I've picked grapes in Walla Walla! And crushed, bottled, labelled, and boxed... I used to work for Peter Dow at Cavatappi Winery... Picked the first Nebbiolo grapes in Washington state...

awesome guest.... definitely some stuff i gotta try

Just came back from my local wine bar - I remembered the Kung Fu Girl from seeing it on the episode -- very good, though I am cringing over the $44 we spent on the bottle after hearing the suggested retail price.....

Read an Q&A(swedish wine expert)stating that Washington state is the only place in the world exept Pomerol, where Merlot's outclass Cab in terms of consistenency and quality. Haven't been able to find a Washington merlot tasting of yours. Wouldn't that be fun to have one?

Been drinking C.S. wines for awhile now. He definitely knows how to make delicious wines. The Kung fu girl is a great summer quaffer. Check out "the creator", amazing fruit without being the typical over the top fruit bomb. Talent to be jealous of. Nice to see him on the thunder show as I am catching up.

Just rewatched this episode because K wines are featured on Wine.woot this week, looking forward to some awesome Juice!

How cool was this guy!!...ya you too Gary. Makes me want to head out and visit his vineyard right away (I already purchased his Viognier, lookin' forward to more). This is the type of personality I love to see in the wine world, and business in general. Passion for his product, and respect for the consumer. I will support both you and Charles, and spread the word all day long.

BEST Episode !!!!!!!!!!

I really enjoyed this episode your guest was a really nice down to earth person . I think its nice that he made the single vineyard for both his mom and dad. He is very passionate with his profession and creation and thats just great. Gary as always great show good job with all the information given
in this episode as well as past episodes and hope you have many more .

Awesome, awesome show. Mr. Smith is 100% kickass and to me has been the most passionate winemaker youve had on the show. You can see his very soul are in these wines. Im def. interested now and will buy one at my local shop. QOTD: I live here and am planning a trip to both Walla Walla and Yakima this spring/summer with the folks. I'll be sure to check you out!

great show. many thanks 2 u guys.

Awesome show. I hope to definitely hit up Charles Smith next year on our wine trip. If I see his wines I'm all over them.

Walla Walla wines rock, and so does Charles Smith. The world of wine needs more of his take on things.

Great as always - - both of them.
Cheers from another Walla Wallan

Freakin sweet episode! I loved this episode! Charles Smith is crazy, but totally awesome! He has such great ideas about wine - love his philosophies and I respect all of the blood, sweat, and tears that have gone into it (as I am now just realizing how difficult it is)!

QOTD: All of us Vayniacs are extremely tiny!

I love this guy's philosophy on wine, great guy, have to try his stuff some time

GREAT GREAT show. Living in WA, I have the pleasure of enjoying many of these wines, and recently took a trip to Walla Walla. For those of you in the Sonoma/Napa rut and are looking for something new (with more reasonable housing and wine van driver rates) give it a try.

great guest. great show. many thanks. & the wines are available in tokyo!
mjr
nakano, tokyo.

GV, I'm catching up on old episodes and I about freaked when you said "we're keeping it real" in this episode! This show was really fun; here's to keeping it real!

Great show! Very cool guest!

Q- soon i hope

great guest. bring him back some time & always give your guests plenty of "space" to speak.
great episode
many thanks 2 u & mott
mjr

Great episode! Winelibrary may be the most passionate wine program...but Chris is definitely the most passionate wine maker.

Good show! Going south from Spokane soon. Gotta know though, great quality reds at ~20 bones less to be found in Yakima Valley.

Excellent show, as usual, just remember it's all about who you enjoy it with, not as much as what you're enjoying!

QOTD: Don't breath in.

Hey!! Mr. Smith has almost as much hair as I do..............

This show is now one of my favorites. I use a pile driver to get in the camera.

WOW- a long yet very interesting and personal show. I'm glad I had the time to enjoy it. Cheers.

QOTD: Up to Washington soon!!

Great episode. I had heard of Charles but have never seen his product on the shelves. Hopped online and bought six bottles. I'm really looking forward to checking them out. By the way I recently visited Kinkead Ridge near Ripley, Ohio (just north of the Ohio River, fabulous location) - you favorably reviewed their Petit Verdot, which is very limited production and now unavailable. The owners are incredibly cool people who produced wine in Oregon for about 10 or 15 years and then moved back to the Midwest. When they have an open house it's well worth visiting. Check out their website online and especially the cool punchdown video which is also on Youtube. I really respect these limited production winemakers who have such passion for what they do.

This was a great episode. It is inspiring to watch and hear from someone who is clearly in love with what he does. Will try the wines when I can locate them.

QOTD - don't get out much, no idea.

I love hearing a wine maker who is so enthusiastic about his wines and the Northwest buzz about his wines is strong though I have yet to taste them, this episode makes me want to go out and get on his list. Love that you keep bringing us small, quality producers that are accessible producers. Thanks GV and Charles Smith and as a baldy I'm definitely jealous of the hair.

Great show Gary! QOTD: I've never been to the States before! Isn't that crazy, considering I live approximately 20 minutes away from the Canadian/US border. If I ever do head down to the states, I will make sure to swing by Walla Walla, WA ;)

QOTD - It is the magic of the internet. I would enjoy visiting Walla Walla, but not sure when I will actually make it there. Until then I can drink the wines. Thanks for the entertaining show.

next time i am in washington i am coming to walla walla. i was so impressed by the show that i went out and bought a bottle of the Boom Boom Syrah. i am excited to taste once this cold is gone.

I was lucky enough to meet Charles about 5 years ago and had the opportunity to
spend a bit of time sampling and procuring... quite the character indeed. The wines then were extremely exciting to me at the time... and I have been drinking them ever since. The concentrations of dark fruit, as you mention numerous times, is indeed in your face.... just what I love about this project. Just make some more of these giant fruit bombs, there never seems to be enough, especially of your high-end offerings. ROCK ON and Don't change anything about your wines, or your hair!

QOTD: 10 in comfort, 10,000 in ecstasy.
Isn't it a 3 hour drive to Walla Walla from Spokane? That's the only thing that's holding us back.

Rock on, indeed! Great, great, great show. These are the kind of shows that keep me coming back time and again, Gary. Charles Smith is REAL. Very cool. The wine descriptions were awesome and the I had no idea the show was as long as it was because it was so enjoyable. Thank you so much!!!

QOTD: It is very difficult to explain how the Vayner-Nation all fits inside that little camera. Suffice it to say that the smell is a but ripe. ;-)

I've never been to Walla Walls. On my wine trip to Washington State we did the Columbia Valley, Rattlesnake Ridge and Red Mountain but didn't quite make it to Walla Walla. We'll stop by next trip!

This has to be among the best episodes. I think it deserves a place on the home page. It's all about the passion. And indeed, Charles can rival even Gary V's level of passion.

I was in Walla Walla back in 2005. Drove up and down the highway looking for K. Alas, it was not open that day. White Sox were drilling the Astros that yr if I remember correctly. Hopefully, I will make it back up there to try again. Re-watched parts of this show w/ a glass of K-Vintners Cougar Hills Syrah 2005. It is beautiful as well. Getting the 05 Ovide in on Monday. Thanks for the tip. Can't wait to turn on some of the guests. (they'll think I'm a genius).

Gary, were those screwtops? Add a + to everything if they are! Great show

Excellent show and a real interesting guest!
There is a certain technology associated with shrinking humans so that they can fit in a TV camera.
I would love to visit Walla Walla at some point!