When I first started enjoying wine, I struggled with knowing which ones were good and whether I should like them or not. I stressed out at tasting that I should know more than I did, and I had a hard time identifying characteristics. “Really? Fruit leather and tanning hide? I’m not getting that.” Looking back, […]
Author Archives: Lisa Gerber
Bottling The Red Table Wine – Small House Winery
It’s time for a new video! We’re at the Small House Winery bottling the Red Table Wine today. Patrick Werry does the talking and Jon Harding does the work. (Patrick is the eye candy?) Kidding, of course. In this quick interview, we asked Patrick what’s in the red, how they went about making the blend, […]
The Perfect Valentines Day Wine Selection Guide
Día del Amor y la Amistad. It’s the Day of Love and Friendship. I just did some research on Valentine’s Day and was surprised to learn it’s not as much of a Hallmark holiday as I had thought. It turns out Saint Valentine was persecuted for conducting weddings for soldiers who were forbidden from marrying. […]
Buying Wine on the Web: The Future for Small Northwest Wineries
There are a few reasons you might be buying wine. One of the most popular I’m guessing, is the immediate need for a hell yeah glass of wine right now. In which case, you’re running to the nearest store (if you don’t keep a stocked cellar) to make a choice from whatever is available. On […]
Introducing Samantha Carston: From the Wine Cellar
The wine cellar can be a dark and lonely place. So we thought we’d shed some light on it and introduce you to one of the faces behind the scene. It’s Samantha Carston: Retail buyer at Schweitzer, jazz/blues singer, and cellar rat extraordinaire. At this stage in the winery evolution, the winery is all about taking. […]
Cold Slow Fermentation and the 2012 Grenache
Today at the winery, Jon and Patrick pressed the Grenache grapes so I distracted them for a few minutes to interview them on the process. You may not have heard much about Grenache. It’s a grape varietal typically found in red wine blends, rather than just on its own. It’s best known for being the […]
The Perfect Thanksgiving Wine Pairing Guide
Today’s blog post is written by Jon Harding. It’s next week! Have you decided what you’ll be pouring with your Thanksgiving feast? We put just as much, if not more effort into choosing the wine for the holidays as we put into the actual menu planning. Some of you might concentrate on the turkey and […]
Northwest Malbec: The Next Big Thing? Or Not?
Depending on who you believe, Malbec is either the next big thing in the Northwest or it’s … maybe it isn’t. Malbec is a red grape varietal originating in Bordeaux, France. Argentina, however, is the country that gave Malbec it’s own spotlight and brought her into the mainstream. Many wonderful wines come from the Mendoza region because […]
Northwest Rosé: Embrace the Pink
Until recently, Rosé has suffered from an image problem. It’s pink, and it gets a bad rap. But rosé isn’t just for the ladies of the 80s anymore. Rosé is often stereotyped as a white zinfandel but that’s just one varietal in the rosé genre. In reality, a rosé is made with any red wine grape – could […]
Vineyards vs. Wineries
It’s that time of year again. We’re making runs down south into Idaho and over to the Columbia Valley in Washington State to pick up grapes. Many of you have asked us how we can have a winery in Idaho – and how we grow the grapes. There’s a difference between a vineyard and a […]