The Wine Knows

Dusted Valley Vintners of Walla Walla, Wash., known for its superior-quality Syrahs and other reds as well as its value Boomtown label, is opening a tasting room across the Cascade Mountains in Woodinville.

Apparently, our report last week that Ste. Michelle Wine Estates was planning to discontinue its Stimson Estate Cellars line struck a chord with wine lovers.

So much so that the Washington wine giant is reconsidering the move after an outpouring of calls and emails from consumers and retailers alike.

Paul Gregutt put a post on his blog recently about why Washington syrah doesn't sell particularly well. One of the reasons he lists, which I agree with, is that there are not very many good Washington syrahs in the value category (less than $15). I would love to be proven wrong on this as I like syrah and enjoy a good deal as much as the next person.

I put post up on my blog today listing wines $15 and under and $30 and under that I thought represented great values for the price point. You can check out the post at the link below. Questions I would be interested in hearing people's thoughts on are:

I half-jokingly refer to my dad, Ken Degerman, as the North Idaho bureau chief of Wine Press Northwest. Well, dear old Dad came up with something that was news to me.

While my folks appreciate most any wine that I bring to share with them, they aren't shy about enjoying Stimson Estate Cellars as their Tuesday night wine. And Dad bought these 1.5-liter bottles long before he began referring to his 401(k) as his "101(k)."

Is anyone planning to attend Vintage Walla Walla this weekend? If so, how about sharing your experiences in real time via Twitter at #vintagewine.

This is always one of the best tasting events of the year -- the Vintage Pour on Friday features wines from 2002 or older. Word is that about 20 wineries are pouring this year.

I like to think that wine goes with all things good in life. What better way to spend a sunny Memorial weekend, but by sipping wines from wonderful wineries in the Red Mountain AVA.

As usual, we had a mission in mind, so we narrowed our search for only Red Mountain AVA reds and whites and if lucky, an AVA port, that we will feature for our wine club members and an upcoming wine tasting party for members. We also needed to find a reasonable red table wine for our son’s upcoming wedding. So the search was on.

After 29 years of providing a venue for tasting Oregon wines, the Oregon Wine Tasting Room is closing down June 22.

The operation, owned by Myron Redford of Amity Vineyards in Amity, Ore., was the first tasting room owned by a winery that provided samples from competing wines.

It has become obvious to me, as some summer heat has begun to find its way to Washington, that sitting on the deck sipping on a monster cab just isn't that refreshing! We have found ourselves looking to merlot's and rose's again, as well as some Rhone varietals - grenache in particular, plus some of our traditional favorite dry rose's. The question is, in the search for some great reds for summer, what does everyone recommend?

Taste Washington Spokane is coming up June 21 at the fabulous Davenport Hotel.

"TimInSpokane," a regular here on the Wine Knows forum, will be at the event. Who is going? Which wines are you most interested in trying?

We're looking to add recipes with wine-pairing suggestions to the Web site, and I'd like your take on how you'd like it done.