URBAN enoteca - Seattle, WA

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

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

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?

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?

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

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!