The Wine Knows

Barnard Griffin came home with the best red wine of the 2009 Monterey Wine Competition in California. The Richland, Wash., winery won for its 2006 Reserve Merlot, which retails for $30.

Welcome to Week 2 of our new feature, "Where in Northwest Wine Country."

Last week, 65% correctly guessed the photo was taken at Wallula Vineyards in Washington's Horse Heaven Hills.

Check out this week's mystery photo.

Today is the last day of the printed Seattle P-I. Starting today, the city's oldest daily newspaper switches to an online-only publication.

So what does this mean to Richard Kinssies, who has written a wine column for the P-I for 26 years?

We are planning to visit family in Washington in a few months and would like to do 2-4 days of wine tasting. We will be leaving Bremerton and going east. What are the better wineries to visit. Not interested in wine tours but tasting what we may not be able to buy in Georgia or just some of the better wines overall.

If you spend much time in the Walla Walla wine industry, you're bound to run into Jeanie Inglis-Chowanietz. She's one cool cat and has been in and around the wine scene here for many, many years.

One of her latest projects is a winery called Thirsty Pagans. She and her husband, Rob, run the place.

This week, we've added a fun little feature to the site. It's called "Where in Northwest Wine Country."

The Willamette Valley Wineries Association has released its 2009 touring guide, and you can order yours online for no cost.

Wine lovers thought it was crazy enough when Zinfandel crossed the California border into Oregon (which, frankly, has been growing Zin in the Gorge for a century).

When the red variety made famous by California jumped the Columbia River into Washington, that was outrageous - made even more so when those Washington Zins started winning awards in NorCal competitions.

Columbia Winery in Woodinville, Wash., will be going through some remodeling over the next few months.

The winery across the street from Chateau Ste. Michelle has made a remarkable about-face since being purchased by Ascentia Wine Estates in June from Constellation Brands. Constellation had announced it would close its longtime tasting room and relocate the winery to the Yakima Valley, where much of the wine already is made.

Pacific Northwest wines fared extremely well last week at the Grand Harvest Awards wine competition in California's Sonoma County.

At least 37 Northwest wines brought home gold medals in the competition, which takes a particularly close look at how wines show a sense of place, or terroir.