In my last Blog posting of January 9th, I mentioned that Lynn and I had been in Walla Walla at the end of December and begining of January looking at houses. We ended up making an offer, which was accepted, on a house south of town with a pond and a view of the Blue Mountains, and idyllic setting. We did it for two reasons, to simplify our lives by settling in one home instead of two, between which we have been shuttling back and forth. The other is to take advantage of the less hectic lifestyle of Walla Walla and its cultural and social niceties.

What will this move (to take place by March 1st) mean for the Review of Washington Wines? Does it mean more coverage of eastern Washington wineries and less of western Washington? The answer is yes and no. With Walla Walla as our home base, we will be within two and a half hours of major wine producing areas such as Chelan, the Yakima Valley and the Columbia Gorge. The coverage of western Washington will continue to be extensive. A few weeks ago, I counted up the number of issues in 2012 with special reports on Woodinville and came up with three. We will be making periodic trips to the west side. So there will be no change on that score.

Another thing that will change in the future is more coverage of emerging AVA's and up and coming wineries. With the closer proximity to the Wine Country, I will be able to provide more in-depth reports on wineries and vineyards than before. So, our upcoming move will enable me to offer added value to the Review of Washington Wines. More later!