Upcoming Event: Taste Washington 2012 - CenturyLink Field Events Center, Seattle

It's that time of year again folks, Taste Washington (@TasteWashington) is upon us once again! This event continues to set the standard for Washington wine events and this year, the Washington State Wine Commission has teamed up with Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau (SCVB) to put on the food and wine event of the year. Big changes this year: the event is TWO days instead of its traditional single day tasting format. Both the tasting and the seminars have been spaced between the two days. Previously, the seminars were all held on Saturday and the Grand Taste held Sunday, but this new format offers more time for tasting, and a better chance to sit on on one of the educational wine seminars.

So here's the scoop on the happenings:

Movin' on up.. to include BEER! Plus Upcoming Seattle Area Events...

With the recent relocation of a friend of mine from San Diego to Seattle, the idea was brought forth to add a guest contributor to Sips & the City. Until now I've focused solely on wine, and I'll continue to do that. The change will come as the talented Ally Long (@AllyDrinksBeer) begins to contribute some beer related posts from time to time! She wants an outlet to put her Journalism degree to good use, I like diversified content, and a lot of wine drinkers are beer drinkers too, so what the heck; let's go for it! Look for posts from Ally coming soon...

Also: there are several fun events coming up in March and April that are worth mentioning. Since SATC will now include some beer related content, I included those as well:

3/30 to 3/31/12 - Hop Scotch, Fremont Studios, Seattle

3/31/12 - Washington Cask Brewers Festival, Seattle Center, Seattle

3/31 to 4/1/12 - Taste Washington!, Century Link Field Event Center, Seattle

4/11/12 - Sexy Syrah, Salty's on Alki, Seattle

4/21 to 4/22/12 - Passport to Woodinville, Woodinville area wineries, Woodinville

There are also a LOT of great tastings happening at local wine shops on a daily basis, so keep your eyes open for those. The above events are some of the larger ones coming up that are likely to sell out in advance, so get your tickets early!

It Just Keeps Getting Better: The 2012 Seattle Wine & Food Experience

If you weren’t in attendance at yesterday’s tasting bonanza, you missed out tremendously. The 2012 Seattle Wine & Food Experience was a huge success and this year’s event brought together some of the Northwest’s finest wines, beers, ciders and spirits as well as delectable bites from a variety of area restaurants. I took a much different approach this year than I have at previous wine events: I didn’t drink wine. Well, I had a few tastes of wine at the event, but I wanted to switch it up a bit and focus more on our local beers, ciders and spirits (also, I had the privilege of attending an Oregon wine event the night prior, so I definitely didn’t miss out on the fine juice that state has to offer!). So, without further ado, my favorites this year of the 2012 Seattle Wine & Food Experience.

From the Vine to your Glass: The AVAs of Washington

"AVA". It’s a term you’ve no doubt heard, but might not know much more about other than it means “wine region”. Well, in this edition of “From the Vine to Your Glass” we’re going to take a look at what AVAs are, and briefly explore the AVAs that make up Washington state.

AVA is short for “American Viticultural Area” and is a grape growing region distinguished from others by geographic features. The boundaries for these areas are requested by wineries, and actually set by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (or TTB for short). To name an AVA on a wine label, at least 85% of the grapes used to make the wine must be from that specific area. Here in Washington, we have some very well known AVAs, and others that you may have not have ever heard of. Washington has 12 AVAs at this time, but that is expected to change in the near future. So what and where are they? Let’s take a look see shall we?