The New and Notable of Taste Washington 2013

Well another wonderful Taste Washington has come and gone, and I came away with some AWESOME new finds in both the wine and restaurant arenas. This year, I walked in with a plan of attack. I’ve been to a lot of wine events, and often times I find myself drawn to the wineries I have had and enjoyed previously. So this time around I decided that I was going to visit just a few of those never fail wineries (mostly the ones that really don’t ever pour at events either) and make my focus on trying wines from wineries that I had never even heard of. What a success it was! I also found some great bites from some restaurants that I will be making visits to ASAP. We started at one side of the room in A and basically worked our way across the room to Z all afternoon. We had some great finds to show for it

Upcoming Event: Taste Washington 2013 - March 23rd & 24th, 2013 - CenturyLink Field Events Center

 

We all love the classics. Classic movies, classic books, and even for some, classic(al) music. Well there’s a classic wine event that comes along every year during Washington Wine Month.  It’s true to form and always sure to please. Taste Washington (@TasteWashington), the nation’s largest single region food & wine event, is back in 2013 in its two-day format that was adopted in 2012. From the opinion of an attendee that has attended both formats, I really like it as a two-day event. It spaces out the guests and makes for a much more enjoyable tasting experience.  The 16^th annual Taste Washington features 225 Washington wineries and more than 65 Northwest restaurants. As in prior years, this year’s event is held at the CenturyLink Field Events Center (or better know to many of us as the “CLink”). Held this coming weekend, March 23^rd and 24^th, it kicks off with seminars on a variety of topics (there’s even a beer one!), and moves straight into the tasting.

Food, Photos, Wine & Fun: The 2013 Seattle Wine & Food Experience

This year’s Seattle Wine & Food Experience (@SeattleWineFood) has come and gone, but not without some great eats, great treats, and amazing beer, wine & spirits. Jamie Peha @TableTalkPeha and her team did an amazing job with the event this year, adding new elements in some areas, and changing things up in others. The room flowed well, the wine flowed well, and the restaurants kept the delicious bites coming. I will say right off the bat that the live music was probably the best I’ve heard at any tasting event. The guy just made you want to do a little dance along to the music every time you walked by. If you missed him (and I hope you didn’t), he was positioned at the front part of the Snoqualmie Casino (@SnoCasino) “Luxe Lounge”, which was a great addition to this year’s SWFE. So without further ado, here are some of my highlights (believe me, there were a lot, these are just the ones I happened to capture photos of) of the 2013 Seattle Wine & Food Experience.

Sips on the Road: Beer Thirty, Part Three

Green Flash Brewing Company

Karl in front of the brewery

Our third stop for the birthday fun was where our group dynamic started to go downhill.   It was here that not one but two pint glasses were broken and security started to pay more attention than we would have like, it’s probably a good thing that this was the last major brewery stop on the list, the last two being newer smaller breweries with less crowd control.

Green Flash tasting wall

Traditionally a green flash is the optical phenomenon that is seen typically on a cloudless sunset or sunrise, right as the sun sinks or rises below the horizon; made famous in Pirates of the Caribbean.  In this case it is a brewery located in Mira Mesa.  Started by a husband wife team in 2002, this brewery has grown to a staple of the San Diego craft beer scene.  They like so many of the breweries in San Diego can lay claim to an award winning IPA and unique perspective in their take on beer.   With over 20 beers on tap during our visit if you can't find something you like, you're likely not a beer drinker. 

Ready to leave Green Flash

Their brewery, bottling line and tasting room are all in the same industrial space.  A small wall separates tasters from brewers and the magic.  The large tasting space is great for large groups and with so many beers on tap I recommend going the taster route so you can experience more than just the few beers bottled for commercial sales.  If you become a fan you can even get yourself some Green Flash swag at their small shop including filled growlers or dog bones (mine loved them).  Be sure to check out the San Diego exclusive beers brewed, bottled and sold only at the Green Flash tasting room.