It’s Washington
wine month once again (or #WAWineMonth to those of us Twitter savvy folk) and
you know what that means: TASTE WASHINGTON IS NEAR! Every year, the month of
March gives us a month-long celebration of Washington’s award winning wine industry. The
month ends with the biggest and baddest wine event of the year. The 17th
annual Taste Washington (@TasteWashington) is the largest single-region wine
and food event in the United States, featuring more than 225 Washington State wineries and more than 65 Pacific Northwest restaurants. There are,
in fact, so many wineries and restaurants at this event that if you don’t go in
with a game plan you’re going to be wide eyed and overwhelmed trying to decide
what to try next (trust me on this, map it out in advance, CenturyLink Field
Event Center is a large facility!).
Taste Washington
also includes the seminars, held 11:30am-1pm on both March 29th and
30th before the Grand Tasting. Like the event, these also take place
at CenturyLink Field Event Center. These seminars are led by top national wine
personalities and sommeliers. Educational topics for seminars showcase various
aspects of Washington
wine, wine and food pairing demonstrations, and even food pairings with beer
and spirits. This year’s seminars feature some great topics, moderators and
panelists. Check out the line-up and purchase seminar tickets here.
In addition to all of the delicious wineries and restaurants
at the event, there are also some exhibitors and special features that can’t be missed. Taste the Vineyards is always a
favorite of mine, where you can taste wines from different wineries side by
side that are all sourced from the same vineyards. For this year’s vineyards
check out the website.
The Alaska Airlines Chef’s Stage features top local and national chefs cooking
live on-site in a state-of-the-art kitchen built right on the Taste show floor.
This is a great place to kick back and watch some culinary magic happen.
Coming
from out of town to the big event? Taste Washington
will also offer overnight hotel packages at several downtown Seattle hotels that encourage visitors to
sip, savor and stay. Hotel packages feature special overnight guest room rates,
plus a variety of value-added features and amenities which vary with each
property. You can view hotel packages and book your stay here.
Tickets for the Grand Tasting and seminars are now sale
through the Taste Washington website. One-day general admission tickets are $80 and allow access to the Grand Tasting
from 2-5pm. VIP tasting begins an hour earlier at 1pm and allows guests early
and exclusive access to winemakers and chefs. One-day VIP tickets are $145.
Two-day ticket prices are $125 for general admission and $185 for VIP
admission. So clear your schedule and your palate and I’ll see you at Taste
Washington 2014!
Want to follow all the action leading up to the big weekend?
Check out the #TasteWA hashtag on Twitter to stay up to date!
No comments:
Post a Comment