PROSSER, Wash. - As the sign going into town once declared, this is "A Pleasant Place With Pleasant People." Now, it's the center of the wine industry in the Yakima Valley - and it's poised for greatness.

This time on the calendar is often reserved for year-end pontifications and speculations on what the trends might be for the next 12 months.

Steve Burns just might have the best job in the wine industry — and the most difficult.

According to most notions I’ve come to understand, writing and publishing a book has a certain sense of romance.

They say timing is everything. When we launched Wine Press Northwest in April 1998, there were 250 wineries in the Pacific Northwest. Today, there are more than 500.

I didn’t know Frank Supernak well. But he was one of those guys you wanted to visit, hang out with, have as a friend.

In this issue, we celebrate restaurant wine lists that exalt Pacific Northwest wines.

It was with some dismay that I read a story in a regional business magazine about Washington wine. The recent article bemoaned the homogenization of the Northwest’s largest wine-producing region and expressed fears that its success could be its failure.

This is a good time to be a fan of Pacific Northwest wines. Make that a great time. Even the best of times.

Joel Tefft hates corked wine. When the Yakima Valley winemaker opens a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, he prefers to smell rich dark fruit rather than moldy cardboard.

I'd heard talk this summer that some big wine companies were looking at the Northwest after Canandaigua purchased Columbia Winery, Covey Run Vintners, Paul Thomas Wines and Ste. Chapelle in the spring.

A year ago, my bride and I traveled to Italy. With it being our first trip there, we found many highlights. The Grand Canal. The Colosseum. The Birth of Venus.

My friend Coke Roth had a right to be upset. In a few days' span, he had opened four spectacular wines from four of the Northwest's best wineries.

A funny thing happened the other night at the Tri-Cities Wine Festival: For the first time ever, a British Columbia wine took home best of show.

Do you buy wine by the numbers? That is, do you look at ratings, especially from publications that use the 100-point scale? Do you think wine writers and judges can quantify quality? Should they?

Like the first kiss from my bride, I fondly and vividly recall my first glass of wine. This doesn't count the California Coolers I drank in college, though as I recall, I didn't care for them, so my palate must have had some taste even then.

Peter Draper took one look at the Pinot Noir vineyards along the banks of Lake Okanagan and fell in love.

Where will you be when the millennium turns? Some will be at parties, others at fabulous events around the world. Most will be at home, preferring to enjoy the moment quietly with friends.

What are these words "appellation" and "terroir," and why should we care?

DALLAS - Washington wines are hitting the road, showing major cities across the United States exactly what the Northwest is all about. It's called Taste Washington, and it's presenting to the nation the best Washington winemakers have to offer.

When it comes to wine ratings and competitions, perhaps the most controversial subject is the 100-point system.

When I say "Merlot," do you think of a bottle of wine or a cluster of grapes? If you're like me, you probably think of the wine.

We in the Northwest enjoy a special corner of the planet. Within a few hours, we can see wheat fields, orchards, desert plateaus and fertile valleys. Mighty rivers, lakes, fjords, Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean. Majestic mountains, slumbering volcanoes and the stunning Columbia River Gorge.