In recent years, there has been a frenzied scramble to convert once-lucrative but now too-costly-to-maintain fruit orchards into money-making vineyards in Washington State.  Because economics was the driving factor behind many of these conversions, we saw a lot of behemoth production facilities churning out “approachable” wines (read: sweet, white cheap stuff) from immature vines in order to cash in on the wine craze perpetuated by films such as Sideways.  Touring wine country has never been easier, with the Napa Valley adopting the Disneyland for Oenophiles approach charging upwards of $20 per tasting at movie star-owned estate vineyards reachable by stretch limo, train, and I’m sure eventually hovercraft.  I imagine plans for a wine-themed park complete with a floating river of red called the Merlot Meander.  States beyond California are quickly following suit, and Washington is no exception.  I see the fundamental difference between the vineyards in the U.S. and those of the great winemaking regions in France, Italy, and Spain as time.  There is simply no way to rival the old world in terms of established character, which is not to say we cannot produce world-caliber wines, which we certainly do.  We simply need to be mindful not to turn the experience into a soulless affair more about pumping out bottles of two buck chuck than great Brunello. Read more