Drawing of various wine bottle shapes and sizes

Decoded: Intro to Wine Bottle Shapes

In the world of wine, there are numerous bottle shapes and styles.  More recently, wineries have been doing some incredibly artistic things with their bottles with marketing and customer awareness in mind.  At a later date we will go into a much deeper dive on these shapes and…

Silhouette of Washington State with "WA" on it, overlaid on top of an image of wine grapes

WA White Wines

To celebrate Washington Wine Month and National White Wine Day, we’d like to brush over Washington wine history and take a look at the more interesting portion of the 2nd largest wine producing state’s variety of white plantings. Washington State is known for its plantings of lesser known…

International Albariño Day!

It’s International Albariño Day and what better way to celebrate than drinking some!  Well, as Americans, it isn’t commonplace to have some just laying around the house or in our cellars – in fact, most supermarkets won’t have it in the wine isle, so let’s take a moment…

A piece of cork fresh from a cork tree

Decoded: Different Types of Corks

We believe it is best to get this out of the way upfront: not all closures are made the same.  No one type is better or worse than another, they – like humans – are just different.  It takes all kinds. That said, let’s take a look at…

Sommelier at work. Confident male sommelier pouring wine to decanter while standing near the wine shelf

Decoded: On Breathing & Decanting

Today we’ll learn about breathing and decanting wine. Most simply put, Breathing is allowing the wine to interact with Oxygen with the cork removed or poured into a decanter.  Decanting is the process of separating the sediment in your wine from the juice you desire (and possibly waited…

Image showing 12 bottles with their tops connected making a colorful and delicious circle

For Our Guests: About the Lot Series & More…

New customers are sometimes confused when they find out that a Lot wine is sold out “forever,” and not just awaiting the next vintage. Barring the rare occasion where we are able to source from the same winery again, the chances of finding that Lot wine you loved…

Decoded: Blends

Let’s talk blends, and what the language your local wine shop representative uses actually means. At the top of the blending language list we have Champagne and Bordeaux. The word Champagne is synonymous with being expensive, of quality, for celebrations, and from Champagne, France.  Champagne is generally made…

Drawing of an older delivery truck

Transportation & Enjoyment (Musings on Bottle Shock & Travel Conditions)

To understand the ideas behind travel & bottle shock (bottle sickness, travel shock, shipping shock), we must first understand that wine is a living, breathing organism.  This is from the same understanding that is the basis of aging wines.  We’d always prefer a cool, dark cellar with stable…

Many glasses of rose wine at wine tasting. Concept of rose wine

What Is Rosé?

It’s synonymous with summer.  It’s fashionable.  It’s crisp.  It’s light.  It’s not just your grandmother’s White Zinfandel anymore.  But what, exactly is Rosé? Speaking in broad general stokes, Rosé is not red wine mixed with white wine – The majority of France actually makes it illegal to do…

Red and white wine plus different kinds of cheeses (cheeseboard) on rustic wooden table

It’s National Cheese Day!

In honor of National Cheese Day, we’d like to take a little time to enjoy some cheese and wine!  A match made in heaven, but why?  What is it that makes this classic combination so enjoyable to so many people from all walks of life?  According to research,…