to enjoy later on.
Most of those bottles did not last very long, but we held onto a few to give a few more years of age to for good measure. One such bottle was Iron Horse Brut LD 2010, and we decided to open it up in mid-2022 to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary.
It was better than we expected.
During my trip to eastern Washington for a conference, I was fortunate enough to sample many wineries near Tri-Cities, Washington. Naturally, as the conference was held in a wine region, many of the evening parties also included samples from various local producers as well.
As it turns out, I started to get a bit of a reputation as a wine lover during this (non-wine-related) conference and had several bottles gifted to me that ended up being leftovers from these various parties. Yes, with as much as the travel blogging community can consume, there were still bottles leftover from an event that got rained out, and Gordon Estate's Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve was one such bottle that fell into my hands purely from chance.
While I'm not terribly sold on Cabernet Sauvignon as a grape, I have to admit, this bottle was quite nice.
During our first visit to Washington, we wanted to head out to the eastern side of the state to go wine tasting. But we quickly found out that many wineries operate wine tasting rooms near Seattle as opposed to in the wine regions proper. So we stuck with wineries near Seattle and it ended up being a great trip.
When I had a chance to head to the eastern side of the state for a conference, I was ecstatic to be able to try out the wineries in Tri-Cities and its nearby surroundings (particularly Red Mountain AVA).
While I was only able to visit a handful during the visit, they ended up being quite lovely stops all around. So whether you are fans of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and others, this region is for you and we've got a number of great wineries for you to consider!
What we are about to say should have no ambiguity- if you are a Riesling lover you'll want to make your way to Hermann J Wiemer. This Finger Lakes winery is truly one of the best in the area, especially for this delicious white grape, and blows us away time and time again with every bottle that we open.
Naturally, we stop every time we are in the area, and our shopping haul from here is among our largest purchases every trip as well.
So when we opened the Hermann J Wiemer Magdalena Vineyard Riesling, we were excited to see what it was like after spending a bit of time in our cellar and it certainly did not disappoint.
When visiting Tri-Cities, Washington, to go wine tasting, you may struggle with deciding where to stay in Richland, Pasco, or Kennewick.
Do you stay near the wineries themselves (with sparse infrastructure and amenities outside of the vineyards) or do you stay in the heart of one of the cities to be closer to the area restaurants and other non-wine based attractions?
If you want something that is a hybrid of both of the above, we have the answer for you- The Lodge at Columbia Point on the outskirts of Richland!
I was fortunate enough to stay at this one during a media trip during a conference in Tri-Cities and absolutely adored the property through and through.
Whenever we visit wine regions, we often look to see if biking to wineries is an option. Ever since enjoying this activity in Mendoza, Argentina, it has been something we wanted to find more of as it is one of the most enjoyable ways to get out into the vineyards.
In many cases it is not available- many wine regions cover vast distances that often make this mode of transit unfeasible. But when it is we jump on it as hopping on a set of wheels to explore wineries makes for a great outing.
In Red Mountain, Washington, one tour company, the aptly named Red Mountain Trails, offers an organized ride to check out three wineries in the area.
I was fortunate enough to check this one out as part of a conference I was attending and loved the outing from start to finish.
*Note: I was on this tour as part of a hosted media trip for a conference. Our itinerary was reflective of standard tours offered by the Red Mountain Trails but there may have been some minor differences due to our larger group setup.
Every so often you stumble upon a bottle that is surprising. Sometimes it is because of the flavor profile. Sometimes it is because of the price. Sometimes because it is, well, produced a little differently than you anticipated.
The white Mourvedre from Eleven Winery in Washington was most certainly the latter.
Why? They managed to produce this traditionally intense red grape as a nearly perfect white (with only slight, slight pink hints)!