2011: Let's Rewind that Wine...

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!