In today's Seattle Times Pacific Northwest magazine, writer Braiden Rex-Johnson profiles a variety of Washington winemakers and wineries with Paul Gregutt providing his annual budget list of mixed case recommendations for the holidays.

Wine & Spirits 2008 profiles six relatively new wineries in our region including Brian Carter Cellars (Woodinville), Willis Hall (Marysville), Wines of Substance (Walla Walla), Cadaretta (Walla Walla), Mercer Estates (Prosser), and Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyards (Roseburg, OR). Each profile offers stories about the winemaker and highlights suggested "wines of note".

Women winemakers of Walla Walla is a wonderful feature profiling fourteen women winemakers in the Walla Walla Valley. This feature is not only a testament to how far the industry has come these last couple of decades, but more importantly highlights what makes Walla Walla such a unique place for wine.

3 Cases of Wine is Gregutt's annual recommendations of value wines for the holiday season. He offers three cases, "Washington's Best Value Wines", "World's Best Budget Pinot Noirs", and "Dry Rieslings from the Pac NW".

It is surprising that Oregon pinot noir is conspicuously absent from Gregutt's case of budget pinot noir, as there are a number of quality Willamette Valley wines under $20 that I believe should have made this list. Here are several that come to mind that were recently covered here at BeyondtheBottle.com:

Firesteed 2006 Oregon Pinot Noir ($15)
Kings Ridge 2006 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley ($16)
Next 2006 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley ($19)

For more wine recommendations, please see the growing list of Oregon and Washington wines to consider for your holiday gatherings this season.