Sips & The City

2011: Let's Rewind that Wine...

2012-01-10T19:27:00.000-08:00

So most people did their 2011 recap posts in the last week of 2011, or even last week (the first week of 2012). Well, I'm not most people and I decided to do mine in the SECOND week of 2012. Because I can. I remember how much fun I had last year re-capping my 2010 Sips & the City posts, and getting to look back on all the fun I had in 2010. Well, 2011 was no different! I had such an amazing year getting to know new people, attending events, learning about various aspects of wine making, and trying some spectacular new wines. And now, my blog is almost a toddler (yes, it will be 2 in March!). Time sure does fly, doesn't it? And now, without further ado.. sit back, relax and enjoy the ride: 2011 in review!

January

There nothing quite like starting out the year with a little controversy. What started out as a random thought I had in my head about singles and wine events, led to the highest viewed post since my blog's creation. "Sips & The Single Girl: Where's the Beef?" definitely directed some attention toward my blog, and it was pretty entertaining to read people's reactions.

Towards the end of the month, I previewed the 2011 Seattle Food & Wine Experience (now the Seattle Wine & Food Experience).

February

In February, I profiled a beautiful new tasting room in SoDo, URBAN enoteca. This shared space for seven wineries offers tastings, food, and event rooms. They have since featured my post on their website, which has been great exposure for my blog!

March

I kicked off the month detailing a fantastic wine dinner I attended for Duckhorn Vineyards, a California winery. Who says the blog has to be strictly Washington wine? This was the first time I had written anything in detail about California wine.

I wrote about the great time I had at the 2011 Seattle Food & Wine Experience. So much food.. it was amazing.

Finally, I previewed another not to be missed event, Taste Washington 2011. This event always has a lot of hype, as it features more wineries and restaurants in attendance than any other event in Washington.

April

As it was held at the end of March, I started off April re-capping my experiences at Taste Washington 2011. I went on a mission to try as many new wines as possible, and I definitelty succeeded!

I wrote the first post in a new series I created entitled "From the Vine to your Glass". The first entry in this series was on bottling. I started this series because I'm determined to learn and help out in each aspect of wine making and I wanted to document my adventures in doing this. A ton of work, but so worth it!

May

I previewed the upcoming Wine Rocks 2011, which was to be held at the Georgetown Ballroom. I had attended the 2010 event, and I was excited about the new, bigger venue.

I finally took my very first trip to Walla Walla wine country and wrote all about all of the fun that was had over that wine-filled weekend. We attended for Spring Release, which made for plenty of events to attend!

June

My first post of June was a giveaway for a pair of tickets to Wine Rocks. It was so great to see the submissions that entrants had! It was also fun to be able to draw a random winner from those great submissions!

Later in the month, I previewed an upcoming event, Pour on the Plaza at El Gaucho in Bellevue. While I wasn't able to make it to the actual event (so bummed), it looked like a good one!

I was so excited to get to do a preview for an event that I was helping to put on. The 3rd Annual WSU Wine Symposium was upcoming at the Columbia Tower Club and featured all WSU owned and affiliated wineries. Go Cougs!

July

In July I wrote about an AMAZING trip I took in late June up to Suncadia to visit Swiftwater Cellars. I loved everything about the visit and the winery.

August

I wrote about my mid-July trip out to Lake Chelan. I've made a wine trip to the Lake Chelan AVA an annual occurrence, and this trip was just as much fun as past trips!

One of my favorite posts that I was able to write in 2011 also started another new series for my blog called "Sips on the Road". In the first post of this series, I wrote all about the Washington wine that trekked up to Alaska for my younger brother's wedding in late July. It was so much fun to be able to tie my "wine life" in with my personal life. And everyone at the wedding loved the wine!

September

In September, I wrote about Wine in the Pines, which had turned out to be a top notch event. The seminar I attended was educational and tasty, and even a little heat on the patio (ok, it was HOT) during the Grand Taste couldn't spoil the fun!

October

My first October post was on the 2nd Annual BLEND event, held at Bell Harbor Conference Center. This wasn't any ordinary tasting event for me. This was the first time that I had been asked to judge the wines being poured at the event. The "BLEND awards" judging was seriously hard work, but a great learning experience! Looking forward to next year.

At the end of the month, I previewed an upcoming event that I had been looking forward to since the 2010 event. The 2011 Taste of Tulalip was on track to be bigger and even better than the previous year, and I was ecstatic to be included in the media preview event.

November

My last post of the year (what can I say, it was a busy December) detailed the William Church Winery winemaker dinner that I attended in October. As usual, Russell's didn't disappoint, and the wine was a perfect match.

Aaaand, time. Whew, that was a quick and dirty breakout of everything I did last year in the wine world! I have so many ideas for things to write about and often times, not enough time in which to do it. Working full time and trying to keep up with events and tastings can be challenging, but I keep at it. I'm looking forward to what's to come in 2012 and I hope to be able to write more than ever!

Cheers!

Upcoming Event: 2012 Seattle Wine & Food Experience - Seattle Center Exhibition Hall

2012-01-05T21:22:00.000-08:00

Have you missed out on the experience? Well fret no more, as once again the Seattle Wine & Food Experience is back for its 2012 showing. I’m not even remotely kidding when I say that it’s “back and bigger and better than ever”. There are so many new elements to this year’s event that I’m giddy with excitement as I start counting down the days to February 26th, 2012.

The 4th annual event, once again held at the spacious Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, will offer wines from nine regions, with a special focus on Oregon. This is a new twist for a Washington wine event, as we have so many amazing wineries in our backyard that we rarely shift our focus to that sales tax free state to the south. Oregon consistently puts out some amazing wines and I’m definitely looking forward to exploring this region (albeit in Seattle and not IN Oregon wine country.. I need to work on that.) at this year’s Wine & Food Experience. The new elements added this year include:

• Distillery Row – featuring a dozen craft distilleries
• Chef demo stage emceed by Chef in the Hat Thierry Rautureau
• Artisan Food "Shop" – a dozen great products locally made for the most part both for sample and sale
• The 6-7-8 Audi Lounge featuring Taylor Shellfish Oyster bar paired with sparkling wine
• Fonte Coffee Lounge
• Live music by the group FOUR
• The Beef Bistro - featuring Trellis, Andaluca, The Capital Grill, LUC
• Special Wine Region: OREGON (more than 30 Oregon wineries in one area)
• Stella Artois – serving up beer in their signature glasses
• Beer and cider exhibit

The greatest part of this event is the vast variety of wine regions present to taste. While, of course, there will be plenty of Washington wineries pouring at the event, there are the 30+ Oregon wineries as well as other regions around the world. At last year’s event, I made an effort to eat as much as possible (sometimes I neglect the food at these events. What can I say, I like the vino.) and limit my tastings only to wineries that I had never tried before. It was a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to taking the same approach this year!

Admission to the Seattle Wine & Food Experience is just $49 per person and includes access to all areas of the event and all of the yummy food and wine/beer/cider/deliciousness tastes. Get your tickets here and help support The Giving Grapes Foundation, a 501c3 organization that assists local charities who provide financial assistance to service industry professionals who have to take time off work due to injury or illness. C’mon, it’s hip to have fun in the name of charity, so get your tickets before they sell out and I’ll see you there!

(look for me near the food…. Well OK, the wine too.)

Sips on the Road: Sonoma Valley Wine Country

2012-01-03T20:43:00.000-08:00

Many don’t know that I spent a few years living down in the Bay Area in California. This was truly my first “wine country” experience, as prior to this I had not done any tasting in Washington State even. While I lived in California, I made one trip to Napa and one to Sonoma and I was delighted to have the opportunity to visit Sonoma County once again to experience California Wine Country (I know, I cheated on Washington, don’t tell!). I headed down back in early November for a weekend of Football (Go Cougs!) and wine along with my friend Alison. We made the most of our wine day and I actually managed to catch my flight on time!

(See ya SF! Headed to Sonoma!)

Our first stop of the day took us to J Vineyards & Winery located in Healdsburg. What a beautiful facility this was! We opted for the “J Signature Flight” and headed upstairs for our first pairing (they had snacks paired with a few of their wines). First up was their 2009 Hoot Owl Vineyard from the Alexander Valley. They had paired this with a butternut squash soup which was perfect. I have had a butternut squash and viognier pairing before and have loved it every time. I even picked up a bottle of this crisp almost peachy flavored (but not overly so) wine to pair with our butternut squash soup on Thanksgiving! We tasted through two different Pinot Noirs and then went back downstairs to their large beautiful tasting bar for a few tastes of something J specializes in: bubbles! We were able to enjoy their Brut Rosé from the Russian River Valley, which was delicate strawberry in a bottle. We also tried their 2004 J Vintage Brut Magnum from the Russian River Valley. This was a light and crisp sparkling wine, which brought out pear and citrus on the taste. Last, but certainly not least, we tried the 2001 (yes, I said 2001!) J Vintage Brut, Late-Digorged, from the Russian River Valley. This bottle sat on yeast for 10 years before release and is creamy and tart. It was pretty fun to get to try something this aged when it comes to bubbles. I ended up bringing home some of the Brut Rosé to enjoy back in WA! This was also the beginning of the end of my day when I gave in and purchased a case shipper because I knew what the rest of the day had in store for me.. and so began my mission to fill it up! This stop: +4 to the case shipper.

(Yes, a 2001 Brut! So wonderful)

For our next stop, we cruised into downtown Healdsburg (which is adorable) to check out a place that had come highly recommended by my friend Cheryl (the amazing @DivaTink) who had recently spent her honeymoon enjoying the sights and tastes of the Sonoma Valley. The Garagiste Healdsburg (@garagistehbg) tasting room is, as their website states, “a collaborative micro-winery, tasting room and wine lounge featuring small, handcrafted lots of premium wine poured for you by the people who make them”. Here, we were able to try the wines of two different boutique wineries: Cartograph (@cartographwines) and Stark. We were lucky enough to visit with the owners of Cartograph, Alan Baker and Serena Lourie, who even remembered Cheryl and David from their visit in September! One of my favorite parts of wine tasting is visiting with the people that actually MAKE the wine, and not just a tasting room employee. It was fun to chat with Alan and Serena about harvest and their production at their small winery. My favorite of the Garagiste wines both came from Cartograph, and included their 2009 Floodgate Vineyard Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley and their 2010 Floodgate Vineyard Gewurztraminer, also from the Russian River Valley. I found it unusual that I enjoyed a Gewurztraminer so much, this is generally not my go-to wine. But I enjoyed the subtle and not too overly sweet flavors of this one. And combined with our one-on-one tasting experience we received during our visit, this became one of my favorite stops of the day. I’d highly recommend a visit here if you find yourself in downtown Healdsburg any time soon! This stop: +2 to the case shipper.

Next we moved on to a winery that I had enjoyed previously, but I had never actually visited their facility. Seghesio (@seghesio) has long been known for their Zinfandel and Italian varietals. We tasted through several different vineyards of Zinfandel and a few other varietals as well. It was pretty busy at their tasting bar on this Sunday, so we didn’t get the one-on-one explanation of wines that we had received at our previous stop, but that comes with the territory. Sonoma wine country is a busy place. My favorites at this stop included the 2008 Cortina Zinfandel from the Dry Creek Valley and the 2008 Chianti Station Red from the Alexander Valley. I don’t even think that the Chianti Station was listed on the tasting menu, but that savvy tasting room employee knew that if we tried it we were sure to buy. They were correct. I instantly took to this wine from the moment I tried it. This stop: +2 to the case shipper.

I was excited well in advance of our next stop. My parents joined the Twomey Cellars wine club during a California visit (they have wine shipped to Alaska, they’re hard core), and I had the opportunity to try some of their fantastic Pinot during one of my trips home. Twomey’s facility was gorgeous. From the waterfall sign at the tasting room entrance to the large windows that give views of the entire valley, this place didn’t disappoint. Unfortunately for us, they were participating in a food & wine festival that was going on the same day so the place was packed. Luckily they let us come in for a regular tasting without having the fancy wrist bands that everyone else donned! My favorites here were the 2010 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc (what?! Napa?! This is Sonoma people! j/k), and the 2009 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. I really enjoyed the Pinot Noir, it seemed almost sweet and spicy at the same time. This stop: +2 to the case shipper.

(The amazing view at Twomey Cellars)

For our last stop, we headed off into the countryside to another “must try” recommendation from Cheryl. Luckily we had a GPS to guide us, because we drove straight into the land of no cell phone reception. I pretty much loved this aspect of our visit to Porter Creek Vineyards. In addition to being off the grid, we were greeted by an enormous white dog that looked like a polar bear. We stopped into a tasting room, just up the drive from a house, which resembled being in a small cabin shed. The tremendously friendly tasting room host welcomed everyone that walked through the door with a glass and a smile. Talk about window placement.. wow.. the back window to the small tasting room/shed looked straight out over their vineyard that stretched up a hill. With the almost setting sun creeping down over the vines, it was one of the most beautiful sights I saw all day. And of course, we can’t forget about the wines. Porter Creek is doing some amazing things with Pinot Noir and Zinfandel. Their 2009 Russian River Valley Estate Pinot Noir isn’t even released yet (or at least, wasn’t at the time I was there), but he still let us try it. This was a hit with me and I picked up a bottle to let sit awhile, because I know what amazing flavors are yet to come. I also scooped up their 2009 Sonoma County Old Vine Zinfandel. The cherry and berries on this one was brilliant and I can’t wait to try it out here at home. We were some of the last patrons of the day at Porter Creek, and we couldn’t have closed out our day with a better stop. We got to watch the sun dip down over the vineyards on our way back south toward San Francisco. This stop: +2 to the case shipper, and that makes 12! Porter Creek was also kind enough to loan me packing tape to close up my box, since, afterall, I was headed directly to the airport (do not pass Go, do not collect $200).

(The window! Simply breathtaking)

(My new polar bear dog friend. He didn't want any of my wine)

What a whirlwind day! I was eager to come home with varietals that I can’t generally find in Washington wine country, which made my stockpiles of Zins and Pinots a welcome addition to my wine racks. Where on the road will Sips & The City appear next? Only time will tell.. (hint: what’s our nation’s 49th state?)

(The sun coming down over Porter Creek Vineyards)

William Church Winery Winemaker Dinner - Russell's Dining & Bar - Bothell, WA

2011-11-16T20:25:00.000-08:00

“Winemaker dinner” is probably one of my favorite phrases. Why you ask? Well, it combines what we’ve long since established are two of my favorite things: food & wine. If you’ve been following along with me on this blog, you’ll see that I’ve attended several winemaker dinners over the past year and a half and always have raving reviews afterwards. That probably has a lot to do with how picky I am when attending them, the perfect wine and the perfect restaurant make quite the excellent pair. You really can’t go wrong when you attend one for wines you enjoy at a restaurant that is notorious for delicious dishes! That principle is what brought me to the William Church Winery (@wmchurchwinery) dinner at Russell’s Dining & Bar (@RussellLowell / @RussellsDining). I have long enjoyed the wines of William Chuch, the owners of which happen to be WSU Alum (Go Cougs!). While I had tasted through their line-up on numerous occasions, I had yet to try their selections with food pairings, something I was very excited for. This dinner featured a five-course menu paired with five of the William Church wines. The evening was held in the beautiful upstairs loft area at Russell’s, which I had only ever previously seen empty! It was a beautiful room with the dinner tables all set out and was the perfect setting for our meal.

We started our meal with a dish that is always a favorite of mine, Butternut Squash Soup with Duck Confit and Fried Shallots. This was paired beautifully with the 2010 Viognier. Owner Rod Balsley described this wine and their continuing adventures into making Viognier. He described the 2010 vintage as offering flavors “true to what a Viognier varietal is supposed to give”. The creamy soup with the crisp Viognier was amazing, and the fried shallots really brought out the apple and pear flavors of the wine. The soup also had a nice spice to it which complemented the sweetness of the butternut squash quite nicely. I will note that I LOVE this Viognier and loved it long before I had it paired with this dinner. If you’ve never tried it I suggest you get on it ASAP, the winery is due to sell out of it by the end of this weekend! I did, however, have the opportunity to get a sneak peak (ok, a sneak taste) of the 2011 vintage during fermentation and shortly thereafter (I have connections), and I’m very excited to taste the finished product. The 2011 vintage of this amazing wine will be even better yet!

Our next course was a Pan Seated Pintelle with a Poultry Jus, White Pepper Polenta and Balsalmic Reduction paired with the 2007 Sur La Mer. Sur La Mer means “on the sea” which is a reference to the town of La Rochelle in western France where owner Leslie Balsley was born. This is a classic Bordeaux blend comprised of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 10% Malbec, and 10% Petit Verdot. It’s lighter in style and was delicious paired with the balsamic flavors in the pintelle dish. The creamy polenta balanced out the wine nicely.

The third course served was a Wild Boar Peperonata paired with the very first vintage of William Church’s Cabernet Sauvignon (a 2005). The boar was so tender and the Cabernet structure balanced out brilliantly. There were just a few cases left of this Cab at the time of this dinner and I think they sold out that very evening! The wine, a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, has fruit from Conner Lee Vineyard of the Wahluke Slope AVA. It “still has acid and tannin and could probably lay down for another 5-6 years” according to Rod. It was such a treat to try something from their very first vintage! Another perk of the winemaker dinners: there are always those types of fun surprises.

We then moved on to a Grilled Tenderloin with Apple Demi Glace, Parsnip Mashed Potatoes, Baby Carrots and Roasted Apples. This was served along with the 2008 Malbec. The nose at first was almost like candy but the first taste brought a huge pepper punch that was very complex. The pepper came out even more with the taste of the tenderloin and no additional pepper was needed on the meat because the wine made up for it! There was also fruit to the back of the palate with the food pairing. The tenderloin was perfectly cooked and it really was an excellent pairing. The winery has always recommended their Malbec with anything grilled, which I definitely agree with after this pairing. Assistant Winemaker Marcus Rafanelli explained how this was the first wine that he made at William Chuch from start to finish where he was able to taste the grapes in the vineyard all the way to the bottle. Because of that, this vintage has always been very special to him.

Our dessert course of the meal was a Chocolate Pecan Tart paired with the 2008 Syrah. While there are many that say that chocolate and wine aren’t meant to be paired together, I will say that the Syrah and chocolate combination always seems to do the trick for me. In this case, there was a nice floral touch to the Syrah and it paired nicely with the chocolate and the mild nuts of the dish.

At the end of the night, I was both full and excited to have learned about new pairings for some wines I already have on my wine racks at home. Once again Russell's provided a killer meal from start to finish and made excellent choices on what to pair with each of the wines selected by the winery. What and when will my next winemaker dinner be? We shall see!

(the William Church Winery team with Russell's head chef/owner Russell Lowell & General Manager Rob Williamson)

Upcoming Event: 2011 Taste of Tulalip - Tulalip Resort

2011-10-31T18:09:00.000-07:00

While I can happily say that there are MANY great wine events held throughout the year, the Taste of Tulalip is by far my favorite. The 2010 event (read my write-up on it here) was amazing, featuring top of the line wines from Washington and California and delicious bites from the many talented chefs of the Tulalip Resort. I've been checking off the days on my calendar in anticipation of this year's festivities and from the preview event I attended, this year will be even better than before (I don't even know how that's possible, last year was incredible).

At the start of the preview event, we were greeted by the resort's brilliant sommelier Tommy Thompson, who poured us glasses of 2002 Louis Roederer 'Cristal' champagne. Once again, we were being treated like royalty, and I couldn't wait to see what the evening had in store for us. Each of the resort chefs were introduced to the group by Executive Chef Perry Mascitti. The chefs then proceeded to roll out carts to each table and prepare our tastes tableside! This was a fun way to learn about the course they were presenting, and it was fun to be able to ask questions of the chefs.

(bring on the bubbles! 2002 Cristal)

Our table's first course, prepared by Chef Gerry Shultz, was handmade chantrelle mushroom tortellini that was made with local blue cheese, hazelnut, olives and roasted fennel and served with winter squash mascarpone sage sauce. I loved the presentation in tiny martini glasses, and enjoyed how they served dishes in these glasses at the Taste of Tulalip last year.

(chantrelle mushroom tortellini)

Next, Chef John Ponticelli served up a dungeness crab artichoke crostini, which also was served with a wasabi aioli. The presentation by the chefs of the resort never ceases to amaze me, even when they are plating things table side!

(dungeness crab artichoke crostini)

Our third dish was a wagyu New York strip, prepared by Chef Brent Clarkson. This came with some striped fresh beets, baby chives, sherry vinaigrette and almond butter and bleu cheese. The cut of meat was so tender, I most definitely could have eaten a much larger piece of it!

(Wagyu beef! It's what's for dinner)

We were then served some sushi, also prepared by Chef John Ponticelli. This included fresh water eel, crab, and ahi hand roll, and Temari sushi with eel, rice seaweed, kaiware, and teri sauce foam.

They saved the best part for last, however, when the resort's own "Willy Wonka", Nikol Nakamura, mixed up some nitrogen pistachio ice cream! When the chef has to wear safety goggles while mixing your dessert, you know it's going to be good. This was a great touch to end the meal and was definitely fun to watch!

(mixing up our nitrogen ice cream)

(ta-da! Pistachio ice cream made with nitrogen)

And now for the wines of the event. Remember my post last year talking about the amazing wines I was able to try? This year will be no different when it comes to the best of the best wineries in attendance. While nothing was really paired for the bites we were provided, we did receive some excellent wines to enjoy along with our food. First up was the incredible 2008 Domaine Leflaive Batard Montrachet from Burgundy. This was amazing. Rich, elegant, delicious, and such a treat to be able to enjoy it this evening.

Our next wine, also quite amazing, was the 2006 Leonetti Cellars 'Reserve' from Walla Walla. This blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Petit Verdot, 11% Malbec, and 2% Merlot was created using grapes from each of their estate Vineyards. It was plush and fruity and accompanied my steak dish well.

Lastly, but certainly not least, we enjoyed the ZD Wines 'Abacus' XII Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley in California. If you remember my post from last year (or have referred back to it since reading this one), the 'Abacus' is made up of wine from each of the vintages prior. So basically, the Abacus XII contains 12 vintages of wine in it! I love this concept and I can't wait to try the next.

Each of the bites and wines we enjoyed at the preview will be available at either the Celebration Dinner on November 11th, 2011 or the Grand Taste on November 12th. Unfortunately, I hear the Celebration Dinner has long since sold out (it's a popular dinner!), but there are definitely still tickets for the main event on Saturday. There are two options for Saturday:

Taste of Tulalip Grand Taste Pass

2:30 PM - 6:30 PM
65 Washington wineries
20+ Napa Valley wineries “Highway 29”
“Italian Palazzo” in Oasis Pool featuring 20+ Italian wineries
Multiple food stations by Tulalip Resort’s award winning chefs
Taste of Tulalip retail wine shop
3:30 PM Rock-n-Roll Cooking Challenge judged by “Thirsty Girl”, Leslie Sbrocco and Carla Hall!

Taste of Tulalip All Access Saturday Pass

12:00 PM - VIP Seminar featuring Carla Hall. Carla Hall will “wow” you with her talents as she performs a cooking demonstration, table talk and a question and answer session with Executive Chef Perry Mascitti and Sommelier Tommy Thompson.
Private Magnum party in mpulse lounge hosted by “Liquid Kitchen”, star Kathy Casey! In here you’ll be treated to some of the most elite wines from around the world hand selected by Sommelier Tommy Thompson and sample some of Kathy Casey’s tasty appetizers!
Early entrance into the Grand Taste at 1:30 PM
65 Washington wineries
Multiple food stations by Tulalip Resort’s award winning chefs
Taste of Tulalip retail wine shop
3:30 PM Rock-n-Roll Cooking Challenge

While one is a little heavier on the pocket book than the other, both are sure to please. The ticket prices for this event are WELL worth the cost, as the wines and food you get at the Taste of Tulalip go above and beyond any other food & wine event out there. I can't stress enough the need to get your tickets ASAP. There's a strong possibility that this event will sell out, so don't miss out on the fun at the 2011 Taste of Tulalip!

2nd Annual BLEND - Bell Harbor Conference Center

2011-10-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

For this year’s Columbia BLEND event, held September 18th, 2011, I was honored to be asked by event promoter Jamie Peha (@TableTalkPeha) to be on the panel of judges for the “BLEND Awards”. Now, I’ve tasted a lot of wine in my day, but this was the first time I’d been asked to participate in something like this, so I was excited! Little did I know it would be so much work! This year’s event featured over 40 wineries pouring 130+ wines, all blends.

(look at me! I'm on the "panel of experts"!)

The lovely Erin Thomas (@erindrinkswine) and I arrived at BLEND an hour before kickoff, ready to don our stemware, clipboards, and spit cups in an effort to taste through all of the wines being poured at the event. The next two hours went a lot like this: swirl, sip, spit, dump, repeat. That was a TON of wine to get through. It was a great experience, however, and was the first time I’d tasted so many wines and not actually consumed one drop of any of them! Some of the highlights of this year’s event included the “Bubble Lounge”, which showcased several sparkling wines, as well as an oyster line-up from Taylor Shellfish Farms, as well as a blending station from Cave B Winery (@CaveBWinery), where their winemaker Freddy let us create out own blend using Cave B wines. Mine was a fun 60% Cabernet Franc, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. Not too shabby at all! The custom blending was my favorite part of last year’s event (read my post on BLEND 2010 here).

(sips and treats in the "Bubble Lounge")

(custom blending with Cave B Winery)

And now for the winning wines! As I mentioned, it was pretty hard to judge so many amazing wines, but there were a stand out few. Several that I gave highest points to ended up in the winners circle, which was nice to see! Without further ado, our 2011 BLEND Award Winners!

White Blends:

1st Place - McCrea Cellars 2009 Sirocco Blanc. This is 43% Grenache Blanc, 41% Marsanne, 10% Picpoul, and 7% Roussanne. McCrea is well known for their unique blends and usage of unique grapes. In fact, the McCrea Picpoul was the first of that varietal that I had ever tried (read about that in my post on Urban Enoteca). The ’09 Sirocco Blanc definitely held its own as a unique blend and was a well-rounded and sweet white blend.

2nd Place - Brian Carter Cellars (@briancarterwine) 2009 Oriana. This is a Viognier/Roussane blend that brings forth a lot of my favorite fruits. I’ve enjoyed this one during visits to the winery in the past.

3rd Place - Naches Heights Vineyard 2010 Can Can. This is a Viognier based blend that was a new one to me. I enjoyed the bright fruit flavors and crispness. Definitely one I’ll seek out again.

Red Blends:

1st Place - Woodward Canyon 2006 Estate Reserve. This is a big bold blend made up of 42% Cabernet Franc, 35% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 9% Petit Verdot. This blend changes from year to year and will definitely age well for years to come.

2nd Place (TIE) - Robert Ramsey Cellars 2008 Mason's Red. This is a fantastic, budget friendly, food wine that is Syrah-based and changes from year to year. A good everyday drinker to have handy!

2nd Place (TIE) - Sparkman Cellars (@SparkmanCellars) 2008 Stella Mae. I liked the 2007 vintage of this so much I bought two bottles of it at separate visits to the winery (and discovered this when I organized my wine a few weeks back!). The 2008 is no different, and is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Petit Verdot, 16% Merlot, and 3% Cabernet Franc. Named for the Sparkman’s oldest daughter, this is a deep dark wine, with flavors of dark chocolate and dark fruit.

As you can see, there were some fantastic wines at this year’s BLEND event. It was a shame we couldn’t give awards to even more wines, there were many deserving ones in attendance! As I mentioned before, I spent most of the event with a clipboard in one hand and a spit cup/wine glass in the other (yes, both in one hand, that was tricky..), so I don’t have as many photos of this event as I would have liked, but that just shows how hard at work I was! I look forward to the 2012 BLEND event, and can’t wait to see what Peha Promotions has in store for us next year!

Want to see Erin and I as fancy judges? Check out this photo from Seattle Weekly!

Wine in the Pines - Swiftwater Cellars - Suncadia Resort

2011-09-30T11:09:00.001-07:00

Back at the end of August, I once again headed into the mountains to visit the beautiful Swiftwater Cellars (@SwiftwaterWine). If you remember, I visited back in June to tour the winery and learn about Wine in the Pines. Well, the event had finally arrived and we packed up the cars and headed east into the sunshine and some serious temperatures. The event was divided into several different sessions, which included the Celebrity Seminar, the Grand Gala tasting, and the concurrent “Meet the Maker” tastings and Winemaker Dinners. It was a jam packed day for attendees, but worth the drive and the heat!

I was excited to first attend the Celebrity Seminar, hosted by Evan Goldstein and Leslie Sbrocco. Evan is a Master Sommelier who has written numerous food & wine pairing books and is an overall “educator of wine”. Leslie is the head “Thirsty Girl” (@beathirstygirl), who’s charismatic personality and humor has landed her as a regular guest on the “Today Show”. Today was no exception! Leslie and Evan were a great team to lead this seminar, which featured lamb dishes from Chef Paul Cotta of Swiftwater’s Hoist House restaurant, Chef Andrew Wilson of Cle Elum-Roslyn’s Portals restaurant, Chef Liam Spence of Seattle’s LOLA, and Chef Jacky Lo of Seattle’s Wild Ginger restaurant. My favorite part of this seminar was that they didn’t provide dishes with paired wines that the “experts” thought paired best. Rather, they set out an array of 7 different wines in front of us, split between reds and whites, and different varietals. How fun! With each dish, we had the opportunity to taste each wine as we ate, and decide ourselves which we felt paired the best with the dish. First, however, we tasted through each of the wines, with input from our celebrity hosts, as well as a brief description from the winemaker or winery representative in attendance for the wine. As Evan stated when we started, “wine alone and wine with food are two very different animals”, and boy was he right. The flavors changed immensely from the taste through of the wines on their own to when we tried them with the flavors in each of the lamb dishes. And now, without further ado, the wines!

(Our seminar wine flight)

Our first wine was the Teveri Cellars sparkling wine, which was made available specifically for this event, as at this time it wasn’t even released yet! Teveri is a Yakima winery and this sparkling is 100% Chardonnay with no residual sugar, leaving the natural sugar to brighten the wine. It was interesting to learn that Teveri has only been open for just over 6 months and they expect a 5,000 case production by the end of the year! This one had a citrus after taste and was a very clean wine.

Next we sampled the Kiona Vineyards & Winery (@kionawine) 2010 Red Mountain Riesling. This riesling came from their old vines and as my friend attending with me stated “smells like starbursts” (I LOVE starbursts!). Kiona started in 1975 and was definitely one of the pioneers of the Red Mountain AVA. They started with planting 12 acres, 4 each of Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Riesling. This has grown significantly, and Kiona now maintains over 300 acres of vineyard on Red Mountain. This Riesling has a nice tart acidity, which is definitely a key for food pairing. Kiona keeps it cold from fermentation to bottling, which offers a nice spritz on the end of each taste.

Also in our line-up was the Chinook Wines 2009 Sauvignon Blanc. As Leslie stated in the seminar, “it’s really about acidity”, as Sauvignon Blanc is known for high vibrant acidity. She goes on to compare wine to fashion & fabrics saying, “acidity is like a bra that lifts and separates and makes everything look perky”. That quote really got the room going and also made us realize how right she was. It really does enhance wine and make it “perky” when needed. The Chinook Sauvignon Blanc is fairly oaky for this varietal and had what seemed like peet flavors, reminding me of a scotch. My opinion of this wine definitely changed once we paired with food. More on that later..

Next up was the Swiftwater Cellars (@SwiftwaterWine) 2008 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. As Evan stated about Pinot Noir, it “has both red wine and white wine characteristics”. This particular Pinot had good tannin on the finish. Interesting to note about this wine is that these are OR grapes. Tony Rynders, one of the Swiftwater winemakers, is one of a half dozen winemakers in WA who are playing around with Pinot Noir, and this vintage was the first they’ve made at Swiftwater. Impressive wine, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of this varietal from this winery.

Our next red was the Hightower Cellars (@hightowercellar) 2007 Columbia Valley Merlot. Evan made a great point, that Merlot is “a good table mate that finds itself happier on the table than by itself” and that it “has lighter acidity and softer, more plush tannins”. The Hightower Merlot is mostly Red Mountain fruit, with some from Horse Heaven Hills. It has a bit of Cabernet Franc in it, which gives a nice pepper on the finish. Kelly Hightower explained how Hightower makes their blends barrel by barrel, which “is a lot like cooking but you only get one chance at it”. How true! There’s no starting over when it comes to wine blending. You only get one shot with that juice!

The line-up continued with the Efeste (@efeste) 2008 Ceidleigh Red Mountain Syrah (which is sold out according to the Efeste website!). This wine had a smooth nose and almost a hint of cherry on the taste. Part of this Syrah comes from Kiona Vineyard, part of Ciel du Cheval, and part from Klipsun. The blend on it changes with the vintage, which always keeps it interesting! Winemaker Brennon Leighton tries to keep the New French Oak fairly low on this one and uses 100% native fermentation.

Finally we had the Woodward Canyon Winery (@WoodwardCanyon) 2008 Walla Walla Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Woodward Canyon was the second winery in Walla Walla and is celebrating their 30^th anniversary this year! They started their Cabernet in 1977 and released their first commercial vintage in 1981. Winemaker/owner Rick Small explained about their vineyards and how there are 1,600 plants/acre at 3x9 spacing. I love picking up these fun wine facts at events like this! This particular Cabernet comes from 70% new wood. Rick really has a passion for food & wine pairing and stated “I want my wine to complement food”. What an amazing job he has done in achieving that!

And now for the food! We had four small plates of lamb dishes, as the American Lamb board was a sponsor of this event. They were brought out two at a time, and we were able to taste the dish with our wines and decide which we felt paired the best. Everyone had a different opinion (for the most part), so it made for a very interesting tasting.

Our first dish was from Chef Paul Cotta from Swiftwater’s Hoist House Restaurant. He served up a lamb terrine gratin with curried Walla Walla onion mustard, baby greens and preserved lemon-pistachio gremelata. Remember when I said earlier my opinion of the Chinook Sauvignon Blanc changed with food? This was it! I loved it along with the flavors in this dish! It just goes to show you how wine alone and wine with food can be so drastically different.

(Chef Paul Cotta's lamb dish)

Next was a dish from Chef Andrew Wilson from Portals Restaurant. He presented a sumac crusted lamb loin with carrot purée and frizzled shallots with a lamb jus lie. The lamb in this dish was tender and amazing. Much like our first dish, this paired brilliantly with the Chinook Sauvignon Blanc. Also a nice pairing was the Kiona Riesling.

(Chef Andrew Wilson's lamb dish)

The next round of two dishes started with a lamb dish from LOLA’s Chef Liam Spence. This delicious plate was a slow roasted lamb leg, feta, bacon and huckleberry jus. It was hard to pick just one wine that paired well with this dish. My picks for this were the Hightower Merlot, the Woodward Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon, and the Swiftwater Pinot Noir. The Kiona Riesling was amazing along with the bread pudding part of the dish. Boy oh boy what I wouldn’t give for some more of that…

(Chef Liam Spence's lamb dish)

Finally, we enjoyed a dish from Wild Ginger’s Chef Jacky Lo. This was a lamb rendang, a classic Malay curry with lemongrass, ginger, galangal, red chili and spices in house made coconut cream. This dish is traditionally made with beef, but since lamb was the name of the game today, we were able to enjoy a different variation. My favorite pairings with this dish were the Swiftwater Pinot Noir, the Chinook Sauvignon Blanc, and the Kiona Riesling.

(Chef Jacky Lo's lamb dish)

I really enjoyed this seminar because, as I said before, it gave us the opportunity to make our own food & wine pairings from a selection of different varietals. I think this “trial and error” approach really helps in the pairing education. It was also great to get the commentary from our seminar leaders, Evan and Leslie. They have so much knowledge between the two of them!

(Grand Gala glasses ready for the tasters)

The rest of our time up at Wine in the Pines was spent at the Grand Gala, the tasting where wineries and restaurants were available to provide tastes and bites. While we got lucky with the weather on this day with the sun shining, it was almost TOO hot for outdoor wine tasting. I found myself doing a loop around the indoor and outdoor winery tables just tasting whites before I made it back around for reds (which, after sitting in the hot sun for awhile, were a little toasty). Even though it was quite warm, it was still a lot of fun. The crowd was just the perfect size to not feel too cramped in the space and it was great to interact with several of the winemakers and winery representatives there that I knew.

(Mercer Estate pouring at the Grand Gala)

(Barrage Cellars at the Grand Gala)

(Gard Vintners at the Grand Gala)

While I didn’t get a chance to attend the later “Meet the Maker” tastings or Winemaker dinners, I still felt like I got the most out of my visit to Wine in the Pines. This was an all-day, fun-filled event in the most perfect of settings. I’m so excited to see how this event develops in the next few years and I definitely hope Swiftwater continues to host in their beautiful facility, it was perfect!

Sips on the Road: Washington Wine does it big in the Great State of Alaska!

2011-08-16T21:16:00.000-07:00

Yes, it’s true. Washington wine DOES exist outside of Washington. But sometimes one must make sure the wine, which is often not distributed outside of Washington, makes it to far away places from time to time. This story begins with a single bottle... What happened from there brought joy to a wedding and helped ring in the start of a new life for one happy couple.

Last year, Barrage Cellars (@BarrageCellars) released their 2009 “&” Rosé, which had the most creative label allowing you to write pretty much anything you wanted on it to go with the “&”. I heard some pretty creative stories from winery owners Kevin and Rebecca about what people had written, but this bottle presented itself as the perfect Christmas gift for my younger brother Trevor and his fiancée Konstance, who were busy planning their Summer 2011 wedding. I hauled that bottle up from Woodinville wine country to Alaska, had a family friend write “Trevor / Konstance” on either side of that “&” and excitedly gave them this gift which I knew they would love for their wedding. Sure enough, this big sister was right and Konstance immediately started working the bottle into her center pieces for the tables.

Fast forward to March 2011 when my Mom and Konstance flew down to Seattle to visit me for a weekend. In addition to their Barrage Rosé, why not have all Washington wines served at the wedding? I had the fantastic idea to take them wine tasting in Woodinville so that Konstance could have the opportunity to pick out each of the wines she wanted to serve. I made a short list of several that I knew were in her price range, would be appealing to most palates, and that I personally also liked, and we set off on our tasting adventure on a rainy Saturday afternoon. Throughout the next several months, each case of wine made a special Alaska Airlines trip via baggage on the return from various trips my Dad had down to Seattle for work. Yes, I am happy to report that we managed to get FIVE cases of wine to Alaska without paying a cent for shipping (Dad is MVP Gold, no baggage fees!). There they waited for a beautiful weekend in July when Alaska got a taste of some pretty fantastic Washington wine. Well.. not ALL of Alaska. Only the wedding attendees...

The wedding was held on the shore of beautiful Big Lake, Alaska at the Sunset View Resort (NO, we could NOT see Russia from there…). The grounds were perfect for the occasion and also for some great shots of the wines!

The first wine was the before mentioned Barrage Cellars “&” Rosé. This bottle was put at the center of each table as part of the centerpieces. As it was also for drinking during dinner, I had the fun task of opening and re-corking an entire case of wine in the afternoon before the ceremony. The wine was a hit, with a ton of comments on the customized bottle label, which looked like it had been specially printed with their names on it. This was such a fun way to showcase WA wine that also helped mark their special day. It was perfect! This Rosé is one that Barrage calls “a red wine drinker’s Rosé”, and it’s definitely darker and not as super sweet as others I’ve had. It’s very enjoyable and it’s too bad I didn’t stock up on more before they sold out at the winery!

The first of the two whites was the Guardian Cellars (@GuardianCellars) 2010 Angel Sauvignon Blanc. This wine wasn’t initially released back in March when we went tasting, however, Jerry happened to be pouring it in the tasting room that day as a preview. Konstance loved it, as I knew she would, and I vowed I’d be back in May when the 2010 Angel was released. You better believe I was in there release weekend picking up a case, along with another two bottles for my own stash! Of the two whites available at the wedding, this was the big hit. This Columbia Valley wine is 100% Sauvignon Blanc and spends some time in both new French oak and stainless steel, which balances out the flavors beautifully. This is by far my favorite Sauvignon Blanc of the 2010 vintage. I may or may not have been drinking this one all night at the wedding… (ssshh, don’t tell..).

Our second white was the Airfield Estates (@Airfield) 2009 Thunderbolt Sauvignon Blanc. I initially took Konstance tasting at Airfield because I’m a fan of their Unoaked Chardonnay, but they weren’t pouring it that day, and they had the most amazing close out special on their Sauvignon Blanc. This was a nice white that was light bodied and brought forward pleasant citrus flavors.

What was most funny about the day we went tasting wines, was that I predicted, and almost always correctly, which wine that Konstance was going to prefer our of the line-up we tried at each winery. That’s what took us into William Church Winery(@wmchurchwinery), where I had a sneaking suspicion that she’d really enjoy the 2008 Bishop’s Blend, always a favorite of mine. The Bishop’s is a different blend each year, with the 2008 vintage being 39% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Malbec, 11% Syrah, 9% Merlot, and 3% Cab Franc. This blend has scored well in competition, and received 90 points from Wine Enthusiast. I was able to get a sneak peak of the 2009 Bishop’s, which this year is mostly Syrah based. It’s definitely smooth and I can’t wait to try the finished product when it’s time for release! The 2008 Bishop’s was definitely the red wine of the wedding. I had several people come up to me asking where they could get some, to which I referred them to their local airline to hop a plane to Woodinville. Hopefully someday soon we’ll see this wine (and others from the William Church line) on shelves in Alaska!

Our second red was from a secondary label for Gordon Brothers Winery. The Kamiak 2009 Rock Lake Red is 58% Merlot, 33% Syrah, 8% Cabernet Sauv, and 1% Malbec. This was an easy drinking red blend that was a good fit for a wedding, where everyone wants something just a little bit different. This is another Columbia Valley wine, and it spent 19 months in French & American oak barrels.

It was so much fun to be able to bring a little bit of Washington wine country up to Alaska for this special occasion. What made it even more unique was that the bride herself was actually able to travel to try everything and pick out what would be served. She ended up with some great selections and a group of happy guests that were able to try some new wines!

And in the end… I gained a sister. What an absolutely perfect day…

Lake Chelan Wine Weekend v.2.0 - Chelan & Manson, WA

2011-08-04T20:38:00.000-07:00

BOOM! This was the soundtrack to my weekend here, as it was almost cherry harvest time, and in order to keep the birds off the fruit, the orchards have "cherry guns" that sound like cannons to scare the birds away. These go off every few minutes and never failed to catch me off guard, even though I knew it was coming... and now, moving on..

Well if you remember, I had a post from last summer on my wine tasting trip to the Lake Chelan AVA. This has become an annual trip for me, both to see some family that lives at the lake and to try the latest releases from the wineries on the banks of beautiful Lake Chelan. I set out on Saturday with my great Aunt (she's great in two ways: in that she's my Dad's aunt, and that she's just pretty great) to check out a few new stops and several favorites. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate much until later in the day, but who needs sun, we can drink in the rain (inside...).

Our first stop of the day was one of those that I had never visited, Wapato Point Cellars. This winery has ties to another local winery, Lake Chelan Winery, who has a great BBQ out back and throws some pretty great parties. The highlight of my trip to Wapato Point Cellars was their gift shop. I LOVED the items they carried in it and probably would have loaded up big time if not for us galavanting off to our next stop. The winery also has a good sized restaurant attached that I've been told serves up some pretty tasty dishes. We didn't to eat at this visit, but hopefully next time. We started out with the 2010 Pinot Grigio, which contains grapes from their home vineyard on the north shore of the lake. This one was dry with citrus flavors, and fairly acidic. My favorite wine here (that I left with) was the 2010 Late Harvest Riesling. This one has a high acid and sugar content and has the aging potential for 5-10 years. We'll see if it lasts that long on my wine rack, this stuff was quite tasty!

Our next stop took us to a favorite, Hard Row to Hoe Winery (@hardrow). We were lucky enough to snag owner Don Phelps to pour our tastes from amongst their busy crowds that day! Hardrow has 6 acres surrounding their winery, as well as 6 acres across the lake. At the winery vineyard they grow Cabernet Franc, Riesling & Malbec. Their 12 acres total puts out about 2000 cases annually. My favorite of this visit (and one of my favorites of the day) was their 2008 "Burning Desire" Estate Cabernet Franc. This is their first harvest from their estate vineyard, and they only produced 100 cases. I was lucky to score a bottle, I have no doubt that this one will sell out fairly quickly. Another fun one that I definitely left with was the "Ice Breaker" Ice Cider. This dessert wine is made just like ice wine, only with apples! They are only 1 of 2 wineries in the country making this, so I knew I had to take some home. The taste makes you pucker up like with a sour apple candy, but then you just want another taste. I can't explain it, but man it's tasty!

Still on the Manson side of the lake, we next headed to a newer winery, Chelan Ridge Winery. Located in a beautiful building overlooking the hillside and lake, the winery may not have many wines, but what they do have is solid. The 2007 Syrah was my favorite here, and it was dark and jammy. The 2008 Merlot was also pretty good, with deep fruit and dark cherry flavors. LOVED the sign they had on the wall near the door. How fitting is that?

BOOM! (yep, cherry gun again..)

With the rain finally letting up and the sun shining through, we headed over to Benson Vineyards Estate Winery (@bensonvineyards) , which was a favorite from my visit last year due to their amazing views and grounds, and their wide selection of wines to try. A standout this year included the 2008 Sangiovese, which was smooth, with cherry, spice and soft tannins. The 2008 Cabernet Franc also showed well. It was so wonderful to see the sun come out, and we were able to head down to Benson's beautiful patio area to enjoy some live music and snacks. The best experience here had to do with a helicopter that took off and was buzzing low over the cherry orchards. The patrons at the winery had no idea what was going on and were so confused, so I, being a non-local but traveling with a local that was definitely in the know, informed them that the helicopter was drying off the cherries since it had been raining so much. The water sits in the top dimpled area of the cherry and can rot them straight through if not dried out immediately. Since the cherry crop is a huge business in the Lake Chelan area (the cherries were here long before the grapes), people spend big bucks to make sure their harvest is what it should be (including, it seems, hiring a helicopter to fly over their orchards!). The tourists got a kick out of my knowledge of this, and I felt pretty proud that I could educate some people, having just learned this fun fact myself. Ok, back to the wine...

(see the helicopter? Dead center in the photo)

We headed through Chelan and around the other side of the lake for our last two stops, first heading into Nefarious Cellars (@NefariousWines), which was another that I really enjoyed during my 2010 Lake Chelan tasting tour. The tasting room was quite busy when we arrived, so we just hung back a bit and waited for it to clear out so we could belly up to the tasting bar to chat with Dean Neff, one of the owners and winemakers for Nefarious. I was sad to miss Heather this time around, but as Dean said "someone has to watch the kids!". True statement. My favorite of this visit was the 2009 Defiance Vineyard Estate Syrah. As their tasting notes plainly state "Syrah is the reason we make wine in Washington". This Syrah is earthy, spicy, dark, and has super-ripe berries. The nose is beautiful and the taste matches. We definitely grabbed a bottle to share for our dinner that very evening! Dean also opened up their unreleased 2009 Snipes Mountain Grenache, which was a good call on his part, because I loved it and bought a bottle!

Our final stop of the day took us to Karma Vineyards (@KarmaVineyards), where I'm a member of the "Sparkle Club" (probably my favorite wine club, just because of the name). This club provides members with two bottles of Karma's delicious Methode Champenoise twice a year. I look forward to the arrival of these bottles and always drink them for special occasions. In fact, the bridal party shared two bottles while "getting pretty" for my younger brother's wedding just this last weekend! Another thing I love about Karma is their expansive seating area and menu. After tasting all day, we were definitely ready for some snacks and their sweet potato fries just about blew any others I've ever had out of the water. Folks, these are a must try. The tasting flight for out visit this time included the 2008 Bad Karma Grenache Merlot, the 2008 Mourvedre, and the 2008 Try (a Bordeaux blend which I love year after year). Needing to take full advantage of my "Sparkle Club" perks, I also enjoyed a glass of the Methode Champenoise while we were there. Always love a visit to Karma when I visit the area!

I'd definitely say it was another exciting tasting adventure in the Lake Chelan AVA. The wineries in this area have come a long way in just a few short years of growing grapes. There's still more work to be done in the area, but in time I'm sure they'll discover their niche and stand out among the Red Mountain and Walla Walla wineries of the state. One thing these wineries do have going for them, however, is scenery, which keeps the tourists coming and the wine selling. I love the area and will continue to visit annually (if not more!).

BOOM! (and don't forget about the cherry guns..)

Swiftwater Cellars - Suncadia Resort - Cle Elum, WA

2011-07-07T21:57:00.000-07:00

Nestled back in the woods amongst the sprawling beauty that is Suncadia Resort, lies a new winery that is quickly changing the face of the typical “winery visit”. Swiftwater Cellars (@SwiftwaterWine), owned by Don & Lori Watts, has billed itself as “Washington’s ultimate destination winery”, a description that runs true. Their facility contains their production space, a large restaurant, a gift shop, and various rooms that can be used for private events. I was able to visit this awe inspiring winery recently along with several of my peers and there wasn’t an attendee amongst the group that didn’t leave impressed with every aspect of our visit.

The Origins

Owners Don & Lori Watts started as farmers back in 1977, with a frozen foods company specializing in potatoes. Their company had grown to farm over 30,000 acres when they sold the business to Con Agra Foods a few years back. Refusing to “retire at age 51”, Don set out to start a “little” winery along with the assistance of a few industry pros. Pulling from his farming background, Don holds strong that “if you’re going to make real quality wines, it all starts in the field”. They’ve owned the 300-acre Zephyr Ridge vineyard, located in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA, for the past 15 years, and pull fruit from their own vineyard, as well as several other northwest sites. Their first three vintages (2007, 2008 & 2009) were made at Artifex, located in Walla Walla, before moving production to their newly completed winery facility for the 2010 vintage. Production has grown since their first vintage, going from 3,000 cases in their first vintage, to 7,000 cases last year. Along with winemakers Tony Rynders and Linda Trotta, the Watts’ are charging into the Washington wine scene with a unique “destination” advantage.

The Winery

We were able to view every corner of the expansive facility, which sits atop the former Coal Mine No. 9, which operated from 1930 to 1963. The winery pulls from this history in much of the design elements, and they even kept several original items around the property. The property was opened in September 2010 and was instantly welcomed as a great addition to Suncadia. The main level of the building contains a welcoming common room, with fire place and seating areas. Off to the left is Swiftwater’s large Hoist House restaurant, which also contains a full bar. Past the restaurant is the La Cantina Room, an open space with a small bar and adjacent patio that can be used for private tastings and parties. To the right of the common area is a fantastic boutique, which is Lori’s passion. Downstairs contains their production area, as well as a the huge Swiftwater Room that can hold 250 people for private events. Off this room is their Black Diamond Club Room, which has an expansive dining table and wine lockers that are made available for rent. Members can store any make of wine here, it is not strictly limited to Swiftwater wines. Across the Swiftwater Room are the barrel rooms, also sometimes used for private tastings. The upper mezzanine level also contains several other smaller rooms that can be utilized as well. The rear of the building contains several patio areas where guests can enjoy the weather and the views.

(the common room on the main level)

(glasses at the ready for our tasting)

(the history of the No. 9 mine)

(the barrel room)

(The Black Diamond Club Room)

(wine lockers in The Black Diamond Club Room)

The Wine

Swiftwater has two labels: their No. 9 label, which pays tribute to the mine that operated here; and their Swiftwater label. The No. 9 wines are meant to be “early drinkers”, where as the generally more expensive Swiftwater wines are created more ageable. We were able to taste through the entire line-up during out visit. Currently, the wines are mostly just available at the winery, but they are looking to move into the Seattle restaurant and wine shop market. My favorites of the day were:

2010 No. 9 Riesling – This was the first wine we tasted as we started our tour. This is cold fermented in 100% stainless steel with an 8 week fermentation. This was definitely a riesling for people who don’t normally like riesling. It wasn’t overly sweet and paired nicely with some snacks they provided for us as well.

2009 No. 9 Semillon – We enjoyed this one as we started our lunch. This 76% Semillon/24% Sauvignon Blanc blend contains Semillon from the Wahluke Slope and Sauvignon Blanc from the Yakima Valley. It’s partially barrel fermented, with just a hint of oak flavors. I loved the acidity on this and it would pair well with seafood.
2009 No. 9 Pinot Noir – Yes, you read that right. A Washington winery is making a Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. And not only are they making it, they’re making it exceptionally well. Winemaker Tony Rynders was the one that proposed adding Pinot Noir to the portfolio since there’s always been a strong association between Pacific Northwest wine regions, and in 2008, Swiftwater put out their first Willamette Valley Pinot. The 2009 vintage was served along with my lunch course, which was a salmon fillet with a reduction made from Swiftwater’s Proprietary Red wine (see notes below). Talk about a match made in heaven! The sweet red fruit hits the entire palate and it’s structured and quite refreshing. This wine was a big hit amongst the entire group.
2008 Swiftwater Proprietary Red – I really enjoyed this Cab based Bordeaux blend. It has the usual suspects as well as a little bit of Syrah. The fruit jumps out on the nose and at first taste. I love a fruit forward blend, so this was right up my alley. This will be released in the fall of 2011.

I very much enjoyed the entire line-up of Swiftwater wines, however, these are the ones that stood out the most to me. I definitely recommend a taste through their wines when you get the chance! My whole experience at Swiftwater was enjoyable from start to finish. We were treated like old friends and honored guests at the same time, which was so wonderful. The Swiftwater team really went above and beyond to make our experience enjoyable and believe me, it was noticed. I look forward to my next visit to the winery!

Wine in the Pines

The 4th Annual Wine in the Pines will be held at Swiftwater Cellars August 26th – 28th, 2011. This event had previously been hosted exclusively by Suncadia, and with the addition of Swiftwater to the property, this created a perfect venue for this annual wine and food event. The events of this 3-day festival include:

-“Into the Swing of Swiftwater Cellars”, held Friday night the 26th from 6-8pm, showcasing the wines of Swiftwater Cellars along with food from the Hoist House’s Chef Paul Cotta.

-Celebrity Guests, Leslie Sbrocco and Evan Goldstein, M.S. will present at the “Celebrity Seminar” held Saturday August 27th, from 12:30pm – 2:30pm. This will be a food and wine pairing seminar led by these two personalities, with The American Lamb Board providing the lamb used for the food pairing portion of this event.

-The “Grand Gala” is held Saturday the 27th from 3:30-6:30pm, and will feature 50+ wineries from WA, OR, and CA, each pouring a selection of their wines. Accompanying this will be select Northwest restaurants providing small bites to complement, as well as some live music.

-The “Winemaker’s Dinner” is held from 7-10pm on Saturday the 27th. This will feature 10 Northwest winemakers pairing wines with a 5-course dinner prepared by the Hoist House’s Chef Paul Cotta.

-The “Meet the Maker” session, held from 7-9pm on the 27th, was one of the most intriguing events to me for this. This is basically speed dating with wineries! Guests will spend 20 minutes with each winemaker, tasting several favorites of the winemaker with a small group at round tables. When the 20 minutes is up, the group moves to the next table with another winemaker. What a creative way to learn about new wines and the wineries in a casual setting. This event will also have small bites and live music.

The great thing about Wine in the Pines is that each event can be attended separately. Each event has its own ticket sales, so you can pick and choose which events fit best for you! Visit TicketsWest to purchase tickets for any or all of the Wine in the Pines festival. Worried about the travel up there? Check out the Suncadia Resort website for information on accommodations for the weekend.

(patio out back, beautiful!)

Upcoming Event: 3rd Annual WSU Wine Symposium - Columbia Tower Club - Seattle, WA

2011-06-27T19:12:00.000-07:00

Well if you know me at all, you know that two of my loves have to do with anything WSU related and anything wine related. And as we’ve learned in the past (read my write-up on the Grape Cup here), when the two are combined I get pretty excited about it! I’m so happy to once again be participating in putting on the 3rd Annual Washington State University Wine Symposium. This yearly event, organized by the Alumni Association and its trusty team of volunteers (that’s me!), is a showcase for Coug owned and affiliated wineries in Washington State. Cougs love supporting other Cougs and this is a great way to discover some fantastic wines that happen to be made by fellow alumni!

This year’s event will be held Saturday, July 9th, 2011 from 6-8pm at the Columbia Tower Club in downtown Seattle. It’s simply a trifecta of amazing, with a WSU event, wine, and the best views in town. Last year’s event had five amazing Washington wineries in attendance, each of whom had a specific tie to the University. The guests at the event left eager to find their new discoveries at local wine shops and the wineries had fellow Coug support for life!

We’re very excited to be hosting even more Cougar affiliated wineries this year, with seven signed up to be in attendance, and the potential for a few more as well! I’ll wait to post the full list until they are all confirmed, but until then, just know that attendees will NOT be disappointed in the quality of the wines we’re bringing to the event this year. This event sold out last year and we’re anticipating a sell-out again, so visit the Alumni registration page and secure your tickets today! It’s not to be missed!

GO COUGS!

Upcoming Event: El Gaucho 3rd Annual ‘Pour On the Plaza’ - El Gaucho - Bellevue, WA

2011-06-15T20:29:00.000-07:00

While I don't often find myself promoting Bellevue events (I am a die-hard Seattle girl afterall), this one was just too good to pass up. With such an amazing winery line-up for a Saturday afternoon affair, I figured I just had to share it with everyone! On Saturday, June 25, El Gaucho in Bellevue will host its 3rd annual 'Pour on the Plaza', where guests are invited to enjoy an array of delicious appetizers from El Gaucho Bellevue and Waterfront Seafood Grill while tasting wines from over 20 of the Northwest’s most distinguished wineries. This year the event will support the Rainier Vista Boys & Girls Club of King County.

The event will be held from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. and will be held on El Gaucho Bellevue’s new outdoor patio located in the City Center Plaza. Cost is $85 per person (incl tax & gratuity) and reservations can be made by calling the restaurant at (425) 455-2715. Complimentary valet parking will be offered at El Gaucho’s front door.

In addition to sips and snacks, music will be provided by the upbeat Latin grooves of A Cedar Suede. Guests will also have the opportunity to meet Season 1 Top Chef David Martin, who will be making a special appearance to autograph his latest cookbook for a minimum donation. All proceeds will benefit the Rainer Vista Boys & Girls Club.

Participating wineries include:

Andrew Will Winery
Bergstrom Winery
Caymus Vineyards
Corliss Estates
DeLille Cellars
Domaine Drouhin
Domaine Ste. Michelle
Domaine Serene
EFESTĒ Winery
Evening Land Vineyards
Gorman Winery
Grand Rêve Vintners Winery and Vineyard
Lachini Vineyards
Long Shadows Wineries and Vineyards
Mark Ryan Winery
Northstar Winery
Novelty Hill Winery
Pepper Bridge Winery
Sparkman Cellars
Spring Valley Vineyard
Va Piano Vineyards
Walla Faces Vineyard

As I mentioned, a very impressive winery line-up. Pair these wines with the delicious bites from the participating restaurants and you have one amazing Saturday afternoon! Let's hope for some amazing weather to enjoy 'Pour on the Plaza' 2011!

Do You Rock & Wine? Win 2 Tickets to Upcoming Wine Rocks 2011!

2011-06-03T12:16:00.000-07:00

Hopefully by now you've heard about next week's Wine Rocks event, held at the Georgetown Ballroom. For more details, see my post on the event here. I have a pair of tickets to give away to one lucky reader, and it could be you! Here's the details:

-Post a comment here about your favorite wine/music combination. Is it Chenin Blanc and some country? A big Zin with some classic rock? What combo fits you best?

-Make sure you're available and in Seattle, WA on Thursday June 9th from 7-10:30pm.

-On Monday June 6th I will take all the comments and randomly draw a lucky winner for the pair of tickets! Make sure to include your twitter handle (if applicable) in your comment.

-Your name (and your guest) will be on a list at the door at Wine Rocks for entrance into the event!

Good luck and I hope to see everyone Thursday the 9th at Wine Rocks 2011!

Walla Walla Spring Release Weekend- Walla Walla, WA

2011-05-24T18:24:00.000-07:00

Well I’ve done a lot of wine tasting (which is quite obvious if you’ve happened to read this blog in the past), and I’ve visited most of the AVAs of Washington to do said tasting. There was just one major area left for me to visit and I finally had the opportunity when we ventured east for the Walla Walla Spring Release in early May. My friend Annie (@BlackPearlSEA) and I set out from rainy Seattle with high hopes of sun drenched vineyards and copious amounts of Walla Walla wine. While we didn’t necessarily get those sun drenched vineyards (that was some wacky weather that weekend..), we did get to experience some of the best of Walla Walla and had some great stories along the way!

We rolled into town Friday evening and made a mad dash to change from road-trip clothes into our fancy Friday night attire for a visit to the Corliss Estates party, held at their AMAZING space right in the heart of downtown Walla Walla. The breathtakingly beautiful room has some of the nicest finishes I’ve ever seen in a winery setting. I loved the wine bottle tree and the chair made from corks. We were able to take a tour of the entire facility as well, and it was great to learn about the markers that Corliss uses for each vintage of wine. Since Corliss spends a significant amount of time aging the wine in bottle, they insert colored markers into the bottom outside of the bottle to note the vintage and varietal. Then, when it’s time to label and prepare for sale, they are easily identified. Some favorites that I tasted at my Corliss visit included the 2005 Cabernet Franc, a clean and bold Cab Franc, as well as the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, which has yet to be released. This is a BIG cab that has been bottle for 2 years! It’s jammy with big tannins and just an overall huge palate pleaser. I look forward to getting my hands on more of this when it releases in Fall of 2011.

Saturday

On Saturday morning we awoke to sunshine (finally!) and headed into downtown to hit up the always consistent Rotie Cellars (@RotieCellars) to taste through their line-up. The 2009 Southern Blend was a nice blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre. This has an amazing nose and big flavors. The 2009 Little G is a knock your socks off Grenache based wine, which sadly is available for club members only. If you get an opportunity to try it, don’t pass it up!

We headed out into the countryside for a visit to Amavi Cellars (@AmaviCellars), where we were treated to a great view and some tasty wines. Their 2010 Semillon is 88% Semillon and 12% Sauvignon Blanc. This is a crisp, cool wine, with tropical flavors. As I sipped it I daydreamed of sunnier days and sundresses… Also enjoyable in their “summer sipper” category was the 2010 Rosé, a 100% Cabernet Franc Rosé. This is fruity with notes of strawberries and watermelon and was just the right amount of sweet. We tasted through the reds, with my highlights being the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon (76% Cab, 16% Merlot, 5% Syrah, 3% Cab Franc), a chewy cab with dark fruit, and the 2008 Syrah (100% Syrah).

We moved on to Sleight of Hand Cellars (@SofHCellars), who had a magician on hand to celebrate Spring Release and the opening of their new tasting room space. My highlights here included the 2010 Magician's Assistant Rosé, another 100% Cab Franc Rosé, as well as the 2009 Spellbinder, a blend of 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc, 10% Sangiovese, and 9% Syrah. This is their multi-vineyard “house wine”, that has great fruit flavors of cherry and berries. One of my favorite things about this stop was getting to play with a 13 week old Burmese Mountain Dog puppy! I may have come away with a few tiny puppy bite marks on my hand, but it was totally worth it. It was a fluffy and adorable little thing!

It was at this point in our wine tasting adventure that Annie and I decided we needed to do some remedy work on our quickly staining purple teeth. Enter Wine Wipes. I picked up a container of these at Wine World Warehouse a few months ago, and they had proven to be pretty effective. I will tell you one thing though: they taste HORRIBLE. I’ve got some crafty creative skills though, and I quickly deduced that after rubbing them on my teeth and lips, swishing my mouth out with water twice and eating a strawberry from our cooler ‘o snacks, life was quickly back to normal. So there’s the key folks: Wine Wipes pair well with strawberries. They work like a gem, but that aftertaste is something else without the proper arsenal on hand. Let me know if anyone has followed those up with any other food or candy, because I know that I won’t always have strawberries on hand and at the ready!

Our next stop took us next door to Saviah Cellars, where they were pouring quite the assortment of wines! A standout there that does not break the bank is the 2009 “The Jack” Cabernet Sauvignon. This multi-vineyard and multi-AVA wine is 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Cabernet Franc, and 8% Merlot.

We then ventured clear to the other side of town to visit àMaurice Cellars (@amauricecellars), which is a new favorite of mine. I’ve had the opportunity to chat with winemaker Anna Schafer at a few previous events and I was eager to get in to visit the actual winery on my Walla Walla trip. For Spring Release they were pouring several awesome wines. We started with the 2009 Viognier, which is 100% Viognier. This Columbia Valley wine is beautiful and brings out what I love about Washington Viognier. It’s 100% French Oak, and well balanced. I definitely left with a bottle of this bad boy. Another favorite was the 2008 Syrah/Grenache blend, which is 88% Syrah and 12% Grenache. It’s a multi-vineyard wine that has some smooth, but big fruit. The other bottle I left with was the 2008 “The Tobey” Red Blend. This is 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, and 30% Cabernet Franc from the Sagemoor, Bacchus, and Dionysus Vineyards. It’s great a great overall red that I’m looking forward to cracking open soon.

We dashed across the street for one last stop at Walla Walla Vintners, which specializes in strictly premium reds and Bordeaux style red blends. A standout here included the 2008 Bello Rosso, a 50% Cabernet and 50% Sangiovese blend. It’s nice and complex, but still remains very smooth. I also enjoyed with 2008 Cuvee, a 42% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc, 7% Malbec, 5% Carmenere, 3% Syrah and 2% Petit Verdot blend. This is an eight vineyard blend that carries deep dark fruit and finishes strong.

After quite a bit of running all over town, we were pretty tired. So with a nice view of the vineyard and the sun shining through some rain clouds that were rolling in right then, we leaned the seats back and took what I like to refer to as a “power nap”. Yes, we definitely napped in the parking lot at a winery. It’s a good thing we did too, because our afternoon end evening definitely did not end there. After closing my eyes for just 20 minutes, I was refreshed and ready to take on the world.

We made our way to our Saturday evening party, which was the Tranche Cellars (@TrancheCellars) outdoor concert. Here, we were able taste through the spectacular Tranche line-up, then purchase by the glass or bottle (ok, we may have done both…) to enjoy while munching on food from Andrae's Kitchen, a local food truck in Walla Walla (try the cheese burger, YUM!). This was a great event, since it combined my loves of wine and live music(both bands were awesome by the way)! They also had an enormous bonfire later on in the evening, which was pretty amazing. I was looking back and laughing at how my Friday night in Walla Walla included a dress and heels and my Saturday night found me sitting next to a raging bonfire! I was able to experience a little bit of everything, that’s for sure! I enjoy all of the Tranche wines, but I highly recommend the 2010 Pink Pape, a Walla Walla Valley Dry Rosé. I left with two bottles of this delicious stuff, and I look forward to more Seattle summer days (they’re coming, right?) when I can enjoy it!

Like the party people we are, we headed back into the downtown Walla Walla area and hit up the Charles Smith/K Vintners party (@KVintners), held at their new tasting room in town. This was not just any party, but a burlesque show to boot! We sipped some wine, watched the show, and overall had a great time. After some be-boppin’ around Walla Walla to a few of the more “local” establishments, we tucked ourselves in knowing we’d had a day fantastically full of great Walla Walla wine.

Sunday

But wait, there’s more? Oh yes. Sunday took us out to a first stop at Reininger Winery (@REININGERwinery), who has a beautiful space as you head out of town. We were able to get the “back room” tasting (usually reserved for wine club members, go us!) and tried quite a few wines worth noting. One that was seriously impressive was the 2003 Desiderata, a blend of 44% Malbec, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Petit Verdot, 10% Carmenere, 8% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Merlot. This monster was aged 58 months in barrel and 30 months in bottle (yes, for a grand total of more than 7 YEARS), and just released in March 2011. Big, bold, and an all around amazing wine. Reininger also produces the Helix label, and their 2009 Rosé was pretty tasty as well.

No trip to Walla Walla is complete without a trip to the iconic school house of L’Ecole No. 41 (@lecole41). I have always enjoyed L’Ecole’s wines and I was excited to make my first trip to their tasting room. They recently re-designed their label and I must say that I’m quite pleased with the result. They remain true to their roots with image of the school house, but it’s very polished and classic now. They brought out several of the big guns for Spring Release, and we were able to taste through a significant portion of their line-up. A favorite that I had tried recently and was eager to try (and purchase) again was the 2010 Chenin Blanc, a brand new release. This is everything I want in a summer wine and I’m not exaggerating in the slightest when I say I left with three bottles of the stuff. It’s cool, crisp, and tart (in just the right amount) and beckons pairing with burgers, chicken, or any other type of food that can be cooked outdoors! Another great one (are we seeing a theme here?) was their 2010 Grenache Rosé, from the Alder Ridge Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA. This was also a new release and is a winery exclusive, so get yourself out there and try it! I enjoyed tasting through the L’Ecole line-up while lounging on their beautiful deck. And like Cougs after my own heart, their tasty snacks included the amazing Cougar Gold Cheese!

Our last stop on our venture back west (all good things must come to an end) was to Woodward Canyon, conveniently located mere yards down the street from L’Ecole. Stand out wines here included the 2009 Chardonnay and, well, all of the reds really. Another one to check out on a Walla Walla visit.

Overall, this was an incredible first visit to Walla Walla. With all of the events of Spring Release weekend, I was able to get a taste of a little bit of everything that Walla Walla has to offer. However, with over 100 wineries located in the Walla Walla valley, I will most definitely have more to do the next time I make it back over (which I hope to be very, very soon!).

Upcoming Event: Wine Rocks 2011 - Georgetown Ballroom - Seattle, WA

2011-05-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

Wine Rocks. No, really, it does! At Seattle’s 4th annual Wine Rocks event (@WineRocksSEA), not only do you get to taste wine and listen to music (which can be pretty standard at tasting events), you get to taste wine and listen to music played by the winemakers that just poured you the wine! This year’s event, held at the Georgetown Ballroom on June 9th from 7pm – 10:30pm, brings together wine, food, and some amazing music from some prominent Washington winemakers.

I attended last year’s event at the Hard Rock Café, and I was seriously impressed with the talent that was displayed, both in the bottle and on stage. While the Hard Rock was a great venue as far as location, the brand spankin’ new nature of it, etc, it was pretty cramped in there. The winemakers practically had to scream over the music to describe their wines as some of them were basically right next to the stage. I’m definitely looking forward to this year’s venue, as I hear that it’s a bit more spread out and accommodating.

This year’s event will feature 30+ wineries and breweries, and music from Jamie Brown (Waters Winery), Chip McLaughlin (Vinyl Wines) (@VinylWines), Rob Newsom (Boudreaux Cellars), Gordy Rawson (Chatter Creek Winery and a few more special performances!

This is a great event that is sure to sell out, so get your tickets now and get ready to rock out (just don’t rock too hard and spill your wine!) at Seattle’s Wine Rocks on June 9th! I’ll see you there!

From the Vine to your Glass: Bottling

2011-04-10T20:53:00.000-07:00

I decided that it would be fun to do pieces on the different aspects of wine making. As I'm sure you've deduced by now, I love to learn. Some of my favorite wine adventures have come in learning experiences (remember that Bordeaux blending I did? Awesome!). For this series, I'll focus on separate pieces of the wine making process. Maybe take a tour through a vineyard, help out with crush, and of course, bottling. I'll do a separate write-up on each of these different activities. My first post in the series (obviously not in any sort of order) is on bottling. Enjoy!

I've always enjoyed volunteering with wineries. One local winery that I have helped out on a few occasions now is Northwest Totem Cellars, so when Mike Sharadin posted a note saying he was looking for a few volunteers for a Saturday afternoon of bottling, I jumped at the opportunity. The winery is located at the home of owners Mike and Kate Sharadin, located on the Redmond/Woodinville border. Mike has his own bottling equipment, but every winery does things a little bit differently. Mike stated that a lot of the smaller wineries have their own small bottling set-ups and once they reach a certain size (i.e. they reach a certain case production), they will utilize a mobile bottling truck. This truck is basically a bottling line on wheels and provides all the necessary equipment for bottling. Mike estimated that up to 85% of wineries in this area bottle using the mobile truck. At Northwest Totem Cellars, the bottling line is set up in an area designated for this purpose. The volunteers each had a specific responsibility in the line. Once we got going, we were bottling about 45 cases an hour! At 12 bottles to the case, that was a whopping 540 bottles that went by in just ONE hour of bottling. On this day we were bottling two separate wines. We started with the 2008 Qo-ne, which is a blend of 60% Cabernet Franc, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Syrah, and 2% Petit Verdot. We bottled up 102 cases of the Qo-ne, which comes out to 1,224 bottles! WOW. It doesn't hit you just how many bottles go through the line until you do the math on it! After a lunch break, catered by Kate Sharadin, we headed back out to bottle up the 2008 Sangiovese. We bottled 62 cases of the Sangiovese, or 744 bottles. It was a lot of fun to be a part of the process!

First, the wine (which at this point is in a large plastic tote) is raised up using a forklift to get a gravity flow into the bottle filler.

(The Qo-ne is sky high and ready to head to a bottle!)
The beginning of our bottling line consisted of a volunteer bringing over cases of bottles and emptying the entire case onto a mat. The boxes are opened so that the bottles are upside down in the case box. That way you have 12 upright bottles when the case is quickly emptied. They then take the empty case box to the end of the line to use for the finished bottles. The next volunteer (for round #1 of bottling, this was me!) pumped argon into each bottle at a 4-count, one bottle at a time. The purpose of the argon is to preserve the wine once it is sealed. Argon is significantly heavier than air and sinks to the bottom of the bottle when it is pumped in. As the wine is added to the bottle, the argon and any air in the bottle is pushed to the top. The argon layer would sit directly above the wine and take up all remaining bottle space, pushing any excess oxygen out of the bottle. Then, when the bottle is sealed, there is no oxygen left in the bottle. Not all wineries use the same system when it comes to removing excess oxygen from wine bottles. Some will use nitrogen in a closed system. Because Mike did not have a closed system for adding gases available, this would be a less secure method for him. He also stated that some wineries use nothing but air.

(Bottles waiting for argon)
The next volunteer took the bottles one at a time from the mat and placed them onto the machine that filled them with wine. The spouts on the machine had a rubber stopper that provides a seal when they bottle is placed on it. There are also two hoses going into the spout: one that filled the bottle with wine, and one that sucked out oxygen from the bottle. It had an automatic gauge that stopped filling when it reached a certain point.

(Bottles that have just been filled)
The next volunteer (which was me during our second round of bottling) was in charge of pulling the bottles off of the filling machine when they were full and passing them on to the next person in the line, who put on the glass stopper. Wait, glass? You thought all wineries used either cork or a screw top for sealing bottles? Northwest Totem Cellars uses Vino Seal, a glass stopper by Alcoa, in efforts to be "more wine and environmentally friendly". These glass closures can be recycled and re-used. In addition, it is estimated by industry analysts that between 3-8% of all wine ends up contaminated with the chemical TCA. While there is plenty of debate over how often a wine obtains TCA or any other complications due to cork, Northwest Totem Cellars simply likes this system as it comes from a renewable source and can be recycled. Though a little more expensive than cork, they hope more wineries will give glass a chance and help this closure system become more widely used, as it is becoming in Europe. Made with a flexible plastic 0-ring, the stopper provides a sterile seal, preventing contamination or oxidation.

(Glass stoppers used to seal bottles)
One issue that we experienced was the stoppers not staying on the bottles. Basically, when they were pushed on, they would just pop right out. This rejection by the bottles is due to poor quality control of the glass company that produces the wine bottles. Mike stated that, traditionally, they have experienced about an 8% rejection rate. When this happened, bottles were either corked using traditional corks (which the winery would then use in their tasting room), or we would empty the bottles back into the trough of the bottle filling machine. These flawed bottles are often gifted to home wine makers who can make the time and space available for the bottles and cleaning. The bottles are perfectly fine if one is using cork to seal them, they just don't meet the specific size requirements for the glass stoppers.

(Mike placing a cork into a bottle that rejected the glass stoppers)
The next volunteer placed a small dot of glue on the neck of the bottle near the top. They then passed the bottle to another person, who put on a traditional aluminum neck foil, ensuring a mechanical protection and making it tamper-evident.

(Bottles that have received aluminum neck foil, waiting to be sealed)
Next, another person took the bottles one at a time and placed them into a mechanical device that clamped down and sealed the aluminum neck foil onto the top of the bottle. The next person placed the bottle onto a machine that had the labels spaced perfectly on the roll and would roll and stick the front and back labels right where they need to be on each bottle.

(The labeling machine)
After being labeled, the bottles were given to another volunteer that placed them into the case boxes that the empty bottles had initially come out of. A final person placed the full case boxes onto a pallet and voila! The bottling process was complete.

(Finished cases on the pallet)
It may seem like we had a lot of volunteers for the jobs on the line. But, like I said before, we were bottling up about 540 bottles an hour. That's 9 bottles per minute! Each person had a unique job and kept quite busy with just that job. It was so wonderful to see the end product and know that I had a part in the process. A fun fact that Mike mentioned was that they have organized companies that want to do a "bottling party" for team building. It's a lot of fun and helps co-workers enhance their teamwork skills! I know I made some quick friends during the process, we really did have to learn how to work together very quickly. Overall, a great experience that I would most definitely participate in again!

(The finished product! A 2008 Qo-ne!)

Taste Washington - Seattle, WA

2011-04-04T17:52:00.000-07:00

Waiting for Taste Washington each year is like counting down to Christmas. There's all of this excitement leading up to it and then the day comes and it's pretty magical and then the day after you become all depressed when you realize you have a year until the next one! This year was no different. As per usual, I spent hours at the event and still wasn't able to try everything I wanted to. My "try new stuff" plan only worked partially, as I was still stopping to chat with winemakers I knew, but I did manage to stick to trying new wines of theirs that I had yet to taste. All in all, a fantastic event and I give serious kudos to the Washington Wine Commission for hosting another stellar Taste Washington. Sadly, I missed out on the seminars as I was just getting back from vacation that day, but the Grand Taste was fantastic and I have some highlights to share...

I've tried DiStefano Winery wines a few times in the past, and I had even picked up a gift basket at a charity auction last fall. I've been pleased with their big bold reds. A new one I tried at Taste Washington this year was the 2006 Sogno Cab Franc. A nice one that I would find again in the future. It was great to learn that one of their assistant winemakers is female! There are so few in the wine industry, and I love finding them!

A favorite that I made a point of trying early (because I knew it would pour out early on), was the Betz Family Winery 2009 La Côte Patriarche Syrah. This has yet to be released and was definitely still a bit young, but most definitely delicious! I am a huge fan of Betz wines, and it's such a treat when I get to enjoy them.

I have had several DeLILLE Cellars wines in the past and they have all been quite enjoyable. But I don't believe I had ever tried one of their white wines. I tried the 2009 Chaleur Estate Blanc, a blend of 67% Sauvignon Blanc and 33% Semillon, and was quite impressed. This was refreshing and crisp and one that I intend to grab some more of for the coming summer months!

Sojen Cellars' 2010 River Rock Grenache Rose was a lovely rose. I am a big summer time rose drinker, and I had yet to try a rose of Granache. It was sweet and tart at the same time and one that I want to try more of. This is low production (only 46 cases), so get your hands on some before it's all gone!

If you remember way back to last year about this time, I attended an Andrew Will Winery wine dinner at Purple Cafe & Wine Bar (read about that dinner here). That was my first experience with Andrew Will wines and I knew at that moment it definitely wouldn't be my last. A nice one I tried at Taste Washington was the 2008 Two Blondes Vineyard Red. This is 42% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Cabernet Franc, and 9% Malbec. A stand out for sure among the myriad of wines at this event!

Hardrow to Hoe Vineyards had a cute table display to showcase their wines. I am a big fan of Hardrow, and make a point to visit the tasting room during my annual Lake Chelan visits. I'm looking forward to an upcoming Memorial Day Weekend trip out there again! A wine of theirs that I hadn't tried before was the 2008 Zinfandel. This was awesome! Definitely reminiscent of a big California Zin, something you don't see in Washington wines all that much.

Well I did actually try a few wineries that I had never tried before, not just new wines from wineries I knew. One of these new wineries was Tertulia Cellars, based in Walla Walla. I really enjoyed their 2007 Les Collines Syrah. It had a lot of flavor and was one I would likely try again.

Ok, the photo I got for this next wine may be horrible, but the wine is anything but. The Elsom Cellars 2008 Malbec is incredible. I ran around for awhile trying to find their table, since I knew this was one I intended to try at Taste Washington. This is 18% Alder Ridge Malbec, 73% Gilbert's Organic Doc Stewart Malbec, and 9% Clifton Vineyard Merlot. I LOVE this wine. Elsom is another winery that has a female winemaker, and she's doing such great things for Washington wine. I can't wait to visit the Elsom tasting room again so I can grab a bottle of this for myself!

Another fairly new winery for me (I think I had tried one wine at a tasting a few months back) was The Bunnell Family Cellar. This was another one of those that I was extremely glad I found. I was pleased with the wines across the board, including their Viognier and Grenache.

I tried àMaurice Cellars for the first time a few weeks back at Legendary Swirl at El Gaucho. I met the winemaker at that event, Anna Schafer (another female, right on!), and was happy to learn she would also be pouring at Taste Washington. She was pouring her new Malbec, and it was pretty solid. I look forward to trying more from àMaurice!

Another favorite winery (that just happens to be IN Seattle) is Bartholomew Winery. Bart's tasting room is located in the Old Rainier Brewery Building, which is an up and coming area for breweries and wineries. He was pouring several recently released wines at Taste Washington, including the 2008 Viognier from the Snipes Mountain AVA and the 2007 Railway Red, a blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Pinot Noir, 11% Syrah, and 4% Malbec. Both were amazing wines, and given their price points ($14 for the Viognier, $22 for the Railway Red) I am quite certain I will be stopping by the winery to stock up very soon!

I've said it before and I'll say it again: so many wines, so little time. I could have spent 5 more hours at Taste Washington 2011 and still not tried everything I wanted to. I realized after I left that there were several people I neglected to stop by and say hello to (sorry!), but I'll blame that on the "Christmas Day excitement" that Taste Washington brought on. Miss it this year? Shame on you. At least you can start counting down to next year, I know I will be!

Upcoming Event: Taste Washington - Seattle, WA

2011-03-21T08:12:00.000-07:00

Coming up in less than just one week is the grand daddy of them all (when it comes to wine events). This year’s Taste Washington (@TasteWashington) will be held Saturday and Sunday, March 26th and 27th, with the Seminars being held at Bell Harbor International Conference Center and the Grand Taste at Qwest Field Event Center. This continues to be THE wine event of the year, with the Grand Taste featuring more than 200 wineries, much more than any other wine event in the state.

One of the more little known aspects of Taste Washington is the Seminars. Most people assume that Taste Washington is just that: a tasting event. However, on Saturday the 26th, there are 8 different sessions where you can swirl, sip, spit, and LEARN about wine, winemakers and the Washington wine scene in general. This year’s Seminars include the following topics:

AM Sessions:

A Sort of Homecoming:
Food and Wine Pairing with Michael Mina

Common Ground:
A Seven Hills Vineyard Investigation

Ladies First:
Women In Washington Wine

Washington’s Emerging Varieties:
Grenache Panache
Presented by Seattle Magazine

PM Sessions:

In Search Of:
Washington’s Singular Style

Washington State Syrah:
Yes, We Can!

What’s the Point(s)?
Rating Washington State Wines

With A Rebel Yell:
Washington’s Rock-n-Roll Winemakers

There are such a broad range of topics this year, and if you check out the link to the Seminars that I included above, you’ll see a brief description of each one. One of my favorite parts about BLEND Seattle was the seminars (which I wrote about here), and after that experience I will definitely try to attend one of the Taste Washington seminars as well. If you consider yourself a wine lover (and really, who doesn’t?), why not expand on that with some wine education as well? Yes, there is wine tasting in these sessions as well, but the opportunity to truly understand what it is you are tasting is one of a kind. Make sure to get tickets early for the seminars, they are likely to sell out this week!

Sunday the 27th brings us the Grand Tasting, where those 200 wineries I previously mentioned will be in attendance. In addition to that (because yes, wine does go wonderfully with food!) there will also be 60 Seattle area restaurants represented at Taste Washington, each providing a small bite to pair with your wine. As you can probably imagine, there is a LOT of wine at this event. Plan it out, peruse the list provided of wineries on the website and pick a few you know 100% that you are interested in trying. While at the event, ask others there for their favorites that they have already tried. And do not be afraid to spit or take only a small sip from your pour and dump the rest in one of the buckets provided on every table. With so much to try at Taste Washington, you have to strategize on how to do it efficiently and safely!

Taste Washington is just 5 short days away, so if you haven’t already obtained tickets to the Seminars or the Grand Taste, do it through SOON! For tickets for the Seminars, click here. For tickets to the Grand Taste, visit Ticketmaster here. Are you on twitter? Use the hashtag #TasteWA when tweeting from the event, and to see what other people are saying also! I look forward to another unforgettable Taste Washington this year, and I hope to see you there too!

Seattle Food & Wine Experience - Seattle Center Exhibition Hall - Seattle, WA

2011-03-10T20:49:00.000-08:00

Oh I look back with such joy on this year’s Seattle Food & Wine Experience (SFWE). What an experience it was! One thing I noticed immediately during my first re-con swing (yes, the best plan of attack is to first know WHAT you’re attacking) through the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall was the food. Because I attended this event in 2010, I had something to compare this year’s event to. There were definitely more restaurants in attendance at this year’s SFWE, and that was just fine by me!

Our first stop upon arrival was to the Foster Farms booth. I remembered from last year that this was always the longest line and I missed out on obtaining one of Kathy Casey’s (@KathyCaseyChef) cookbooks at the 2010 event. Not this year. We parked ourselves in the very short line (we were there right at the start!) and waited excitedly to get the cookbook that I had heard so many wonderful thing about. What I really enjoyed about getting this book was having the opportunity to meet Kathy Casey herself. We chatted briefly as she signed my cookbook and she was such a sweetheart! I really hope that I have the opportunity to visit her cooking studio in the near future, what a treat that would be! As part of the visit to the Foster Farms booth, we were able to try Kathy’s chicken-bacon cupcakes with Tobasco infused cream cheese (not gonna lie, I came back for seconds later on.. sssh!).

Some other food highlights from the event included:

-Ruth’s Chris (@RCSHSeattle) mini-beef tarts. Whatever combination of meat and pastry that was was simply devine! Picked up some info on their fantastic happy hour as well, hope to stop in soon!

-The Taste of Tulalip (@TulalipResort) lounge had several options to choose from. Loved the bacon salt chocolate lollipops, how creative!

-Salty’s little lobster stuffed pastries were awesome. I’m pretty sure that was one of my first and last food bites of the entire event!

-My favorite bite of ALL was the Korean BBQ Pulled Pork Slider from Issaquah & Redmond’s Coho Café (@thecohocafe). I’m pretty sure we stood there and waited as they prepared them and watched as each plate that was placed on the table was immediately plucked away by eager tasters. This was simply delicious and I probably could have had about five of them…

Because I have been attending a lot of wine events in recent months, especially those involving mostly Washington wines, I took a different approach at SFWE. I really made an effort to try some new non-WA wines, which was easy at this event that featured wines from Oregon, California, Idaho and several countries in addition to the home team (Washington). Don’t get me wrong, I visited several Washington favorites as well, but mostly to say hi to their loyal winemakers and try a few “under the table” stashes they brought along for special guests. Of my variety of tastes at SFWE this year, a few that stood out included:

-Anam Cara Cellars (@ACCQueen) 2007 Pinot Noir. My friend Clive (@clivity) had been raving about Anam Cara for quite awhile, so I was happy to finally have the opportunity to try this Oregon winery. Great big Pinot, and it reminded me that I need to get myself down to OR wine country stat.

-The Joel Gott Wines 2008 Zinfandel. While we missed out on the free straw hats that they were giving away at this table, we were able to stop by later on for some pretty tasty California wines.

-Bergstrom Wines 2008 Cumberland Reserve Pinot Noir. I took a bit of a Pinot Noir journey today, mostly because my focus on non-WA wines had me tasting through several well-known OR Pinots. This was another great find.

-Australia. Just in general. One table at the event had several Aussie wines, and I had the opportunity to solidify why Australia is on the top of my list of places that I REALLY want to vacation in the next few years.

Well I can say that I definitely did not go hungry at this year’s SFWE. Nor did I go thirsty. Overall, it was a fantastic event and one that I now look forward to every year!

Duckhorn Vineyards Wine Dinner - Russell's Dining & Bar - Bothell, WA

2011-03-03T21:50:00.000-08:00

Well by now I think it’s quite apparent that I like wine. And I like food. And I REALLY like wine dinners. Food and wine pairing has become one of my favorite things, and while I don’t consider myself anywhere near an expert at it, I do enjoy tasting other people’s (who are more “experts” in pairing) menus. In the early part of February I, along with a usual partner in crime @erindrinkswine, attended another wine dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Russell’s Dining & Bar (@russellsdining). As you may or may not remember, I attended a wine dinner at Russell’s back in April of last year for Sojen Cellars of Everett. Chef Russell Lowell creates some of my favorite meals and he really has a knack for pairing his delicious courses with wine. Switching it up a bit, this dinner featured a California winery, which is not a region I have had the opportunity to taste paired with food. I had also never had Duckhorn wines (@duckhornwine) so I was eager to try something new!

Duckhorn Vineyards started in the 1970s in Napa and was named after its founders, Dan & Margaret Duckhorn. They got their start in Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon with the 1978 vintage and added other vintages to their portfolio over the years. In addition to their Duckhorn wines, which focus primarily on Bordeaux varietals, they also produce the Paraduxx, Goldeneye, Migration, and Decoy labels, several of which we sampled along with our dinner.

We started our meal with a first course of Pan Seared New Bedford Scallops with Lemon Beurre Blanc & Chive Oil. This was paired along with the 2009 Migration Chardonnay from the Anderson Valley. This Chardonnay was just started with the 2008 vintage and uses 100% French Oak with 90% barrel fermentation. My first opinion of this was “helloooo oak!”. This is a classic California Chardonnay and is crisp on first taste but has a lot of oak on the finish. The scallops were amazing paired with this wine. The pairing took away the oak, but only enough to balance it out a bit. It was a very nice pairing!

We moved on to a Braised Cabbage Salad with Chevre & Pintelle Rillette, which was paired along with a 2008 Migration Pinot Noir from the Anderson Valley. Interesting to note about this wine is that there were forest fires in 2008 in the area of the vineyard. The smoke from the fires in the distance sat on top of the vines for six weeks when the grapes were ripening. So the smoke present in this wine is truly because “nature did it!”. It’s a classic Pinot Noir and I really loved the nose on this one. It really brought out the Chevre in the dish. I was a little apprehensive of something called “Braised Cabbage Salad” at first, but this dish ended up being one of my favorites of the dinner. I would eat this again in a heart beat. All of the distinct flavors of the dish really made it quite interesting.

Our next course consisted of a Roasted Tomato Soup with Duck Confit & Crème Fraiche, which was paired along with the 2007 Duckhorn Paraduxx from Napa Valley. The Paraduxx, which always has a label featuring two ducks, (quite literally, a “pair-a-ducks”), is a Zinfandel based blend containing 72% Zinfandel, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, and 1% Cabernet Franc. The Paraduxx label is really an “experiment wine” for Duckhorn and they play with it to get the perfect blend each vintage. This wine had perfect fruit and spice, pairing with the Duck Confit in the soup quite nicely.

Next, we got a real treat. We enjoyed Sautéed Elk Medallions with Roasted Shallot 7 Chanterelle Demi Glace. This was paired along with the 2007 Duckhorn Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley. This is 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, and 1% Cabernet Franc and has been released for just 6 months now. This is a lush, full and structured Cab which accompanied the amazingly tender Elk Medallions just perfectly. Man oh man, if I could eat Elk Medallions every day I might just be the happiest person alive…

We finished up our meal with a Caramel Chocolate Tart with Crème Anglaise. This was served along with the 2008 Duckhorn Merlot from the Napa Valley. Duckhorn is best known for their Merlot and this vintage was no exception. They always blend with their wines, this one containing 86% Merlot, 9.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3.5% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc. The nose was fantastic and it possessed some great and bright fruit. A great finish to an amazing meal.

We rolled ourselves out of Russell’s with a new appreciation for this amazing winery and the quality wines it puts out year after year. I definitely look forward to picking up a bottle of Duckhorn in the future and I can’t wait until my next meal at Russell’s!

URBAN enoteca - Seattle, WA

2011-02-19T16:21:00.000-08:00

Deep down 1st Ave S in Seattle’s largely industrial SODO area lies a hidden gem. As you approach 4130 1st Ave S from the north (be careful to turn left BEFORE the bridge, you’ll miss it!), you wouldn’t have the slightest idea of the beauty that sits within a boxy industrial looking building that has a chunk of its parking under a bridge. But then you walk up to a set of double doors that look slightly out of place, with wood that stands out amongst the drab surroundings. As you open the heavy doors and enter URBAN enoteca (@URBANenoteca), a sharp inhale followed by a “whoa” seems to be the most common reaction. Spread out before your eyes is a beautiful establishment offering some beautiful wines. This new space, which opened in late 2010, brings several well-known Washington wineries to the heart of the wine-buying market: Seattle. The concept is simple, when you arrive you receive your ‘Library Card’ (clever, huh?). As you visit each winery, they swipe your card for whatever you taste or any bottles you purchase. At the end of your visit, you check out at the front counter, where all the tastes and bottles are on one receipt for you. It’s a great way to keep from having to pay each winery separately, which can get confusing when you are bouncing around

In addition to the wine tasting space, URBAN enoteca also has a “Library Lounge” for grabbing a bite to eat. The facility also has several private event spaces, each with their own style: the Riddling Room, which is a large, open, and elegant space which can be used for weddings, corporate events or parties; the Barrel Room, a smaller space, but just as warm and inviting for dinner parties, meetings, or cocktail events; and (my personal favorite) the Blanc de Blanc Room, a completely white contemporary space, which can be used for private dinners, business meetings, or even as a bridal room.

On my most recent visit to URBAN enoteca, I took a new friend that happened to be visiting from out of state. Emily (@emilybratkovich) and I stopped in for what we thought would be a quick tasting visit. Little did we know we’d be drawn in by the relaxing atmosphere and delicious wine and end up spending all afternoon there! There are seven wineries that each have their own tasting space within the Library area, which has comfortable couches, chairs, tables, and a great fireplace to warm up next to. On this particular afternoon, we made it a goal to try at least one wine from each winery. For the sake of this post, I will group each winery’s wines together, but in reality we were jumping around and quite literally tasting our way around Washington!

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Cave B

Cave B Estate Winery’s (@CaveBWinery) main tasting room and winery facility is located near the Gorge overlooking the Columbia River in Central Washington. On our visit to URBAN enoteca, I first tried the 2009 Sagecliffe 100 un-oaked Chardonnay. This wine, from the Columbia Valley, has all the qualities I like in a Chardonnay, and lacks all of the qualities that I don’t like in a Chardonnay. It’s perfect! This a wine that will be great for spring, and would pair well with just about everything. I definitely took a bottle of this to go!

I also tried the 2008 Cabernet Franc. This is their first vintage of the Cabernet Franc varietal, and I must say, you’d think they’d been doing it for quite sometime. The nose was fantastic and the finish lingered with fruit and a hint of spice. Based off the success here, I’d say Cave B should continue with this varietal, nice work!

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McCrea Cellars

A fun fact I learned at our visit was that McCrea Cellars was Washington’s first winery entirely dedicated to Syrah and Rhône varietal wines. The winery is located about a half hour from Olympia, Washington State’s capital. My first taste from McCrea at this visit was their 2008 Picpoul, a varietal I had never tried before. The grapes from this are from the Yakima Valley, and McCrea employee Scott and his wife were the ones that actually brought the first Picpoul vines to Washington from California. This is only the 3rd Picpoul vintage in Washington and only ¾ of an acre of Picpoul is planted in the Boushey vineyard. The nose on this wine was so incredibly different I didn’t quite know what to think at first. But then I took a taste, and the acidity and finish almost reminded me of a Pinot Gris. It was definitely different, but a big hit with Emily. I think she may have gotten one of those to take back to the mid-west with her!

My other McCrea taste was the 2008 Grenache, which is 81% Grenache, 7% Syrah, 5% Counoise, 5% Cinsault, and 2% Mourvèdre. I loved the spice on the nose and on the finish. It had just the right amount and brings the fruit forward with it. A nice wine!

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Fielding Hills

A relatively new winery (they released their first vintage in 2000), Fielding Hills, has their home in the Wenatchee Valley area of Central Washington. Our taste here was the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, which is 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Syrah, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Merlot. This wine received 95 points from Wine Enthusiast and was editors choice in Top 100 Best Wines of the World. This is a very well-rounded Cab, with a little spice and great structure. This is a low production wine, try it before it’s too late!

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Five Star Cellars

Walla Walla’s Five Star Cellars has made a name for itself producing some very well-known red wines. In just taking a quick look at their Acolades page, you’ll see 90+ points across the board. My taste with Five Star at this visit was the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon. This Walla Walla mixed vineyard wine is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot. The entire wine is very well balanced and the finish lingers very pleasantly. I love that they sell this by the 375ml size, I was able to get a little bottle that will be perfect for just me (this is me being stingy with my wine..)!

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Kiona

Kiona Vineyards and Winery (@KionaWine) has the privilege of being the only URBAN enoteca winery that I had previously visited at their main winery. Kiona is based over on Red Mountain near the Tri-Cities, and has quite an extensive selection of varietals. Because a previous vintage was a favorite, I went with the 2008 Big Kiona Zinfandel. This has a lot of berry flavors up front and was as good as I remember it! Kiona had their fabulous Lemberger for sale here (one of the few places that has it in Seattle I believe), but they weren’t pouring it to taste the day of our visit, darn!

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Fidelitas

Another winery that consistently puts out good wine is Fidelitas (@FidelitasWines), which is based over in Eastern Washington on Red Mountain. I have really enjoyed several of their wines in the past, so today I tried something new, the 2007 Optu Red from the Columbia Valley. This classic Bordeaux blend is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 9% Malbec, and 6% Petit Verdot. This also brought together grapes from several well-known vineyards as well. A big flavored wine, this one would pair well with a nice roasted red pepper pasta of sorts.

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Côte Bonneville

Yakima Valley’s Côte Bonneville(@cotebonneville) was founded in 2001 and puts out some award winning wines from their own DuBrul Vineyard. At our visit, we went with the 2006 Carriage House, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. This was a beautiful wine with very complex flavors in the finish. It was definitely one that I would drink again.

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As you can see, with its seven wineries (and space for more), URBAN enoteca really does have a wine for every taste. I can’t wait to attend an event in one of their private event rooms, or to grab something to eat in the Library Lounge. I wasn’t kidding when I said this place can be difficult to find. Look for the sandwich board on the left (if you’re coming from the north), make a left, then a quick right to enter the parking area. Keep an eye out for those “out of place” beautiful wood doors and you’re there!

Upcoming Event: Seattle Food & Wine Experience - Seattle Center Exhibition Hall - Seattle, WA

2011-01-24T21:08:00.000-08:00

Food is delicious. Wine is devine. Add food + wine together and you have next month’s marvelous food & wine event, the Seattle Food & Wine Experience (SFWE). The event, which will be held Sunday February 27th, 2011 from 1-5pm, will showcase wines from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Spain, Italy, France, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, South Africa and more. This worldly showcase will feature over 1,000 different wines as well as bites from 24 of the finest Seattle-area chefs and restaurateurs. Last year’s event was my first foray into large wine tasting events here in Seattle. It did not disappoint. The location of the event, the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, is perfect, as it provides a nice open space to sip wine, snack on tasty food bites and mingle with other SFWE attendees.

This year’s SFWE features wines poured from 45 California and International Wineries, 35 Washington Wineries, 10 Oregeon Wineries, and 10 Idaho Wineries. In addition to wine and food exhibits, there are also other wine related and lifestyle exhibitors on site. The “Experience” also offers guests an assortment of activities and learning opportunities including:

• The Taste of Tulalip Lounge – all of the Tulalip Resort chefs will be on hand cooking their latest Taste of Tulalip creations. Remember my amazing tasting notes from the Taste of Tulalip and the preview event? This Lounge is one you don’t want to miss.

• Foster Farms Market – a huge supporter of the independent family-owned farm, Foster Farms chicken is raised locally and delivered to the market in 48 hours or less. At SFWE, visit this exhibit to visit with the one and only Kathy Casey, taste her chicken-bacon cupcakes, and pick up a copy of her book. There will be 400 copies given away compliments of Foster Farms!

• Chef in the Vineyard – Chateau Ste. Michelle Culinary Director and cookbook author John Sarich will be preparing four different recipes taken from his book “Chef in the Vineyard” and pairing with individual wines. A comparative wine tasting bar will allow guests to sample wines from different growing regions (Italy, New Zealand, Washington, and Oregon) via side-by-side comparison.

• Beecher’s Cheese – Did someone say cheese?! Beecher’s classic Mac & Cheese served along with Goose Ridge wines.

• Tom Douglas Rub with Love – This spectacular line of rubs is featured at SFWE along with fresh American Lamb. Lola Chef Liam Spencer along with Oregon lamb producer Reed Anderson are the Shepherd and the Chef team for American Lamb representing the Pacific Northwest.

• Brewery and Cider Companies – wine not quite your thing? There will also be more than 10 local and national breweries and cider companies on hand sampling and educating!

All this food talk making you hungry? It should! In attendance representing the amazing Seattle food scene will be Andaluca Restaurant, Arnies, bin on the lake, Blueacre/Steelhead Diner, BOKA Kitchen + Bar, The Capital Grille, Coho Café, Copperleaf Restaurant at Cedarbrook Lodge, Earth & Ocean, The Georgian, Ivar’s Seafood Restaurants, Purple Café and Wine Bar, Ray’s Boathouse, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and Salty’s on Alki.

For the most current list of wineries and breweries pouring at SFWE, click here, and for a detailed restaurant list click here.

And we ALL love having fun for a charitable cause, so this year’s event benefits The Giving Grapes Foundation, a 501c3 organization assisting local charities who provide financial assistance to service industry professionals who have to take time off work due to injury or illness.

Convinced that the Seattle Food & Wine Experience is for you? Well it is! Head on over to Brown Paper Tickets to get your tickets for the event, just $49 (and that’s a LOT of food and wine for $49!). Your ticket price also includes a souvenir wine glass to use for your tasting at the event and take home with you afterward.

This year’s Seattle Food & Wine Experience is gearing up to be a fabulous event once again. Peha Promotions doesn’t ever let us down when it comes to fantastic wine events, so I’ll see you there!

Sips and the Single Girl: Where's the Beef?

2011-01-17T21:52:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about writing this post for quite some time, mostly because this question has continued to plague me as I attend more and more wine tasting and social events here in Seattle and the surrounding area. When it comes to wine events, where are all the guys? Sure, there are plenty of men at these events, but the 20 to 30-something variety of these men only seem to attend at the request of their other (female) halves and are seen perusing the tastes of the event in tow of someone else. The events clearly lack single men. What gives?

Let’s examine this more closely:

I consider wine to be a high-class beverage of choice (for the most part), with a mostly educated and high-class individual on the quest to learn about and enjoy all that the amazing vine has to offer. Men are constantly complaining about how you just can’t meet the right woman in the “bar scene”. Sure, encounters in said “bar scene” do occur and don’t get me wrong, I do have some friends that have met their significant others in a bar. But for me, and most others that I know, it’s just not the ideal environment for finding Mr. Right. Gentlemen, take note: are you looking for the classy, well-educated, and ambitious woman? Then why aren’t you attending wine tasting events? These events are FULL of attractive, smart, high-heeled 20 and 30-somethings who choose to make wine their drink of choice not just because it “tastes good”, but because they truly desire to learn about and appreciate different varietals, vintages and winemakers. The immediate response I might get to this statement is that these types of events are intimidating to the single guy who might not know a whole lot about wine. Ok, I’ll give you that, BUT: you don’t have to have a subscription to Wine Spectator and be on a waiting list to receive your Leonetti allocation in 2016 to strike up an interesting conversation with someone at a wine tasting event. While there are many at these events that do in fact have a very high understanding of wine and could likely pick a Cab/Syrah blend out of a line-up in a blind tasting, that doesn’t mean you aren’t worthy to chat with them. So, I present to you, some tips and tricks for the single gentleman in attendance at a wine event (who might also be looking to find a lovely single lady):

1. While these are classy affairs, they are NOT black tie. Don’t feel intimidated by a wine event by thinking you have to be dressed to the nines to get in the door. Not the case. Think about what you might wear on a first date to a nice restaurant. For the super ambitious: suit up! We (and by we I mean myself and my female counterparts) do love a man in a nice suit.

2. This is a wine tasting event, not a wine drinking event. The reason the wineries give small pours is so that you can taste a wide variety and discover what you do and do not like in certain types of wine. Don’t be afraid to sip and dump in one of the many dump buckets provided at these events. You’ll have more to chat about with someone if you have tried a wide selection of the wines present.

3. Do some research in advance. Most of the larger events all list out the different wineries that will be pouring at the event on the event website. Scroll through the list and pick a few you would like to try, even if you’ve never even heard of them. This will help when you do converse with someone (see #4), as you can mention those wineries as ones you “have been meaning to check out”.

4. Generally, when people taste, they may linger at the table in between pours to chat with the winemaker or learn a bit more about what they’re tasting. This is a GREAT opportunity to casually ask the classy, attractive, single (check on this, make sure a boyfriend does not linger nearby) female standing next to you at the table her opinion on what you are both tasting. In this situation, you don’t have to have extensive knowledge of the wine, you are just chatting about your opinions of the wine. If it appears that this classy female has a bit more knowledge of the wine than you do, (i.e. she answers with something like “nice fruit on the nose but the tannins in this hit the palate hard”) don’t be afraid! An appropriate response would be something along the lines of “Interesting. What do you think causes that?” When in doubt, just answer with a question. You’ll get by JUST fine. Most people (myself included), love when people are genuinely interested in their opinions on the wine. Just nod and smile. You may have more in common than you think! The other scenario is that the female in question doesn’t in fact have 60 bottles of wine at home and is in the early learning stages, just as you are. This will produce a great conversation where you can continue to taste together and offer each other additional opinions. In between sips of Malbec and Cabernet, the other “we just met” conversation can take place and VOILA! The magic happens…

I’m not trying to turn wine tasting events into single’s socials. What I am trying to do is offer an obvious way for singles to interact over something that they enjoy: wine. As mentioned previously, the nature of the women at these events are top-notch. These are college educated, professional and classy women who are passionate about their work and their wine enriched social lives. Take a chance at an upcoming event; you may just be surprised at what happens…

Some fantastic wine events occurring within the next few months include:

The Seattle Food & Wine Experience – February 27th, 2011 – 1pm to 5pm – Seattle Center Exhibition Hall – Seattle, WA

Taste Washington – Seminars: March 26th, 2011 – Bell Harbor Conference Center; Grand Tasting: March 27th, 2011 – Qwest Field Event Center – Seattle, WA

A Look Back on 2010: A Blog is Born, New Friends, Great Wine

2010-12-30T21:26:00.000-08:00

As we approach the end of 2010 I can’t help but look back on the past year and all the adventures that were had and all the new people I met. It’s been quite the year! Back on March 13th, 2010 I decided to try my hand at blogging, and Sips & the City was born. What started as a way to document all the adventures I had been having at various wine events in Seattle has now turned into something more for me and for those people that follow my posts. I love sharing wines, wineries, and events with other people who, like me previously, used the internet as a learning tool when it came to these things. I thought 2010 deserved a re-cap post of all the amazing fun I’ve had along the way in developing Sips & the City. The month by month timeline is when the posts occurred, not necessarily when I attended the events. Enjoy!

March

-My first post was about a Seattle wine bar that I had visited quite a few times during the first part of 2010. Sip Wine Bar is located downtown and offers great flights and food!

-My very first Woodinville tasting day was along with my friend Barb, aka @Seattlewinegal. We hit up quite a few places and had a great meal at day’s end!

-My first major tasting event was Bags & Bottles, held at the Westin. This annual event combined two of my favorite things: wine and handbags. It was at this event that I met Annie (@BlackPearlSEA), who has since become an amazing friend.

-With the best view in Seattle (seriously, you are higher than the Space Needle), the Columbia Tower Club can’t be beat. My first tasting at the club was with my friend Jen (@jenkmiller), where we sampled a wide variety of Washington wines. This was also my first exposure to Guardian Cellars, now a huge favorite of mine.

-My first winemaker dinner was for Andrew Will Winery and was held at Purple Café in downtown Seattle. And so began my love of food and wine pairing…

April

-My first April post documented an event from late March, the Washington Merlot tweet-up. This event was held at Seattle Wine Outlet and was the first time I met another friend I have acquired this year, Joanna (@jojolocal).

-I did an entire post on Barrage Cellars, which has become another favorite of mine. I took a bottle of the 2007 Outcast Cab Franc to Utah with me and tasted it with some friends! It was a hit.

May

-On tax day in April, I had my first experience at Black Pearl, the restaurant where Annie (@BlackPearlSEA) runs the show. Annie, along with others, hosted a tweet-up that contained food from Black Pearl and wines from several wineries and shops.

-My second winemaker’s dinner was held at what is now one of my favorite restaurants: Russell’s in Bothell. Sojen Cellars teamed up with Russell’s to offer an amazing meal paired with fantastic wines! My friend Cheryl (@DivaTink) and I had a great time at this dinner.

-Another great tasting I attended was at Il Fornaio, located in Pacific Place. This was another food and wine paired event, and was absolutely delicious!

June

-As a special treat for my mom the Friday before mother’s day, we attended the Friday Wine & Dine Tour that is a partnership between Butler Transportation and Russell’s Restaurant. What a fun afternoon!

July

-In late May, we headed east for my best friend’s bridal shower in the Tri-Cities. As part of this, we visited several area wineries also. It was a fun wine-filled two days!

-Memorial Day Weekend took me to Lake Chelan, and found me visiting several of the newest Washington AVA’s many wineries. This was another two-day adventure that had me packing lots of wine back across the mountains!

August

-I did a post about a great wine bar and shop called Greenlake Wines. Their Thursday tastings are still going strong, check them out!

-On a beautiful day in July, my friend Caity and I headed to Woodinville for another fun tasting day. It was a hot day with great wines, and great food to cap it off!

September

-On 9/2/10, I woke up feeling creative and “Twas the Day of Cabernet” came spilling forth. This was the worldwide “Cabernet Day” and I felt like it deserved some love.

-I did a preview post about an upcoming event called the Grape Cup which included my top 10 list on why people should attend the event.

-I re-capped my “Cabernet Day” fun, which was held at Bin 41, a wine shop in West Seattle.

October

-I re-capped BLEND, a seminar and tasting event held at Bell Harbor Convention Center in Seattle. The blending seminar was my favorite part!

-I also re-capped the Grape Cup, and the winners of the judging between WSU and UW wines. Cougs reign supreme once again!

-I attended an AMAZING preview event for the Taste of Tulalip, held at the Tulalip Resort. So...much...food… I loved it.

November

-Another preview event I attended was for 20something, an annual wine event, this year held at the Fremont Studios. We got a great sneak peak at several wines being poured at the event along with delicious food from Seatown Seabar & Rotisserie.

-The Taste of Tulalip definitely lived up to and exceeded expectations as a one of a kind wine event. I can’t wait for next year!

-I had the opportunity to attend a tasting of Bordeaux wines at Esquin, located in the SoDo area of Seattle. What a treat those wines were!

December

-The Seattle Magazine “Best of 2010” Party was out of this world. It was truly the “Party of the Decade”.

-I re-capped the 20something event, which was trendy, had great wine, and event had a dance-off!

-I did post on Seattle’s newest wine superstore, Wine World Warehouse. This is one you need to check out for their daily tastings and amazing wine selection.

Well, there we have it! It’s hard to believe I did so much during 2010, but I am so thankful for each opportunity that I had to attend such amazing events this year. I have learned SO MUCH in less than a year, it’s pretty unbelievable. I have also met some pretty spectacular new people, who I look forward to future adventures with. What’s in store for 2011? Well, I have a new job; one that will no doubt take up a lot more of my time. I’ll still be hitting the wine scene as best I can though, and look forward to attending the 2011 “vintages” of the events I attended in 2010. Until then, cheers and Happy New Year!

Wine World Warehouse - Seattle, WA

2010-12-21T23:02:00.000-08:00

Where in the world is Wine World? Well you’re sure not to miss it if you happen to be driving on I-5 north. With a big red sign that you can see from the Ship Canal bridge, Wine World Warehouse (@WineWorldSEA), Seattle’s newest and largest wine store, sits right off the freeway at NE 45th St, right near the University of Washington campus. A lot of hype surrounded the opening of this new superstore, which was founded by Northwest Sommelier David LeClaire. The store claims to have the “largest selection of Northwest wine in the world”, and boy do I believe it. In just a few visits to the store, I saw several Northwest wines that I had not seen on shelves at any other stores in the area. The massive store has several unique features that sets it apart as one of a kind and poises it to become the next big thing in wine retail in Seattle.

(Wall to wall wine!)
You enter the store to an open floor plan where you immediately find the before mentioned display of Northwest wine. To your immediate right is a nice selection of cheeses, crackers, and meats, all sure to accompany any wine quite well. Walking forward a bit more, you can belly up to one side of the large tasting bar in the center of the store. This bar has the ability to host TEN (yes I said ten) different wineries or distributors at a time for tastings. The bar is split into two different bars, each facing a different side of the store. On the wall behind each bar are large flat screen TVs where information about the wineries pouring that day can be displayed. One of those unique features I mentioned about Wine World is that it will offer tastings every day of the week. On any random Tuesday you are likely able to walk in on your way home from work and taste wine before picking up a bottle to enjoy that same evening. Check out the calendar to see who will be pouring on upcoming days. These happen 6-8pm Monday through Friday, and 2-5pm on Saturdays and Sundays (unless otherwise noted).

(Need some cheese and crackers for that wine?)
(One side of the tasting bar)
To the right of the tasting bar is an area containing a pretty big selection of wine related gift items such as glasses, decanters, bottle stoppers, glass charms, and books. It was so great to see so many great gift items in this area on my first visit and I came back in a week later to get some Christmas shopping done for family and friends! On the opposite side of the store on the other side of the tasting bar is something you wouldn’t necessarily expect to find in a wine store: beer. An entire wall is dedicated to a wide selection of different beers from around the world.

(Great wine related gift selection)
Wines from different regions of the world make up the rest of the store, each labeled with signs that hang overhead. Most interesting to see was the “Off the Beaten Path” section, with wines from areas you wouldn’t normally associate with wine, including Greece and Japan. Another note worthy area contained “Earth Friendly” wines, such as NSA (no sulfites added) and other “organic” wines. It’s quite apparent that this store is really trying to cater to every audience that might walk through the doors.

(Signs show you where different regions are located)
(Wines "From the Earth")
The thing that sets this retail store apart from others in the area is the private event space that sits off the side of the store area. This room has large windows that offer city views and can host events for up to 150 people. It’s a perfect sized space for private corporate events, birthday parties, or any other special occasion that might call for an awesome space with a quick source of wine next door! I look forward to attending future events in this space!

Overall, I was pretty impressed with this new wine store. It offers a great selection of wines, hosts daily tastings of some of the area’s best wineries (many of which may not have tasting rooms in the area), has an impressive choice of wine related gift items, and has one thing that those “city” stores don’t necessarily have: parking. The store has its own private lot that makes it easy to stop in and out quickly to grab the next perfect bottle. Look for the enormous red sign on the side of the building and stop in today!

20something - The New Vintage - Fremont Studios - Seattle, WA

2010-12-09T10:04:00.000-08:00

Last month I attended the highly anticipated 20something – the new vintage (@20somethingwine), held at the Fremont Studios. As I previewed a few weeks prior to the event, the event is geared toward the “20 something” wine drinker, an age group that often doesn’t know much more about wine than the fact that they like to drink it. This year’s 20something event sold out in the days leading up to it, and the place was filled from wall to wall with eager wine tasters.

As you entered (from the bitter cold, that was a rough weekend), you walked down a long hallway to receive your glass, your first taste, and to get photos on the red carpet with the one and only Seattle Wine Gal (@SeattleWineGal), Barbara Evans. Here you were also able to enter to win some amazing prizes that were given away throughout the evening by SWG up on stage. My favorite of the prizes (which I did NOT win, bummer!) was a wine weekend getaway courtesy of Seattle MINI. This involved winning the use of a MINI for the weekend to take a road trip to eastern WA wine country for a stay at Desert Wind Winery (@desertwindwine) and dinner for two at Picazo 7Seventeen (@Picazo717). What a great little weekend, maybe I’ll have to head over there for a weekend like that, just at my own expense instead of as a prize!

(SWG and myself on the red carpet)

(SWG calling out winners for prizes)
My favorite thing from this event was the “Geek Lounge”, which I had talked about in detail in my preview post. It was a lot of fun to taste several Merlots side by side at the Merlot Bar and to try a few different whites at a bar dedicated to that also. Another favorite aspect of this room was the food and wine pairings available. The Waterfront Seafood Grill (Waterfront70) cooked up pan-seared Columbia River King Salmon with Beluga lentils, smoked bacon, sherry vinegar and red onion jam. This was paired along with Sparkman Cellars’ (SparkmanCellars) 2009 Lumière Chardonnay, which was an excellent pairing. I may or may not have gone back for seconds on that salmon! Yum!

(@erindrinkswine would love to pour you some Merlot)
Some other highlights of the evening: @clivity and @jojolocal thumb wrestling for the last piece of the AMAZING shrimp that @chefmagana prepared for us; Greg Smallwood of Laurelhurst Cellars’ (@LaurelhurtWine) quote about being “wine blocked” by his business partner (“it’s ok as long as our pour spouts don’t touch!”); and @Seattlewinegal’s impromptu dance-off competition up on stage amongst 20something attendees. All in all it was a pretty entertaining night!

("One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war...")
I would say that the only thing I wasn’t so keen on at this event was the fact that I just couldn’t fine some of the wine I wanted to try. While I really like the idea of the winemakers intermingled with the crowd for more one-on-one interaction, this left them all over the place throughout the whole night with no set base to find them at. I saw several multiple times and some not at all. There were a few wines that I was looking forward to trying at the event, but I was never able to find them amongst the crowds. Maybe a future idea would be a hybrid of walking around in the crowd but in a “zone” area, so you know that you’ll always find certain wineries in certain zones? That would have made it much easier to find some of those wineries I had been excited to try out at 20something.

The after-party for the event took us around the corner to LTD Bar & Grill for some post-wine PBR’s (if you’re gonna switch it up, switch it up BIG), and an intense game of Big Buck Hunter between @erindrinkswine and myself. She won. I need to work on my video game hunting skills apparently.

Overall, 20something was a huge success for the 5th year in a row. I look forward to next year and the fun new ideas that the Washington Wine Commission (@WineCommission) will bring to the event!

(Two happy 20something attendees)

Seattle Magazine's Best of 2010 Party - Seattle, WA

2010-12-01T21:19:00.000-08:00

Have you ever partied with 1,700 of your closest friends? I have. Well, take out the fact that they were all my friends (I didn’t know them, perhaps they would like to be my friends?), and Seattle Magazine’s Best of 2010 “Party of the Decade” was just that. A jam packed, glamorous, glitzy, 1,700 person party. It was truly quite the experience. Of course, I had to have the perfect dress, the perfect shoes and the perfect hair, so I consulted my local Nordstrom for the perfect little black dress (seriously, it was GORGEOUS) and the most amazing sparkly shoes. The outfit was topped off by an updo from the fabulous Swink Style Bar (@swinkstylebar) and I was ready for the purple carpet (yes, not red, purple. This party was much too cool for the standard red carpet). I attended with two of my girl friends, and after we had our van cab pull over far away from the front door, we strutted up in style, ready for our photo ops. Unfortunately, it was colder than snot outside and we settled for a quick group shot (them with their coats on, me without. I mean c’mon, the DRESS) and shuffled quickly in the front door. We were immediately provided tasting glasses, raffle tickets, drink tickets (for drinks from the “Decade Lounge” upstairs), and a pour of some delicious Nicolas Feuillatte champagne and off we wandered into the party. The main floor had several wineries and food booths, as well as the “main stage” for some of the musical acts that performed throughout the evening. This area featured wines from some of my favorite wineries, including Barrage Cellars (@barragecellars) (pouring their very tasty 2009 Riesling), Kiona Vineyards & Winery (@KionaWine) (where I sipped on the AMAZING 2006 Lemberger. Have you tried this? Do it. Now.), and O Wines (@owines) (their 2007 Red Wine has aged beautifully since it was released back in February of this year). My favorite foods from this room included the Il Fornaio pesto gnocchi, and Capital Grille’s wagyu beef.

We trekked up some stairs (never easy in heels) and wandered into the Taste of Tulalip Retro Game Room. In this room they had more tasty treats from the Tulalip Resort (which I lunged for immediately. You saw my notes on the food from the Taste of Tulalip preview and event), as well as skee-ball, pool tables, and foosball! Down farther from this room was the Tulalip Wine Tasting table, where resort sommelier Tommy Thompson was pouring my FAVORITE from the Taste of Tulalip, the 2005 Corliss Estates Cabernet Franc. I was so delighted to be able to sip on this wine again. Adjacent to the Tulalip table was the Team Photogenic SEEN lounge, where at a point later in the evening, my friends and I were interviewed by Count Kody about our wine blogs! Look for my segment when it’s finally edited and posted, I talk all about this wonderful (well, at least I like to think so) blog in it!

Much like the Energizer Bunny, this party kept going and going and going. We were shocked to discover that you could keep walking across a window enclosed walk-way (where snacks from Tom Douglas restaurants (@TomDouglasCo) were featured) and into a completely different room that contained another stage and additional wineries and food stations. In this room I was able to try the Buty Winery Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc/Muscadelle, which was quite lovely.

I’m not kidding, the party went even farther with a trip up MORE stairs to a third level, which contained the “Decade Lounge”. This area had music and dancing, as well as a bar with ice sculptures and what appeared to be some sort of cosmopolitan luge (sign me UP). We stood in line for our tasty cosmo’s (which we then put in our wine glasses. That didn’t look weird or anything) and ventured around the top floor a bit more.

I was simply amazed at the sheer magnitude of this party, both in size and complexity. There was quite literally something here to appease any appetite or taste. While my feet were hating life at the end of the night (I did not expect that much walking INSIDE a party), I left there feeling like I had attended one of Seattle’s most well put together and glamorous parties in history. With every party comes one that’s even greater following, so I can’t wait to see what they have in store for the next!

(With some fabulous friends at the party incl @DivaTink, @YasharWineMongr, @ErinDrinksWine, and Lauren!)

Wines of Bordeaux - Esquin Wine Merchants - Seattle, WA

2010-11-23T23:26:00.000-08:00

Back in September I had the privilege of attending one of the seminars of BLEND, which I subsequently wrote about in a post about the event. In the seminar, we learned all about the Bordeaux region of France, and how French Bordeaux blends are created. As you’ll recall, the five grapes of the Bordeaux blend are.. (pop quiz, go!) … Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Cabernet Granc, Merlot and Petit Verdot (how did you do?). Many Washington wines are made in Bordeaux style and are supremely delicious. So what’s a Washington wine girl to do when the opportunity to taste the REAL DEAL comes about? Take it! Last week I headed down to Esquin Wine Merchants (@Esquin) for a tasting of wines from the Bordeaux region of France. Oh what a treat it was! We tasted through eleven amazing French wines, and I was able to learn so much more about what makes French wine so different from American wine and about all of the different (and historic) practices that go into the making of a true Bordeaux blend.

Since I detailed the whole right bank/left bank thing in my BLEND post, we’ll skip straight to the “growths” of Bordeaux. The Wikipedia entry can explain this concept better than I can: “For the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, Emperor Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best Bordeaux wines which were to be on display for visitors from around the world. Brokers from the wine industry ranked the wines according to a château's reputation and trading price, which at that time was directly related to quality. The result was the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. The wines were ranked in importance from first to fifth growths” It goes on to say that “within each category, the various châteaux are ranked in order of quality and only twice since the 1855 classification has there been a change, first when in 1856 Cantemerle was added as a fifth growth (having either been originally omitted by oversight or added as an afterthought, depending on which of the conflicting accounts is correct) and, more significantly, in 1973, when Château Mouton Rothschild was elevated from a second growth to a first growth vineyard.” Interesting to note is that the bottles do not specify which particular growth a wine is from. This must be known by the drinker or else researched in advance.

It was interesting to learn about the vintages we would be tasting, and how they are perceived by experts. 2000 was an amazing vintage, “one of the greats” and probably one of the top 5 or 6 of the past 20-30 years. 2001 was said to be terrific on the right bank. 2005 is considered a great vintage uniformly and 2006 didn’t quite present what it should have and is just in the shadow of 2005.

We started our tasting with a 2000 Carbonnieux Blanc, Pessac-Léognan. This 89 point wine from Wine Spectator is a high acid and full bodied wine. It’s so rare that you see a white wine that is recommended to age past 4 years, which is the case with this one. It was the perfect clean wine to begin our exploration of the wines of Bordeaux.

We moved on to a 2005 Picque Caillou Rouge, Pessac-Léognan. This wine does not come from one of the classified growths of the region. The wine had a ton of berry on the nose, and a huge burst of tannin on the taste. With each taste the fruit came forward just a bit more, and the finish ended up being quite enjoyable.

Next, we tried a 2001 Blason l’Evangile, Pomerol. It was interesting to learn that 80% of the Pomerol estate is planted to Merlot. This particular wine is almost all Merlot, with just a hint of Cabernet Franc present. 2001 was a great year on the right bank, and this wine will continue to age well. Cherry flavors and another big burst of tannin characterized this wine, which had a deeper and darker color than our previous taste.

Next our Bordeaux journey took us to 2006 Malescot St. Exupery, Margaux 3rd Growth. This young left bank wine was a 92-94 point recipient from Parker. The family that owns this estate has had it for just the past 20-30 years. The estate itself is planted to about 57% Cabernet. The taste of this wine definitely had that “pucker effect” with the amount of tannins present right off the bat. It also had a very deep and dark color. This wine will age very well, with anticipated maturity between 2010 and 2025. It will become much less tannic over time.

We moved to a 2006 Sociando-Mallet, Haut-Médoc. This was a 90-92 point Parker recipient and had an excellent purple hue. Black current was present at first taste and this was a very Cabernet dominant wine (about 75-80%) which, for now, has those “super tannins” present. This wine will definitely age more and will soften out over time. About 7-10 years of cellaring is recommended, with the wine lasting for up to two decades after that.

The right bank brought us the 2006 Clos St. Martin, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classé. This is one of almost 60 wines that are Grands Cru Classés. There are two estates that are Premiers Grands Crus Classés (A) and another 13 estates that are Premiers Grands Crus Classés (B). This, another high scoring (92-94 points) Parker wine, had a super smoky nose and was full bodied and quite nice. This is another that will age much longer, reaching its peak between 2015 and 2025.

It was no doubt as the bottles became more expensive, my appreciation of them also also increased. We moved forward into the 2006 Gruaud-Larose, Saint-Julien 2nd Growth. This had a slight smoke on the nose, but also had hints of berry as well. The first taste brought a slight attack of those tannins again, but excellent fruity flavors. This wine, best after 2010, was a 90 point recipient from Wine Spectator.

I love those wines that one would consider “feel good” wines, which was exactly what we were able to taste next. The 2006 Lynch-Bages, Pauillac 5th Growth comes from an estate that ran into disrepair until it was bought about in 1977. This is a big wine, perfect for lovers of those big bad California Cabernets that need a smooth transition into a love of Bordeaux wines. I enjoyed the nice fruit on the nose of this, and an excellent back of the palate finish. A perfect wine for a cold night by the fire, this fantastic bottle was the recipient of 92 points from Parker.

Of course my favorite taste of the night was from one of the most expensive bottles we tried (but not THE most expensive!). The 2005 Calon Segur, Saint-Estèphe 3rd Growth quite literally made me go “oooohhhhh” when I first tasted it (seriously, see my tweets from the evening!). This estate is run by a woman (way to go girl!) and this 2005 vintage is a blend of 60% Cabernet and 40% Merlot. A hue of deep ruby and a sweet nose picqued my interest before I sipped on luscious fruit and tannin that was there but not in your face. This wine is amazing from start to finish and I can see why reviews state it will drink well for up to three decades. This 94-96 point Parker recipient needs to find a home in my collection ASAP. What a treat…

Moving to last of our Bordeaux reds, we had the extreme pleasure of trying the 2005 Cos d’Estournel, Saint-Estèphe 2nd Growth. Of the 14 second growths, this is one of the five that are considered “super seconds”. This is about 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, with a balance of mostly Merlot and just a hint of Cabernet Franc. The wine had an incredible inky dark color and a nose of spice and blackberry. This is a MASSIVE tannin wine with very closed up fruit flavors, but overall it’s very balanced. The flavors will continue to reveal themselves as this wine ages, one that has been called a “wine for the ages”. It’s recommended to not even look at this for about 8-10 years and enjoy it after some serious aging, sometime between 2017 and 2040. This is a 98 point Parker recipient, and I’m tremendously honored to have had the opportunity to try this incredible wine.

We finished the tasting with a 2006 Coutet, Sauternes 1st Growth. Very sweet nose with hints of citrus and peach cobbler. Good acidity, and one that will age well for 25 or more years. A little too sweet for my taste, but enjoyable none-the-less. This is another Parker 92 point wine.

My journey through the wines of Bordeaux was simply incredible and I can’t believe I had waited this long to enjoy some of the world’s best juice. Each tasting I attend furthers my knowledge of grapes, wine making styles, key vintages, and just an overall understanding of the wines of the world. I’ve been a wide-eyed and eager sponge at these events, taking in all the info I can to broaden my horizons of one of nature’s greatest gifts. I look forward to my next big adventure!

The Taste of Tulalip - Tulalip Resort - Tulalip, WA

2010-11-21T19:35:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I provided a preview of the Taste of Tulalip, held November 12th – 13th, 2010. In it I provided a sneak peak on some of the food and wine that would be available at the main event. Well let me tell you something, the main event did NOT disappoint. The whole event was simply fantastic! As we entered, we checked in at the main tables and were provided goody bags and Riedel tasting glasses. The concourse leading to the main Orca Ballroom had all of the California wineries in attendance at the event. I thought it was interesting, and pretty cool actually, to have the CA and WA wineries separated at the event. That way, while we were in the hallway we knew we were tasting wine from all CA wineries, and in the main ballroom we were tasting WA wines. The main ballroom had the wineries spread out throughout the room, with food prep and tasting stations mixed into center areas. The “twitter lounge” had some couches and chairs, and a large screen showing the tweets of everyone using the #TasteTulalip event hashtag. It was fun to watch my tweets from the event go by throughout the evening! One thing I noticed immediately was the winery placement around the room. At first, I was a bit thrown by the fact that the wineries weren’t in any sort of order. Normally these types of tasting events have them alphabetically arranged and easy to locate. After I wandered around a bit, I realized I liked the random nature of the winery table locations. Instead of bee-lining to specific wineries I knew, it forced me to take a look at each table that I passed, and in turn, I was able to try a few new wines I had never even heard of prior to the event. Several seminars and food & wine pairing challenges also took place during the event, however, I missed those as I never seemed to know when they were happening! (note for next year to event organizers: perhaps an announcement of when these are starting?) Overall though, I was extremely blown away by the wines that were brought to be poured by the wineries, the amazing food offered by the chefs of the Tulalip Resort, and the overall vibe of the entire event. I included a few notable wines from the event below, so read on!

Well, go big or go home right? I’m just going to come right out with my favorite wine of the evening, the Corliss Estates 2004 Columbia Valley Cabernet Franc. This wine was balanced and wonderful. I’m finding through my many tastings that I am a huge Cab Franc fan and I think I may have found my favorite of the Cab Francs! This is a must try, and one that will no doubt be finding its way onto my wine rack in the very near future.

Additional stand out wines for me were the wines brought by the amazing Bob Betz of Betz Family Winery. I had been hearing all around the wine world that Bob Betz is one of the most genuine and friendly people out there and I was so honored to finally meet the man himself at this event. He took time to explain each wine he was pouring, it was great! Available at the Taste of Tulalip was his 2008 La Cote Rousse Syrah, the 2008 La Serenne Syrah, and the 2008 Pere de Famille Cabernet Sauvignon. This last Cab I tried is a young cabernet that is amazing now, but will be simply stunning with a few years on it. This was my first experience tasting Betz wines, and it will most definitely not be my last.

One of the great things about wine tasting events is discovering new wineries and winemakers. 21 Cellars (@21Cellars) is one that I discovered at this event. This winery is based in Tacoma (I don’t think there are many others down there?) and is a partnership between Phillip Coates and brothers Ben and Dan Bradley. They still have very limited production, with less than 100 cases produced of their 2006 Pont 21 Cabernet Sauvignon, which was poured at this event. The brothers are young and ambitious and I have no doubt that we will see more fabulous wine from them in the coming vintages.

Visiting with a favorite, Barrage Cellars (@BarrageCellars), I had the chance to try their 2008 Eclipse Syrah, which has not been released yet. Poured from the decanter at this event, this wine is young and different from other wines I have tasted from Kevin Correll. It was fruit forward (which I love) and left me wanting more. I am very excited to see what this wine does as it ages a bit more. Also fun to note is that Kevin won a food & wine pairing challenge against Charles Smith of K Vintners! Way to go Kevin! (and look how happy he is with his prize basket)

Other notable Washington wines from the event: the Five Star Cellars 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, which received 92 points from Wine Spectator in October, and was a Double Gold at the 2010 Seattle Wine Awards (@WineAwards). A friend and I purchased this bottle to share together at a future dinner, looking forward to it; the Hightower Cellars (@HightowerCellar) 2007 Murray Cuvee Blend; the Flying Trout Wines 2008 Malbec (did you know they are one of Walla Walla’s tiniest wineries for case production?); and the William Church Winery (@WmChurchWinery) 2007 Sur la Mer French Bordeaux blend and 2008 Malbec, a 100% Malbec.

Onward we go to California! It was great to try CA wines at this event, as most events I have been to lately have all featured WA wines. I don’t know as much about CA wines or appellations and it was great to try cabs that were just a bit different from what I’m used to having here in WA. A favorite of mine that we don’t see much of in WA is Zinfandel. The Charles Krug (@charleskrugwine) 2006 St Helena – Napa Valley Zinfandel was very nice. I do love a good zin…

Another standout CA winery was ZD Wines (@ZDWines). Each vintage of their Abacus wine is made with the previous vintages included in it as well. So basically, Abacus XII, which they are on now, contains all eleven prior Abacus vintages in it as well. This is a spendy bottle (the Abacus XIII is pre-selling for $475/bottle), but no doubt is unlike any other wine you will find out there. We were able to try their 2006 Reserve Cabernet at the event, and after the full bodied cabernet nature of that, I would LOVE to try the Abacus someday.

So much wine, so little time... While I’d love to have the chance to list out every amazing wine I tried at the Taste of Tulalip, it would just take much too long (goes to show you how many great wines there were there!). If you haven’t tried the wines I did include in this post, get out there and get yourself a bottle and let me know what you think! In the mean time, I can’t wait for the Taste of Tulalip 2011, held November 11th and 12th, 2011. This is an event that will become a permanent fixture on my social calendar and I hope to see its popularity increase even more next year!

(photo below of Megan, myself, and Tara. We had a blast at the Taste of Tulalip!)

Upcoming Event: 20something - The New Vintage - Fremont Studios - Seattle, WA

2010-11-09T19:18:00.000-08:00

Did you know that 25% of people that drink wine 3+ times per week are between the ages of 21 and 30? Do you realize how much this group of “millennials” is expected to grow within the next five years? The Washington Wine Commission (@WineCommission) does, and celebrate this growing wine market with their annual 20something – The New Vintage (@20somethingwine) wine event. 20something, now in its 5th year, came about when winemakers on the Wine Commission board expressed a desire to have an event catered towards the younger demographic, the 21 – 30ish range. They wanted to make sure this group of young wine drinkers “drinks Washington first” (as opposed to our competition from the Golden State). Madeline Dow, new to the Wine Commission at the time, proposed the idea of 20something as an “approachable” event, and one that had a “fun and lively atmosphere”. In contrast to other major wine events where each winery is featured at their own table, this event has the winemakers walking around in the crowd offering tastings. This approach allows attendees to interact with the winemakers and chat in a more informal setting. This year’s event, held once again at the trendy Fremont Studios, features 75 Washington wineries and more than 15 local chefs offering up tasty bites. As in the past, 20something partners with KEXP DJ Darek Mazzone, who spins tunes to set the mood of the party. Other fun additions to 20something this year include a “Geek Lounge” for those interested in learning a little more about wine at the event. This lounge will include a Riedel (@RiedelUSA) table, where tasters can compare wines in different types of glassware. Doug McCrea of McCrea Cellars will also be offering a Rhone blending area, where attendees have the chance to try their hand at some blending. Also in this area is the “Mer-love” bar, where the young Seattle sommelier team will be on hand to showcase one of the classic grapes that is often neglected: Merlot. This educational area is a great tool for the millennials, many of whom consider themselves wine drinkers, but not necessarily very educated in varietals, blends, or vintages (as most would say about wine: it’s either “red or white”). Another great feature of 20something is that they encourage winemakers to bring their under $30 bottles. This is a fantastic way to market to this demographic that generally doesn’t spend $50+ on bottles like older generations might. A final partnership that 20something brought on this year was a fabulous host. Join the amazing Seattle Wine Gal Barbara Evans (@SeattleWineGal) on the red carpet and for some pretty fantastic prize giveaways throughout the evening!

The Washington Wine Commission hosted a small preview tweetup event for several social media people from Seattle at the newest Tom Douglas (@TomDouglasCo) hotspot, Seatown Seabar & Rotisserie (@SeatownROTO). The restaurant graciously welcomed the group into their cozy little restaurant, located just across from Pike Place Market on Western Avenue. Several of the 20something wineries had donated wine for us to preview, and Seatown created a delicious menu of appetizers for us to enjoy during our tasting. Our amazing server made sure we always had food on the table in front of us, and Tommy (nephew of Tom Douglas and also an amazing chef), came out from the kitchen to explain several of the courses prepared throughout the evening. We had 18 wines on hand to preview, and they were all out on the table so we could enjoy them family style, keeping with the casual style that 20something has. Also in attendance at our preview were two of the 20something wineries: Laurelhurst Cellars (@LaurelhurstWine) from Seattle’s SODO neighborhood, and Ott & Murphy Wines of Whidbey Island. Winemakers Greg Smallwood (who I learned is a WSU alum, GO COUGS!) and Dave Halbgewachs were on hand from Laurelhurst, providing a detailed bio of the winery and winemakers. Did you know that Laurelhurst got their name because that’s the neighborhood where they started their winery in a garage? I love learning those types of fun facts about wineries. Eric Murphy was in attendance from Ott & Murphy, and had tasting notes on hand for the two wines he poured for us at the preview. All the winemakers in attendance were such a pleasure to be around and I look forward to seeing them again at 20something on 11/20!

And now for the wines (and some food too!). As I mentioned, we tasted through 18 different wines at the preview, including whites, single varietal reds and red blends. One of the things I really enjoyed about this preview event was that I had never tried any of the wines on the table. This made for a great adventure of trying new things (which I LOVE to do). Several of the wines stood out, I’ll split them up by whites and reds below:

Whites

Dusted Valley Vintners (@DustedValley) stood out in both the white and the red category, with my favorite white of the evening being their 2009 Pinot Gris, a Columbia Valley wine and very decently priced at $13 a bottle.

Ott & Murphy's 2009 Viognier was also quite good. This Columbia Valley wine was bottled in May and released this past July. It’s 76% viognier, 18% roussanne and 6% chardonnay. Sweet, but enjoyable.

Reds

Dusted Valley Vintners (@DustedValley) showed well again with their 2007 Stained Tooth Syrah. This Columbia Valley wine is just $25 and seemed to be a big hit with many at the table. I think this bottle was finished up first as people kept going back to it for one more taste! A must try at 20something this year!

Another standout for me was the Laurelhurst Cellars (@LaurelhurstWine) 2008 Merlot. “Merlot you say? But Taryn, you don’t even like Merlot that much!” True statement. Merlot has never been my go-to wine when I’m browsing my wine rack or choosing my tastings at a winery. Let me tell you a little something about this Merlot: it rocks. Great nose and a fantastic finish. This wine will be part of the “mer-love” bar I mentioned previously. Definitely go check this out!

Three Rivers Winery (@3riverswinery) is one that I had not heard of prior to this event. Well I know them now. Their 2008 Rivers Red is a blend of 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Malbec, 13% Merlot, 11% Tempranillo, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Petit Verdot. This amazing blend is just $14 a bottle! I’m a huge Tempranillo fan, and it was great to see this added into this otherwise common blend. I really enjoyed this multi-grape blend, complex but not overly so.

Ott & Murphy stood out again with the 2008 Double Bluff Red Rhone Blend from the Columbia Valley. Excellent flavors, very yummy along with our tasty snacks from Seatown.

Tasty Snacks

I was able to snap a few shots of our delicious appetizers before we all dove into them headfirst (well, maybe fork first). The food at Seatown is wonderful, I look forward to visiting again for a full dinner!

“Pam’s Rainbow Plate” – fresh vegetable and fruit compositions: sweet potato soup; dill, shallot, marinated beets; chanterelle, sunchoke, thyme; pear and chrysanthemum salad; roasted fennel, oil cured olive, tarragon

Northwest Free Range Chicken, dripping potatoes, rapini – Great to learn about this dish from Tommy. It’s their “winner winner chicken dinner”! It’s a 3 day process to make this delicious chicken! A must try when you dine at Seatown.

Chocolate deliciousness on a plate (not sure what they call it, but that’s what I’m calling it!). Big thanks to Greg and Dave of Laurelhurst Cellars for adding in some dessert for the tweeters!

20something is coming up on Saturday 11/20/10 from 6pm to 10pm. As of the night of the preview (11/8), only a few hundred tickets remained to this fantastic event. It WILL sell out this week so get your tickets now by clicking here. It’s just $50 for one ticket or two for $90. Come out and mingle with other “millennials”, sip some fantastic wines, listen to some great tunes and learn something in the process. Not in the 21-30 range but still feel like a 20something at heart? You better be there too. This event is not strictly for “20 somethings” only. It’s for all wine lovers who want to enjoy a trendy and different kind of wine event. It’s going to be a blast. I’ll see you there!

Upcoming Event: The Taste of Tulalip - Tulalip Resort - Tulalip, WA

2010-10-23T14:01:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I had the extreme pleasure of attending the Taste of Tulalip preview event, held at the Tulalip Resort. The event was held to provide a sneak peak to the main event, The Taste of Tulalip, which will be held November 12th and 13th, 2010. This annual event, a celebration of “wine food tradition”, combines delectable food from chefs of the resort’s many restaurants and wines from 60 Washington wineries and 20+ Napa Valley wineries. Friday the 12th, the event kicks off with a champagne reception, the Taste of Tulalip Celebration Dinner, and a VIP after party. Saturday the 13th is a full day of events, including several wine seminars and the Grand Taste, held in the 15,000 sq ft Orca Ballroom. The Grand Taste also includes several live quick-fire challenges and chef demonstrations, put on by the chefs of the Tulalip Resort. Also on site will be Marc Mondavi, who will be presenting one of the seminars, as well as signing bottles during the Grand Taste.

Our experience at just the preview event was incredible. From the moment we arrived at the resort we were treated like VIP guests, starting with complimentary valet parking at the entrance. After being greeted warmly by resort staff and the preview event organizers and being handed a glass of sparkling wine, we walked into a beautiful ballroom that had been set up specifically for us for this preview event. The table settings were incredible, with wine glasses lined up at the ready for tastings and only four settings at each table, so each attendee had ample room to tweet or take notes on the courses we tasted throughout the evening (check out #TasteTulalip on twitter for our tweets from the evening). There were also photo slideshows on large screens on the walls, showing views of the Tulalip Resort’s rooms, restaurants, and entertainment offered on-site. We had a brief talk from Tony Hatch, Youth Advocate of the Tulalip Tribes, where we learned that Tulalip customs state that “one of the most intimate things you can do is sit down and share a meal with someone.” The resort strives for this, and works to think about old traditions and customs in the way that they treat their guests; with the respect that they deserve. According to the resort’s Executive Chef Perry Mascitti, the “chefs can show their passion with everything that they put out”. This sense of tradition and respect has shaped this event into what it is today. Our preview tasting started with samples from the Celebration Dinner, which will be held on Friday the 12th. This dinner contains five courses, with an intermezzo course between courses three and four. While the wines were not necessarily “paired” with the courses, they accompanied wonderfully. As each course was served, the chef who prepared it came out and gave a short intro to what we were about to taste and how the dish came to be. Also, Tulalip Resort’s Sommelier Tom Thompson would stop at our table to tell us about each wine as it was poured. It was so great hearing his stories of these wines and seeing the passion he has for what he does at the resort. Listed below are the courses of the Celebration Dinner, with photos and notes on a few of my favorites:

First Course, prepared by Gerry Shultz, Banquet Chef and John Jadamex, Eagle’s Buffet Chef: Dungeness and Alaskan Crab Sushi with Wild Rice, Sesame Lavash, Avacado Wasabi Foam
Accompanying Wine: Chateau Ste. Michelle Eroica Riesling
Notes: For someone who doesn’t normally like sushi, I was extremely pleased with this dish. The Ste. Michelle dry Riesling paired well with the spiciness of the wasabi used in the sushi.

Second Course, prepared by Gerry Shultz, Banquet Chef and John Ponticelli, Chef Garde Manager: Chenterelle, Smoked Boar Bacon and Aged Cheddar Soup and Quail Salad, Blackberry Vinaigrette, Micro Greens, Mache, Teardrop Tomatoes
Accompanying Wines: Betz Winery 2007 Besoleil Red and Tranche Cellars 2007 Roussane & Viognier
Notes: The cheese soup in this course was absolutely incredible. I was sad we only had such a small portion to try, I wanted an entire bowl of this stuff! The wines were also very nice, with the Betz having a strong bouquet and a complex finish.

Third Course, prepared by Brent Clarkson, Cedars Café Chef and David Buchanan, BlackFish Chef: White and Red Miso Salmon, Miso Rice, Lemon Butter Tamari Mushroom Medley, Inari-Nori slaw
Accompanying Wine: 2010 Taste of Tulalip Bookwalter Red (2008 vintage)
Notes: This wine will be the house wine for the resort in 2011, sold by the glass or by the bottle. The bottle was designed specifically for them by local artist Scott Schoenen from Fresh Northwest Design. In working with John Bookwalter on creating this wine, they wanted something that could sit down and age for awhile, or be enjoyed right now. This Bordeaux style blend contains Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc. Because Tulalip has a retail license, guests at the resort will be able to purchase a bottle to take with them if they enjoy it while on-site.

Intermezzo Course, prepared by Kurt Hitchman, TRC Chef de Cuisine: Pomegranate Aspic, Orange

Fourth Course, prepared by Dean Shinagawa, Tulalip Bay Chef: Waygu Beef Short Ribs and Certified Angus Beef Tenderloin, Bleu Cheese Potato, Shiitaki, Sundried Cherries, Cabernet Demi Glace
Accompanying Wines: Charles Krug 2006 Cabernet and Charles Smith Wines 2007 “Skull” Syrah.
Notes: This beef dish was fantastic! The meat was so perfectly tender and the demi glace added amazing flavors. While I had started to limit how many bites I was taking of each course (with 12 courses you really have to do that…), I most definitely ate every last bite of this delicious dish. The wines were very different and gave two very different contrasting flavors for this course.

Fifth Course, prepared by Nikol Nakamura, Pastry Chef: “A Study in Chocolate” – White Chocolate Cream, Milk Chocolate Cremosa, 55% Chocolate Ganache filled Raspberries, 72% Dark Chocolate Baby Fondant Cake
Accompanying Wine: Graham’s 6 Grapes Port
Notes: After so much food it was hard to dig into this dessert, but I was glad I did. The filled raspberries were delicious and the port had very bold flavors that accompanied all the chocolate aspects of this dessert quite well.

After the Celebration Dinner courses (but wait, there’s more?!), we moved onto a preview of some of the dishes offered at the Grand Taste, which will be held Saturday the 13th. These courses were brought out together in some cases, and the wine was all poured for us up front, so I will just list out each item and also list out the wines we enjoyed along with these tastes.

John Ponticelli, Chef Garde Manager: Spicy Wonton Cup with Seared Spiced Ahi, Wasabi, Soy, Mirin, Seasame Aioli

Gerry Shultz, Banquet Chef: Smoked Duck, Chanterelle, Olive Romano Lasagna Roll, Port and Roasted Tomato Coulis, Pesto Oregon Bleu
Notes: This was a favorite of the first three items brought out (they were brought out all at the same time). This was a great twist on a pasta dish!

John Jadamec, Eagle’s Buffet Chef: Pulled Duck Slider with Pear Glaze, Asian Slaw, Brioche Roll

David Buchamam, Blackfish Chef: Apple Lacquered Pacific Halibut over Savory Fennel-Butternut Squash Bread Pudding
Notes: I really enjoyed this dish. Being from Alaska, I can be rather picky with my seafood (I mean c’mon, I’m used to eating fish I hauled out of the ocean/river/lake myself), but this halibut was prepared perfectly. It was tender and cooked well, and the accompanying butternut squash bread pudding was an amazing pair to the fish.

Dean Shinagawa, Tulalip Bay Chef: Butter Poached Sea Scallops with Toasted Pinenuts
Notes: This was one big buttery scallop! Like the halibut, the scallop was prepared perfectly and quite delicious.

Nikol Nakamura, Pastry Chef: “A Sweet Ending” display – Passion Fruit Macaroons, Chocolate Nougat, Pistachio Bon Bons, Financier, Mouse Au Chcolat, Beignets
Notes: More dessert! At this point I was so full I couldn’t see straight, but the bites I did have off this platter were quite lovely. Loved the beignets!

Chef Kurt Hitchman, TRC Chef de Cuisine: Local and International Cheese Plate
Notes: Who doesn’t love cheese to finish a meal? We had a few bites from this plate as an excellent finish to this extraordinary tasting event.

Wines Poured for Grand Taste Preview:

ZD Wines 2008 Founder's Reserve Pinot Noir

Lachini Vineyards 2008 Pinot Gris (the only OR winery featured at The Taste of Tulalip)

Reynvaan Family Vineyards 2007 Syrah

Mi Sueño Winery’s Herrera label 2006 Cabernet (This 100% Cabernet is VERY limited, with only 100 cases produced. Tulalip Resort is the only location in Washington that carries this wine. This is a big bold cab with great flavors!)

As the preview event concluded and we tried to determine how we were going to roll ourselves out of the ballroom, the amazing organizers of the event had one more surprise for us. In Tulalip custom visitors never leave empty-handed, so we were all provided a wrapped gift of beautiful glass flutes with the Tulalip symbol on each of them. I was so thankful to receive such a beautiful gift after dining on such amazing food and wine.

Don’t miss out on The Taste of Tulalip 2010. As you can see, the food and wines offered at this impressive event (awarded the Washington Wine Commission's "Best Wine Event" featuring Washington Wines in 2009), are second to none. This year’s event will no doubt sell out, so visit Ticketmaster ASAP to get your tickets to any or all of the events that make up The Taste of Tulalip. Also, when booking overnight packages for the event, present your Ticketmaster event code for a special room rate at the resort. Guests will receive a Deluxe King for $150 plus tax per night or a Double Queen for $180 plus tax per night.

I’ll be at the Grand Taste on Saturday November 13th, so I’ll see you there!

Grape Cup 2010 - 415 Westlake, Seattle, WA

2010-10-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

University rivalry runs deep, and here in Washington our two largest schools are looking for bragging rights at every turn. Whether it’s a win in the Apple Cup, or raising the most money for a great cause (remember in 2005 when the Space Needle was painted crimson & gray?), the University of Washington and Washington State University have a rivalry that goes back over a century. This year, the 2nd annual Grape Cup was held as another of these contests to let each school battle it out for supremacy. The Grape Cup is no ordinary battle and while there are no sports involved (well, ask a winemaker how much physical energy goes into each vintage, they may beg to differ there), it is a contest of ability; to see who makes the best wine or beer in the state of Washington.

This year’s event, held at 415 Westlake, had a great turnout of both winemakers and fans alike. This was a great venue for this event, with an open spacious room to wander around, a kitchen to prepare food, and beautiful high ceilings. On this night, the tables were adorned with their crimson & gray or purple & gold, and there was more school spirit in that room than I’ve seen at some sporting events! It was great to see the winemakers and fans in attendance all dressed up in their respective school colors. In true sporting fashion, the judges for the event were dressed in referee uniforms as they made their rounds to sample the wines and beers. We nibbled on some tailgate snacks (macaroni and cheese?! sliders?! I was in heaven…), and made the tour around the room on our quest to determine who made the best wine: UW or WSU? It was a hard start for myself and my friend Erin (@ErinDrinksWine) as WSU alum, as we were slightly biased and seemed to be drawn first to the Cougar tables. We overcame the natural pull toward the crimson and were able to try some amazing wines (and beers!) from around the state. As mentioned in my preview post for the event, the Grape Cup benefited the Washington State Farmworker Housing Trust and we had a representative in attendance to explain a little about the organization and how they work to benefit our state’s farmworkers.

Some of my favorites of the event included the Willow Crest 2009 Pinot Gris (Cougar wine!), the William Church Winery (@WmChurchwinery) 2008 Bishops Blend (38% Malbec, 11% Syrah, 9% Merlot, 3% Cab Franc – another Cougar wine), the Brian Carter Cellars (@briancarterwine) Oriana (Husky wine), the Pandora Cellars (so new they don’t even have a website yet!) 100% Cabernet Sauvignon (Husky wine), the Tempest Sol Winery 2008 Dusk (Merlot and Syrah blend – Cougar wine), and the Mercer Estates (@MercerEstates) 2008 Sauvignon Blanc (Cougar wine). While there were many many others that I enjoyed at the event, these stood out and were the ones I wrote down to remember!

Palouse Winery won my heart (and my stomach) with their addition of one of the most amazing things ever to their table: Cougar Gold Cheese. Folks, if you have never tried this little bit of heaven in a can, get yourself to Met Market or the Cougar Connections store at Westlake and get some to try for yourself. This is a constant staple in my fridge!

In the end, the Washington State Cougars prevailed, beating out the University of Washington Huskies by just ½ a point in the referee’s voting:

1st place: Smasne Cellars 2007 Carmenére (Cougar)
2nd place: Pandora Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon (Husky)
3rd place: Skylite Cellars 2007 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (Cougar) and Brian Carter Cellars Oriana (Husky)

The people’s choice voting went to the Huskies, who beat out the Cougs in the team competition by just ONE point. But once again Robert Smasne was on top, winning the people’s choice individual winery first place award:

1st place: Smasne Cellars (Cougar)
2nd place: Pandora Cellars (Husky) and Two Mountain Winery (Husky) (tie)
3rd place: Goose Ridge Estate Winery (Cougar)

HUGE congrats to Robert, who has now won this competition two years in a row with one of his wines. Robert is an avid WSU alum, and also participated in a WSU Alumni wine event that I helped organize a few months back. I love that such fantastic wines come from a WSU Coug!

This year’s event was a blast, and will be one that I will no doubt continue to be a part of from here on out. Both the Cougs and the Huskies will be back with a vengeance next year, whether it is to defend the title (as WSU will be) or de-throne the champs (as UW will try to). Until next year, there’s only one thing left to say:

GO COUGS!

BLEND: "The World's Best Wine, Food & Places" - Seattle, WA

2010-10-03T15:08:00.000-07:00

Back in September I attended an event called BLEND, a food and wine tasting featuring wines from inside and outside of Washington (all blends, no 100% varietals allowed!), as well as food from a variety of resorts and conference centers. The event, which benefited the Washington Wine Industry Foundation, was held at the beautiful waterfront Bell Harbor International Conference Center. BLEND was put on by the wonderful Jamie Peha of Peha Promotions. Some of Jamie's past events I've attended include Wine Rocks Seattle and The Seattle Food & Wine Experience, which were both fantastic food and wine events. BLEND was one of the same, offering great wine, food, and views (once that pesky cruise ship decided to get out of the way).

Our first stop at BLEND was a Bordeaux blending seminar, put on by Columbia Winery. This seminar might have been the most enjoyable parts of the whole BLEND experience and I highly recommend the seminars for anyone who will attend this event next year. We started out by learning some great facts about the Bordeaux region in France and how the blending of different grapes from this area came to be. In France, blending is most often tradition and all of the different regions have their own rules and traditional blend of grapes. In Burgundy, no blending is permitted and wine makers actually risk jail time if they are caught blending the grapes of this region. In Bordeaux, anything goes. They will blend everything. The five Bordeaux grapes used in their blends include Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot. Carmenere is permitted, but is almost never grown. I was interested to learn also about the different blends that come from the left bank and right bank sides of the Gironde river in France. Left Bank wines are generally Cabernet Sauvignon based blends, with Malbec and Petit Verdot being added mostly to enhance the color. The soil on the Left Bank contains more gravel than the more dry soil of the Right Bank. Right Bank wines are mostly Merlot and Cabernet Franc based.

For this seminar, Columbia Winery provided their bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc for us, as well as some blending "guidelines" for the blends. (Cabernet Sauvignon: 25-75%, Merlot: 15-40%, Malbec 1-20%, Cabernet Franc 1-20%, and Petit Verdot: 1-20% (we were not blending with Petit Verdot at this seminar). Also at our table were several beakers, measuring containers so we could get the exact % blend and some charts to record our sample blends. With wide and eager eyes we set off on our blending adventure (It's science!). Each table was given the task of creating their own blend, which would then be blind tasted by the entire room, with a winner chosen off the vote of the room. Our wine "dream team" included myself plus Clive Pursehouse (@clivity) of The Oregon Wine Blog; Annie Hong (@blackpearlSEA), GM of the fabulous Black Pearl restaurants; the one and only Sean Sullivan (@wawinereport) of Washington Wine Report (did you see his "100 Best WA Wines" article in Seattle Metropolitan's September issue?); and Jessica Voelker (@JessVoelker), Seattle Metropolitan's lifestyle editor. We each set about creating our own blend (basically, we just winged it) with the wines provided. My first trial was a 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 20% Malbec, and 5% Cabernet Franc blend, which I thought didn't turn out half bad for my first go at it. We all tasted each others creations and determined that best in show for trial #1 was Clive's "Dark as the Night" blend, a 50% Malbec, 20% Merlot, 20% Cabernet and 10% Cab Franc combination. We set off on trial #2 (my second run was not so wonderful), and determined once again that Clive's "Dark as the Night 2.0" was indeed the best our table had created. We mixed up the big version to submit for judging, did a little field blending at the last minute (seriously, the container was already on the front table and Sean ran up there to add more Malbec in at the last minute) and crossed our fingers. It turns out that we should probably keep our day jobs, as we weren't the best blenders in the room, coming in 3rd place of four groups. Whoops. The winning table's members each took home a bottle of Columbia's 2003 Peninsula blend, a 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Cabernet Franc, 15% Merlot, 6% Mablec, and 1% Petit Verdot. After hearing a lot of this wine and its recent accolades, I might have to venture out and find a bottle for myself! While we didn't come out on top, I had so much fun creating my own blends, and left the seminar inspired to go home and start ripping into my 100% varietals of each of the Bordeaux grapes to start my own home blending operation. In any event, I can't wait for next year's seminars!

After the seminar was the general tasting event, which was spread throughout the convention center in separate rooms. I liked this spread out feel, as you were able to wander around the building, as well as take a break on the large patio extending off the side of the building. While there were way too many wines to recap here (this post would be a mile long), I took plenty of photos of the different wines I enjoyed at the event. Food was also incredible, with places offering up small bite size samples of everything from BBQ brisket sandwiches to granola crunch s'mores. There was a bite of something to please every taste. It was wonderful to chat with winemakers and friends and to try so many different blends of wine.

Mike Sharadin of Northwest Totem Cellars (@NWTotemCellars) had his new 2007 Potlatch at the event, a Syrah, Tempranillo, and Grenache blend. The 2006 Potlatch was a favorite of mine, so I was delighted to try the 2007 vintage. This bottle will open up even more in the future, very nice.

I always love trying new wineries and wines I have never had in the past, so I was excited to come across Arbor Crest Wine Cellars (@arborcrestwine), a winery based in Spokane, WA. They were pouring their 2003 Dionysus, a 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec blend. I really enjoyed this wine, which has won several awards and is a 90+ point rated wine in Wine Spectator & Wine Enthusiast.

Another favorite was the 2008 Helix Aspersa, by Reininger Winery, based in Walla Walla, WA. This 82% Chardonnay and 18% Viognier blend was a refreshing palate pleaser. I think my first quote after tasting this wine was "I want to be on a beach in a bikini with this wine", which got quite the laugh out of Mr. Sullivan.

An additional white blend I enjoyed was the Page Cellars 2009 Sentimental Blonde, a Klipsun Vineyard 80% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Semillon combination. Light and refreshing, this is another one of those "summer wines" that I love on a hot day (too bad we don't get any more of those days until next summer!).

I'm so happy to have attended BLEND Seattle 2010. In addition to learning some great facts about Bordeaux blending and what types of wines come out of that French region, I was able to work my own magic to create my own Bordeaux blend! This is a must attend for any wine lover and I look forward to next year's event!

Cabernet Day - Bin 41 Wine Shop - West Seattle, WA

2010-09-19T12:19:00.000-07:00

Everyone loves a day to celebrate something, and on September 2nd of this year, we were able to celebrate the “king of grapes”, Cabernet. For this special #Cabernet day (which was a huge event on twitter organized by @RickBakas), various locations around the country held special tasting events, many showcasing different wineries pouring their favorite Cabernet or Cabernet blend. I started my day by writing an ode to Cabernet, and that night I chose to attend a special tasting at a new wine shop in West Seattle I had yet to visit, Bin 41 ( @Bin41wine). I had heard great things about this shop, and have actually been on their mailing list for a few months now since a friend of mine had put me on it when she visited the shop (I think it went something like “Taryn likes wine, she should be getting your emails!”). What a great little shop this is! Owned by Jon McNamara and his wife T., the shop is located in West Seattle in an area known as “the Junction”. My first thought on walking into this shop was how neat their wine display racks were and how colorful and welcoming the shop was. We picked up our glasses & tasting tickets from Jon at the door and started off on our Cabernet adventure!

Our first taste came from Bartholomew Winery (@BartholomewWine), owned by Bart Fawbush. I’ve had Bart’s wine on several occasions in the past and can say that he makes some good juice! He recently opened his new tasting room in the Old Rainier Brewery Building in south Seattle and is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 12-5pm. For the Cabernet event, Bart was pouring his 2007 Reciprocity, which is a mix of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon and 50% Carmenere. This wine comes from the Horse Heaven hills region of the Columbia Valley. This is a great wine. It’s spicy on the palate but finishes smooth. I look forward to seeing how this wine ages also. Bart has a new winery, but his wines are stellar straight out of the gate. Can’t wait to see more from him!

Next we moved on to Stevens Winery, who was pouring their 2007 Stevens 424, a 5th vintage Bordeaux blend from the Yakima Valley. This blend was 39% Cabernet Franc, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, and 9% Petit Verdot. It was aged 50/50 in new and used French Oak. This Cab heavy wine (both Cab Sauv and Cab Franc) was good and had a pleasant aroma also.

Next up was the Patterson Cellars 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon from Red Mountain. This was 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Syrah. I have enjoyed Patterson’s wines in the past and have visited their tasting room in Woodinville during a tasting adventure back in May. The wine poured at this event was smooth, but with a firm finish. The small amount of Syrah in this added just a little something extra.

My favorite wine of the Cabernet event came from Guardian Cellars. It was great to get the opportunity to chat again with Jerry Riener, owner of Guardian. I had first heard his story at a tasting event at the CTC back in March. Jerry continues to release exceptional wines, and the wine poured at this event was no different. We tasted the 2008 Chalk Line from the Columbia Valley. This “pizza and Doritos” wine, as Jerry called it, was 31% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Syrah, 21% Merlot, and 21% Cabernet Franc. This is a multi-vineyard blend using grapes from all of the vineyards that Jerry pulls from for his wines. This wine was well balanced from start to finish and will definitely sell out quickly. Definitely one to try if you haven’t already!

Beresan poured one of the few 100% Cabernet Sauvignon’s at the event. This 2006 Walla Walla Cab stood out among the blends for being a pure Cabernet for Cabernet Day. I had never had Beresan wines before and it was great to be able to try new labels at this event.

Balboa (@balboawinery) poured a 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Columbia Valley. This single vineyard Cabernet was very tight and definitely needs more age. Balboa is one known for putting out good Cabs, as I have enjoyed a bottle on occasion at local restaurants on Seattle. This wine will definitely improve over time but this night it just wasn’t quite there.

We finished with Forgeron Cellars (@ForgeronCellars) which I had tried for the first time recently at the South Lake Union block party. At that event they had an amazing Chardonnay and at this event they had a great 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon. This 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Malbec is a multi-vineyard wine from Walla Walla, Red Mountain and Horse Heaven Hills. This will age very well and that little bit of Malbec spice is a great addition to this one.

A great addition to this event was pizza brought over from Talarico’s Pizzeria, which is located just down the street from Bin 41. Throughout the event, they brought over several enormous pizzas (seriously, how could that even fit in a car?!) for the Cabernet tasters to enjoy. They were quite good, and I look forward to getting back over to West Seattle sometime soon to try some more of their concoctions at the pizzeria.

Overall, this was a great way to celebrate Cabernet Day! I enjoyed some old favorites and some new Cabernets as well. I love the concept of celebrating a particular varietal and doing tastings from different wineries of just that varietal. Even if it’s not for an organized event, I think it’s something I want to do on my own more in the future!

Upcoming Event: Grape Cup 2010 - 415 Westlake, Seattle, WA

2010-09-14T08:13:00.000-07:00

I don't think I have ever been so excited for an event. This 2nd annual tasting event combines my two passions: wine and the WSU Cougars. This coming Thursday 9/16/2010 there will be over 20 (last I heard up to 24!) wineries and breweries going grape to grape (and hops to hops!) to battle it out for bragging rights. Just like the Apple Cup decides who is the best at football annually, the Grape Cup answers the question: Who makes better wines, Husky alums or Cougar alums? The Cougs won last year, with Robert Smasne of Smasne Cellars taking first place. This year's event will be held at a new venue, 415 Westlake, near South Lake Union. Even better than just knowing your Alma Mater makes the best juice, this event benefits the Washington State Farmworker Housing Trust. And what goes better with a rivalry than tailgate food? Reknowned Chef Tom Black and Mark Huston will be there to provide great food to accompany the wine and beer tasting. Click here for photos of the 2009 event by Nityia Przewlocki.

So who's coming? Ladies and gentlemen, here's the line-up:

Cougars:

Edmonds Winery
Goose Ridge Estate Winery
Kana Winery
Mercer Estates
Palouse Winery
Plaza Winery
St. Laurent Estate Winery
Skylite Cellars
Smasne Cellars
Tempest Sol Winery
Tulip Valley Orchard + Red Barn Cider + Burroloco Cider
William Church Winery
Willow Crest

Huskies:

Brian Carter Cellars
Georgetown Brewing Co
Gilbert Cellars
Pandora Cellars
Nicholas Cole Cellars
Nota Bene Cellars
Red Hook Ale Brewery
Snoqualmie Falls Brewing Co.
Wilridge Winery
WineGirl Wines
Two Mountain Winery
Madsen Family Cellars

In order to get some more excitement going about this awesome upcoming event, yesterday I came up with a Top 10 list for reasons why everyone needs to attend. I posted them all to twitter, but here they are again, the full list!

Reason #10 to attend #GrapeCup: Cool new venue this year, 415 Westlake

Reason #9 to attend #GrapeCup: It benefits the Washington State Farmworker Housing Trust

Reason #8 to attend #GrapeCup: Because there will be 20+ wineries and breweries there!

Reason #7 to attend #GrapeCup: Because football is just one game a year for #WSU and #UW. A wine is forever (or until you drink it).

Reason #6 to attend #GrapeCup: Two words. TAILGATE FOOD!

Reason #5 to attend #GrapeCup: For only $40 you get food, wine, AND beer

Reason #4 to attend #GrapeCup: Learn which fantastic wine & beer makers are #WSU and #UW alumni

Reason #3 to attend #GrapeCup: Because wine is crimson. And grapes are purple.

Reason #2 to attend #GrapeCup: Because you get to wear your favorite #WSU and #UW gear. From head to toe.

And reason #1 to attend #GrapeCup: Bragging rights! (aka smack talking) Get your tix and I'll see you there!

Get your tickets by clicking HERE! I'll see you there (I'll be in crimson.. ;) GO COUGS!

Twas the day of #cabernet...

2010-09-02T08:50:00.000-07:00

Twas the day of #cabernet, and all through the land

The chatter was buzzing, the wait they could not stand

The glasses were lined on the wine bar with care

In hopes that eager tasters soon would be there

Early on 9/2, they sprung from their beds

As visions of wine danced through their heads

No Malbec or Syrah, Pinot or Chardonnay

Not today, no, this day was for #cabernet!

The schedule was set and the day was here

And wine lovers came from far and near

The bottles were prepped, the decanters stand by

All types of #cabernet ready to try

From Columbia Gorge to Red Mountain, Yakima to Chelan

The king of grapes is upon us, its biggest fan

The wine keys turn, the glasses shine

And everyone eyes the delicious wine

The first pour comes and eyes go wide

The winemakers smile and show their pride

The aroma of the wine, the dark purple hue

The next taste is poured, as if on cue

The celebration is had, the wines keep flowing

For this is a special day, and it’s definitely showing

So grab a favorite bottle and pair your favorite bite

Happy #cabernet to all, and to all a good night!