A blog, mostly about wine, from Walla Walla, Washington. Subscribe for free updates about 1–3 times a month.
The Bottle Is the Message
Overheard during a rip in time: a few cars passing on the highway by the Ketchum cemetery. A light wind through the cedars sheltering Ernest Hemingway’s grave. The clink of wine glasses in a chorus of “Cheers!” The suck of air, a T. Rex snapping its jaws.
Willamette Valley, 37; Walla Walla, 2
That’s the number of roles published on winejobs.com in two well-known west coast wine regions today (1/29/26). Marketing has always been tough for Washington state wine, where we offer a little something for everyone. But living here, as the market churns, I’m beginning to wonder if we’re starting to see just how.
2025 –> 2026: What’s the Game Plan, Walla Walla?
Will 2026 be a year of epic sh*t, or the year we get based on hoping everything magically sorts itself out?
Heading Into Holiday Barrel Like…
Wherein I examine Holiday Barrel wine tasting weekend through the lens of my personal cats, AI and internet culture, not having an office job, and how it all relates to writing.
Numbers or Words: What’s the Best Way to Review Wine?
I’m averse to a lot of the ways wine is written and talked about. Is it because I’m bad at math?
No Wine Before Its (Also: It’s) Time
Peeling back the layers of Paul Masson’s famous expression, by proxy of a Proustian prompt.
Make Wine Normal Again
Back from vacation. It all boils down to what I think wine and Seinfeld have to say about human culture. And because I am so bad at social, pics galore!
An $800 Wine From Washington State?
Washington state sees its first $800 bottle of wine. Thoughts on what this signifies, the state’s existential wine crisis, and inclusivity in wine.
What Makes the Wine Business Sustainable?
How are we thinking about the sustainability of the wine business, and about the long-term systems that connect the layers of social, cultural, and economic life in wine communities?
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Gwendolyn Elliott 