It's the last weekend in April, which means that it's time for Spring Barrel. We spend a lot of time and effort to put on a super-awesome experience for this weekend, and this year is no different. With a focus on education, our Barrel Tastings are always a great way to learn more about wine, about Red Mountain, and our operation here. This year the focus is on Sangiovese.

We have been participating in Taste Washington in an awesome and unique way for several years. Most of the exhibitors at Taste Washington are wineries. They are pouring their wines, made by them. We will have a winery table as well, and we will be pouring our 2016 Chenin Blanc, 2014 Estate Red Mountain Lemberger, and our 2013 Estate Red Mountain Reserve (and 2016 Estate Red Mountain Rosé of Lemberger as a super-secret under-the-table wine). That's fine and all, and we are always thrilled to pour our wines. What's really special is our vineyard table. See, we are a vineyard AND a winery...

I was asked recently to explain, in layman's terms, what it means to be estate grown and bottled. Here was my response...

This year, we pledged to donate 1/2 the purchase price of our Estate Red Mountain Gewürztraminer and Red Mountain Syrah to the 2nd Harvest Food Bank between November 15th and December 15th. The month-long drive is in its second year, and we are pleased to announce the results...

10,292 meals.

We are halfway through our holiday program to raise funds for our local 2nd Harvest Food Bank. So far, with your tremendous support, we have raised enough money to provide more than 10,000 meals to those in our local community.

From November 15th to December 15th, we are donating 1/2 of the purchase price of every bottle sold of Red Mountain Syrah and Red Mountain Gewürztraminer to our local 2nd Harvest Food Bank. The funds will go towards fighting food scarcity in our local eastern Washington community....

Our local paper has an occasional insert where local business leaders are asked to write about the state of their respective industries. Here is one that John and Jim wrote together. It appeared in the February 20th 1988 edition of the Tri-City Herald.

Whenever I look at this label I am struck by the irony that it took us 40 years to release a wine like this, while simultaneously basking it its inevitability. These two gentlemen, these roguish cavaliers, are responsible for pioneering our very own Red Mountain. They did the research. They ponied up the money that they didn't have. They took the risk. And they shoveled the s**t (as seen above).

Julie Overstreet at Deep Red Cellar had some nice things to say about us. And our Red Mountain Lemberger. She is pretty prolific on Instagram as well. Give her a follow to get the scoop on what she thinks is great from the PNW and beyond. She writes about us regularly enough that I sometimes feel like we should have her on the payroll. But, I digress. It's good to have folks that like your product, and aren't afraid to shout it from the rooftops. Thanks Julie!

Rolando and Christian from Theo and Harris sit down with our 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon. All it took was a single bottle to get them onto the Washington wine bandwagon!