It has long been rumored that the few rows of vines at the entrance to Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville, Wash., were required so the winery could be called a "chateau."

I've been trying to get a definitive list of wineries in greater Woodinville (for lack of a proper term, since some of the Woodinville wineries actually have Redmond addresses).

John Powers, co-owner and founder of acclaimed Chuckanut Ridge Wine Co. in Bellingham, Wash., passed away July 30.

My bride and I are dining at Picazo717 tonight, and I was just looking at the wine list. I noticed the hilarious corkage fee:

This year, Washington Wine Month has returned to August after a one-year change to September. Thus, some great bargains on Washington wines begin next week.

Granted, these are not the best of times to be shipping wine from the Columbia Valley, but I really wanted to get two special bottles to a close friend of mine whose birthday I had missed.

During this week's Riesling Rendezvous in Bellevue, Wash., I was asked on five occasions what I thought of the annual Wine Bloggers Conference, held June 25-27 in Walla Walla. Now that I've had a couple of weeks to contemplate it - and compare it with the Riesling Rendezvous, here are a few of my thoughts:

This evening, I was chatting with a well-known and -respected Washington winemaker about a wide range of subjects. One that struck me was the fact that a 90-plus score from a major wine magazine no longer moves wine.

For animal lovers, one of the joys of Northwest wine touring is meeting the winery pets.

We're finally getting a good dose of heat here in Washington wine country. In fact, today we got too much heat.

Contrary to popular belief (OK, just in my little mind), the HoseMaster of Wine is not a Canadian wine blogger. Rather, he is the anti-blogger. Some refer to him as the anti-christ.

If the bounty handed out at conventions is any measurement of quality, then the 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference is the greatest confab ever - or at least the finest I've been to.

Wine Spectator and the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin reported last week that Diageo plans to close the tasting rooms for Canoe Ridge Vineyards in Walla Walla and Sagelands in Wapato.

A Sunday mudslide in British Columbia's southern Okanagan Valley damaged about a dozen acres of vineyards and has blocked the main highway running through wine country. According to OliverBC.com, six homes were destroyed and 30 were evacuated. The slide apparently was caused by torrential rains that caused a hillside to become unstable.

Two more Walla Walla wineries are opening a tasting room in the growing Woodinville wine scene.

One often-asked question of Rich Wheeler is "Where is the creek at Cold Creek Vineyard?" A week ago, the vice president of vineyards for Ste. Michelle Wine Estates finally had an answer: Here it is. Or, at least, was.

I spent most of Friday in vineyards in Washington's Horse Heaven Hills and talking with grower Paul Champoux of famed Champoux Vineyards.

Erik Olsen, former white winemaker for Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville, Wash., has been named chief winemaker for Constellation.

The Spokane wine scene is buzzing with the changes that have been going on the past few months. This weekend, for example, will be the last for Lone Canary at its current location.

JoieFarm of Naramata, British Columbia, won Best White Wine this afternoon at the prestigious Riverside International Wine Competition in Southern California. The winning wine was the 2009 Noble Blend.

The Wine Press Northwest crew has spent the past four days helping to run the annual Northwest Wine Summit, the largest judging of Northwest wines.

While taking my daughter to school this morning, we were listening to These Are Days by 10,000 Maniacs. So perhaps I should take my 6-year-old to Maryhill Winery this summer to see Natalie Merchant in concert.

One of Washington's oldest and most successful wine producers hopes to catch lightning in a bottle again with the launch of a new winery and high-end cattle company.

For the past couple of weeks, I've been keeping an eye out for bud break, when tiny green leaves push out of swelling buds on grapevines and signal the start of the growing season.

Cadaretta Winery announced Wednesday that winemaker Virginie Bourgue is leaving to focus on her own brand and consulting business.

At Taste Washington some 10 days ago, the distributor for a new winery charged up to our table and said in an accusational tone, "Hey, what does it take for a small winery to get into your magazine!?"

Planning to head to the annual Yakima Valley Spring Barrel Tasting weekend April 23-25? Below you will find a listing of wineries and the events they have planned, as provided by Wine Yakima Valley.

Four Northwest wines were up for best-in-show honors at the San Diego International Wine Competition.

Ted Farthing, executive director of the Oregon Wine Board and Oregon Winegrowers Association, has announced his resignation.

This YouTube video was forwarded to me this afternoon. It is so full of win.

The way things are going in Washington these days, the above headline needs a bit more information - because it seems like a Walla Walla winery is opening a second tasting room in Woodinville about every other week.

Pend d'Oreille Winery in Sandpoint, Idaho, is doing its part to reduce waste by offering its popular Bistro Rouge red blend in refillable 1.5 liter bottles.

Wineries in the Yamhill-Carlton District are petitioning to change the name of the American Viticultural Area. They are looking to drop "District" from the official title, leaving the appellation name as simply "Yamhill-Carlton."

Wine writer Dan Berger had an intriguing article in his weekly Vintage Experiences newsletter last week. It was about one-word wine reviews, citing a recent Kermit Lynch flyer that described a wine with a single word: "crisp."

Wheatridge in the Nook, a winery in the Columbia Gorge town of Arlington, Ore., has announced that it is closing its doors.

Last night, we enjoyed another marvelous meal at our neighbors' home. I was charged with bringing the wine and came across a Vin Santo style of wine from a Yakima Valley producer. It was a rare and luscious treat.

Sunday marked the 10th anniversary of the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 off the coast of California. Among the 88 passengers and crew who perished was one of the most cherished people in the Northwest wine industry: Tom Stockley, the longtime wine columnist for The Seattle Times.

Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, the Northwest's largest wine company, will add to its cadre of products by importing wine from New Zealand.

Precept Brands and Corus Estates joined forces earlier this month, turning two of the Northwest's largest and most visible wine companies into one even larger organization.

I just heard through Paul Gregutt of the Seattle Times that Bear Silverstein passed away Thursday.

Jerry Wallace, who launched Hinzerling Winery in Prosser, Wash., in 1976, passed away Jan. 6. He was 90.

CLOVERDALE, Calif. — Watermill Winery of Milton-Freewater, Ore., won the Sweepstakes award for best dessert wine at the 2010 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition in Cloverdale, Calif., for its 2008 Late Harvest Gewurztraminer, Walla Walla Valley.

In the world of Pacific Northwest wine, it was a sad year, as the industry lost no fewer than five pioneers.

The two most memorable wines to pass my lips have been Ports.

Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville, Wash., unveiled a new member to its lineup of Rieslings: the 2009 Harvest Select Riesling. This wine, which will replace the Indian Wells Riesling, will be sweeter than the winery's flagship Columbia Valley Riesling.

Editor's note: I wrote this blog item three years ago, and everything pretty well has stayed up to date. With the holidays upon us, I thought it would be good to repost it here.

Much has been written over the years about how European nations - most notably France - have been angry about how U.S. wineries have basically stolen and sullied the names of fine regions with our plonk.

Washington's largest winery made the world's greatest wine this year, according to Wine Spectator.

Here's your chance to buy local wine and help a great cause at the same time.

Did you know $1 can supply six pounds of food to a hungry family?