William Church Winery Winemaker Dinner - Russell's Dining & Bar - Bothell, WA

“Winemaker dinner” is probably one of my favorite phrases. Why you ask? Well, it combines what we’ve long since established are two of my favorite things: food & wine. If you’ve been following along with me on this blog, you’ll see that I’ve attended several winemaker dinners over the past year and a half and always have raving reviews afterwards. That probably has a lot to do with how picky I am when attending them, the perfect wine and the perfect restaurant make quite the excellent pair. You really can’t go wrong when you attend one for wines you enjoy at a restaurant that is notorious for delicious dishes! That principle is what brought me to the William Church Winery (@wmchurchwinery) dinner at Russell’s Dining & Bar (@RussellLowell / @RussellsDining). I have long enjoyed the wines of William Chuch, the owners of which happen to be WSU Alum (Go Cougs!). While I had tasted through their line-up on numerous occasions, I had yet to try their selections with food pairings, something I was very excited for. This dinner featured a five-course menu paired with five of the William Church wines. The evening was held in the beautiful upstairs loft area at Russell’s, which I had only ever previously seen empty! It was a beautiful room with the dinner tables all set out and was the perfect setting for our meal.

Upcoming Event: 2011 Taste of Tulalip - Tulalip Resort

While I can happily say that there are MANY great wine events held throughout the year, the Taste of Tulalip is by far my favorite. The 2010 event (read my write-up on it here) was amazing, featuring top of the line wines from Washington and California and delicious bites from the many talented chefs of the Tulalip Resort. I've been checking off the days on my calendar in anticipation of this year's festivities and from the preview event I attended, this year will be even better than before (I don't even know how that's possible, last year was incredible).

2nd Annual BLEND - Bell Harbor Conference Center

For this year’s Columbia BLEND event, held September 18th, 2011, I was honored to be asked by event promoter Jamie Peha (@TableTalkPeha) to be on the panel of judges for the “BLEND Awards”. Now, I’ve tasted a lot of wine in my day, but this was the first time I’d been asked to participate in something like this, so I was excited! Little did I know it would be so much work! This year’s event featured over 40 wineries pouring 130+ wines, all blends.

(look at me! I'm on the "panel of experts"!)

The lovely Erin Thomas (@erindrinkswine) and I arrived at BLEND an hour before kickoff, ready to don our stemware, clipboards, and spit cups in an effort to taste through all of the wines being poured at the event.

Wine in the Pines - Swiftwater Cellars - Suncadia Resort

Back at the end of August, I once again headed into the mountains to visit the beautiful Swiftwater Cellars (@SwiftwaterWine). If you remember, I visited back in June to tour the winery and learn about Wine in the Pines. Well, the event had finally arrived and we packed up the cars and headed east into the sunshine and some serious temperatures. The event was divided into several different sessions, which included the Celebrity Seminar, the Grand Gala tasting, and the concurrent “Meet the Maker” tastings and Winemaker Dinners. It was a jam packed day for attendees, but worth the drive and the heat!