In the nest...

We stopped at Cultura Winery on our way home from Bend to pick up our wines from last fall, and spend time with these people who have become friends. In the courtyard we took refuge from the sun, and sampled wines and talked. In the screen of shrubs, I spotted a nest of robins: four babies, and one adult. I think the adults were trying to encourage their babies to fly... one adult after another would do "fly by's" with a beakful of worms, but not landing to feed their offspring. The babies were fully fledged, so it's time to fly.

Family wine...

I love spending time in the wine cellar. Maybe not so much in the winter, when it's darn cold down there. But I love being surrounded by bottles of wine that we chose ourselves, and the room that I set up myself.


















We never finished it the way we intended... not a unique ending to one of our projects. But I love what I did all by myself:  wine in black-painted boxes, tapestries on the walls, a rug on the floor, wine label art, and stone winery tiles on the counter.

Road trip wine tasting...

Day One. The highlights were tasting wine at Rex Hill and dinner at Block 15 in Corvallis. Oh, and driving over the mountains to Klamath Falls after dark and during the height of deer and elk highway wanderings. Forty miles of darting eyes and white knuckles... oh, joy.

The tasting room at Rex Hill is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen, with two barrel-vaulted rooms, and a wonderful centerpiece:  a wine barrel topped with a big glass top, lined with a ring of tasting glasses. Each glass had a different aromatic component you might find in wine, from tropical fruit to herbs to leather. The glass top was etched with the names of the flavor groups: herbal, floral, and so on. Each day they cut fresh fruits and herbs for the display.

It made a stunning centerpiece to the tasting room.

Geocaching. Drive, drive, drive. More geocaching (fun). Drive, drive, drive. Stopped for gas in Corvallis, then Trip Advisor sent us to Block 15 in downtown. We settled in for a break... Reuben sandwich and a turkey burger, and a couple of brews. Yum.

Hot days in the wine cellar

Today was another hot afternoon, and like the past couple of 80-plus days, I spent it in the wine cellar.

Our wine cellar is simple, full of ways to reuse what I already had available. Ikea shelving, cardboard wine boxes painted black, with thick tapestry fabric covering the walls. In the corner is what makes this the perfect place for wine:  the storage tank for our well. It's constantly filling with cold water, keeping the room a constant 55 degrees.

During more than a year of storing our friends' wines in our cellar, things got pretty mixed up... no room to organize wine by type as is my preference, or even find slots for new wines we acquired. To make things worse, since we've both changed our eating habits and aren't drinking much wine right now, space isn't opening up very quickly. So it's tough to be organized... and I'm trying not to let that bother me.

There's room for shelves or a cabinet at the end of the cellar, something tall and narrow to fit under the window. But until I find the right thing and there's room to maneuver, I putter. I'll update the inventory, to remove the bottles we have shared with friends, and add the new bottles from wine tasting road trips to Walla Walla and the Yakima Valley. And new wines from our wine clubs: Cultura, DeLille Cellars, and Plain Cellars.

Once the cellar is organized to my liking, there's decorating to be done. I have enough of these tumbled stone winery coasters to pave the tasting counter.

One of the original 6-light windows from the farmhouse will go behind the tasting counter, like this window in the Cultura tasting room.

There's a cute wine table in the cellar, which holds large format bottles and glasses, and lets me display a wood box with three of Dave's wines. He made wine for eight years, and it was fun to design labels for him.

There's an oak wine barrel just outside the cellar, topped with a thick round glass top, with a pair of leather bar stools.

Wherever we go, whatever town and house we end up in, there will be a place for a wine cellar. It's right at the top of the list.

Bud break...

The Martin Scott vineyards in early May... just a hint of what's to come.

Feel free to weed...

On our way to breakfast at the Fall City Roadhouse this morning, we spotted a wine tasting sign just up the road. So after breakfast we invited our friends to come along and check it out.

William Grassie Wine Estates is a one-man operation, with a beautiful setting on a hillside above the river. When we drove in, the owner was doing yardwork and invited us to join him... or come up to the deck to sample some wine. We laughed and chose the wine. He settled us down on the deck and brought Riedel glasses and bottles of wine, and shared his story with us.

The sunshine made the wine bloom in the glass, with each variety of wine spilling a unique colored refraction onto the tiles.

Two women wandered down toward the Pinot Noir vineyard, wineglasses in hand, and Bill invited them to feel free to weed. He was the perfect host: inviting all newcomers to come sample wine, or work in the yard if they preferred.

The MX-5 shared honors for the brightest spot in the yard with this gorgeous clump of sun-kissed tulips.

Wine cork birdhouse

This very cool birdhouse was in the window at a winery we visited recently, and it's a perfect project for me. I've made cork trivets for just about everyone I know, and even after I make a wreath for the wine cellar, I'll have hundreds of corks to spare.

There were two small houses, one made from natural cork, the other from synthetic.

The corks lining the walls are cut in half lengthwise and nailed to a wooden birdhouse.

The roof shakes are slices of cork, and the perch has been carefully trimmed to fit the curve of the cork wall.

The chimney is a champagne cork.

Discover... a new winery

Our friends have been raving about this little winery they discovered in tiny Plain, WA. It's close to their weekend getaway, so that made it even better. They even joined their wine club. So we were definitely intrigued. And since we were planning to spend a few days with them over New Year's, we made sure to check it out.

Plain Cellars is a nice, inviting place with great reds, a friendly owner, and beautiful artwork (their daughter is very talented). The only thing missing today was the winery dog, who was up at the house with the winemaker.

It was a great place to spend some time on a chilly winter's morning. Jules and I admired the artwork and the cool cork-covered birdhouses, then joined Dave and Jim at the tasting counter and sampled their very good wines... and joined the wine club. We're particular about our reds... so this says a lot. It will definitely be a stop on our next visit, along with Plain Hardware and the Old Mill Cafe.

Winery tiles

I love these stone winery tiles. We use them as coasters throughout the house, and I like to arrange them on the sideboard and use them to hold wine bottles during a party. They're a nice way to display the bottles we'll be sampling, and they also protect the wood from damage.

The tiles were a big deal a few years ago, now they're getting harder to find. Glad I collected them when I did.

Wine umbrellas

One of the best things about retirement? Not having to wait for the weekend to do our favorite things! Especially this September, when the weather has been perfect, mild, sunny, and amazingly beautiful.

Today we fired up True Red and headed for the Woodinville wine country, where we spent a happy couple of hours enjoying the sun, sampling wine, with no crowds of people anywhere.

The wine club deck at DeLille Cellars is one of our favorite spots in wine country. Today the sun was bright enough to have all the umbrellas out... but I noticed the tall propane heaters are waiting in a corner of the deck... a reminder of the cold weather that's just around the corner.

Garden hardscape... in an unexpected place

We've always loved Camaraderie Cellars in Port Angeles, so we paid it a visit today (and also grabbed a few geocaches along the way). The winery has moved into another building on the property, surrounded by a surprisingly complex series of outdoor spaces.

The wines were still great, especially the reds, and as I sampled my way through the list, I explored the gardens. There are outdoor spaces, stone slab tables for eating, and chairs for relaxing. There's a covered area made from barrel staves, blown glass flowers and globes for lighting, and a huge wrought iron firepit. I especially loved the windbreak fences made from reclaimed multi-paned windows, and the rustic fence made from woven branches. The whole place is rustic and comfortable and unique, and well worth the drive.

And while you're there, don't forget to pick up a few bottles of wine.

Picking up @ DeLille

We interrupted our packing for Hood River, and went to Woodinville for a bit of wine tasting. We had wine to pick up at DiStefano and at DeLille, and we were lucky enough to find Adams Bench open for the afternoon.

At DeLille, the new patio for wine club members was open, and it we enjoyed sitting in the sun with our wine samples... for about 2 minutes, then it started to rain. Bummer! No worries, though...  we moved undercover, and talked about our upcoming trip, and toasted Dave's retirement (Thursday was his last day).

After logging our presence at DeLille (love this facebook app!), I fooled around with the camera in my brand new Android phone. Even though I never leave the house without my Canon ultrazoom, it's been fun to have a really good camera in my phone, perfect for those unexpected photo ops.

Spiral wine glass charms

This afternoon I got out beads and silver wire, and made a bunch of wine glass charms. My friend Kathy gave me a few of these, and they're so easy to make. Silver wire won't rust, so I just leave the charms on my glasses.

I really like the beautiful glass lampwork beads for these charms. They're a good size, come in interesting shapes, and are distinctive enough to stand on their own.

These spiral tags are really easy to make. You will need a pair of needle nose pliers with fine tips best are the type made for jewelry making, as they have smooth tips that won't mark the wire, but I've uesd both types. You'll also need something round to wrap the wire around, which should be a bit bigger in diameter than the stem of your wine glasses. A  smooth-barreled pen, the stem of a screwdriver, or a jewelry-making mandrel will all work. 

First, cut a 4.5 in. length of wire.

Make a tiny loop in one end of the wire, using the needle nose pliers. For fun, vary the loop: single, double, even a tiny spiral. You can even buy silver wire already cut in various lengths; some come with a ball end which looks really pretty..

String the bead and let it drop against the loop.

Hold the pen in your right hand, and push the bead right up against the pen with the wire running underneath. Wrap the wire around the pen barrel, angling the wire so you create a spiral with a small gap between the wires. You'll want at least 3 full wraps.

Remove the spiral from the pen barrel. Trim the end if needed, and make a loop in the end of the wire. Note how much you trimmed off. If you trimmed 1/2 inch, for the next charm, cut the wire 4 in. long. If the spiral ended up too short, you'll want to start with a longer piece of wire. And also remember that glasses will need different diameter charms. My red wine glasses have more robust stems than my delicate white wine glasses. You'll want to experiment: make a charm and try it out on your own glasses, then adjust the measurements as necessary.

To use the charm: slip the gap that's closest to the bead over the stem of the glass, and carefully twist the spiral until it's wrapped around the stem of the glass. Be careful not to bend the wire; you're just incorporating the glass stem into the spiral, which is easy if you use a delicate touch. The bead should rest on the foot of the wine glass, right at the base of the stem.

All you need is one...

We've been talking about having a Cab Franc tasting and Italian feast with our good friends, Jim & Julie. Since we're all off for an extended holiday over Christmas and New Year's, that seemed like the perfect time. But before we knew it, our schedules got booked up. Always happens! But we did manage to find two days in common, and before they vanished like the rest, we snapped up January 1st for a gathering at the farm. Julie apologized for the suddenly full schedule and lack of free days, but I told her "No worries… all we need is one."

It will be a seriously fun evening of good red wine, lasagne, and sourdough bread with 25-year-old Balsamic vinegar and Italian olive oil for dipping. And a chocolate something for dessert... chocolate is required with red wine.

Stay tuned for our tasting notes in the new year.

Choosing wine over oysters

It was a tough choice, but we made it. Shelton Oyster Fest with one group of friends, or take Jim & Ruth to DeLille Cellars with us. We chose the latter. We haven't seen Jim & Ruth for too long, and knew they'd love the wines at DeLille. As part of our wine club membership, once a quarter we get a wine tasting for four, and knew we wanted to share it with them.

It was a fun afternoon. We got all caught up on their house plans, the plans for the house at Benson Lake, and of course, work at “the place.” Ruth is still planning to retire end of January.


Because I-405 is closed in Bellevue (they’re connecting the new SR-520 on-ramps this weekend), we took the back way through Issaquah, Redmond, and came into Woodinville from the south. Perfect, since our first stop is at DeLille Cellars. Jim & Ruth haven’t been here before, and they really enjoyed the wine, especially the reds (we thought they would!). We stayed an hour, talking and sampling, then headed to DiStefano. We have wine to pick up, and ended up staying until after closing. We looked around the cellar room where they have tastings and dinners, admired the riddling rack table on the new patio. I’d love to have one; with a glass top it would make a great coffee table. Either flat or as a wall display, wouldn't it be a great way to display my shell collection?

We spent most of our time sitting around a table on the patio, enjoying the sun (although it’s chilly today) and working through the wines. They’re having a fund-raising event tonight, and were busy getting set up for it. They said we were welcome to stay and enjoy ourselves, but eventually we had to leave. We were getting hungry anyway, and chose an Italian restaurant just east of town. We had a reservation for 7:00,  and were early, so we sat in the bar and kept right on talking until our table was ready. Dinner was excellent, a bit pricey, but the good Italian restaurants always seem to be. We would definitely come back here.

Limoncello party

For the first time in about a decade, we actually went to a New Year's Eve party last night. Our friends, Jim & Julie, invited an assortment of friends and family to come over and make Limoncello, an Italian liqueur made (essentially) from Everclear, lemon peels (with no pith), and sugar.

Dave got kudos for making long, narrow strips of peel, and everyone loved the truly antique zesting tool that I brought. It's part of a set of zesting & juicing tools I got free from Sunkist, probably around 1979. This little zester can score the fruit and peel off the skin, and was the perfect tool for scraping any remaining pith from the lemon strips. Karen loved it so much, she was on her smart phone halfway through the zesting process, trying to find one on eBay.

Our reward for helping with all the zesting was a tasting of last year's effort, which was wonderful. We'll be coming back in a few weeks for a bottling party, and will get our own bottle to take home!

Thanks, Jim & Julie... we had a great time!

Winery dogs

Now before you think I'm talking about bad wine, let me explain. One common theme at many wineries is that they have a resident dog. A real dog, the four-legged variety. They come in all colors, shapes, sizes, and breeds. There's even a book about winery dogs, which you'll see displayed at many of the wineries throughout the Yakima Valley. Some of the more famous winery dogs appear on wine labels, like Murray, a yellow Lab at Hightower Cellars. Murray is sadly no longer with us, but his brother, Riley, is taking over dog duties with enthusiasm and flair. I expect to see his face on a label in the future.

The prize for largest winery dog goes to Coyote Canyon, one of the boutique wineries in Prosser's wine village. Their huge shaggy dog would make two (or three) normal-sized dogs. He's reluctant to move, thus easy to trip over. He reminds me of a Bernese Mountain dog, without the brown markings. The owner said he's about 160 lbs, and has recently lost weight.

We also like the three dogs at Two Mountain, and this pair of pooches is on duty at Cultura Wines. Both wineries are in Zillah.

Letting wines speak for themselves

I was thinking about our visit to Fidelitas yesterday, and how impressed I was with the woman who served our wine tastings. She didn't make any mention of whether these wines won any awards, but rather let the wines speak for themselves. This way our palate wasn't influenced by what other people thought of the wines. There was no tasting fee for any of the eight or so wines we sampled, and we loved each of these amazing reds. It was tough to decide which to walk away with, but finally settled on the Optu Red, and a Columbia Valley Merlot. It didn't escape our notice that each of these was from the 2006 vintage. It's a year to watch.

How to Taste Wine in an MX-5

Driving top-down through the vineyards of Washington's wine country is an experience not to be missed. You enjoy the complete experience much more when you can involve all the senses. Turning your face up to the eastern Washington sunshine. Hearing the impact sprinklers in nearby fields. Listening to birds chirping in the tall grass in the ditches. Smelling the flowers, and this weekend, the lingering scent of fertilizers and chemicals that were sprayed overnight. Well, maybe that part of it I could do without…


The alternative is driving the SUV. It's the better choice if rain turns to snow on Snoqualmie Pass, which has happened 3 of the last 5 years on this same weekend. Tire chains just aren't an option in a sports car. The Explorer also carries more wine, something to consider since we always find bottles we just have to add to the wine cellar. And in said snow and cold, it's definitely warmer. But the great benefits of exploring with the roadster more than outweigh the few negative things. We always figure out a way to make it work.
So in the end, it all comes down to the packing challenge. Packing light, very light, as the only place to store your gear (and your wine) is in a very small trunk. You learn to do without that extra pair of shoes, and the just-in-case bulky coat. Layers is the clothing catchword you live by. You only bring the critical things, like underwear… and detailing spray and microfiber cloths, so you can keep up with the bugs that splatter (and eat through) your car's paint. There's no room for a cooler; you learn to like warm iced tea and diet Coke.

But the biggest challenge is how to fit in the wine you buy. This trip, we broke our previous record. With two soft-sided bags, a tiny detailing kit, and warm coats in the trunk, we still managed to squeeze in 2 cases of wine, plus another 5 bottles, and never had to use the last resort: a box of wine under my feet in the passenger seat.

And just look at the photo ops a bright red MX-5 provides!

Wine Tasting

It's no secret that the Woodinville area has become a destination for wine lovers. We've been coming here since the mid-1980s (maybe earlier) when the only winery was Chateau Ste. Michelle. Today there are 4o wineries, each with their own style and appeal. I admit to loving the experience of traveling through the vineyards, stopping by to visit each winery in turn, surrounded by the fruit that makes wineries (and wine) possible.

But something's changed here in the past few years. Wineries have figured out how to provide the winery experience, and great wines, without the vineyards closeby. And if this formula works in Woodinville, why not Covington? Or Maple Valley?

Our Fall wine club shipment is ready to pick up at at DiStefano, one of our favorite wineries in Woodinville. It's a family business, as so many of them are. We love their reds, and also their Sauvignon Blanc. New this summer is an outdoor patio built up on pavers, with tables made from old riddling racks. It's a great place to sit and enjoy our samples.

Today we brought home a treasure: an oak wine barrel that's outlived its usefulness as a storage container for wine. It will have a new life--the base of a table in our wine cellar.

Afterwards, we headed for another favorite, Matthews Cellars. It's a small winery, with a wonderful country location in the Woodinville valley. The people are friendly, the wine is excellent, and we love being able to wander around in the cellar room, inhaling the grape-infused air.