More than 100 wines were poured at the inaugural Bellingham Northwest Wine Festival on Aug. 6, which was presented by Brigadoon Service Dogs  in collaboration with Growing Veterans, and benefitted disabled veterans’ programs.

Of course we couldn’t taste all the wines from 36 participating wineries but between the two of us, we found quite a few new wines that we never tasted before and hope to again in the future (e.g., Tucannon Cellars, Two Mountain and Jones of Washington), along with new releases of old favorites from Forgeron Cellars, William Church Winery and Cooper Wine Company.

Here is the list (in alphabetical order by winery):

• Cooper Wine Company: 2013 L’inzio (we’ve been fans of this Red Mountain beauty since its first vintage); 2012 Cabernet Franc; and Bud’s Blend “Gatekeeper,” named after Coop’s awesome winery dog
• Dynasty Cellars: 2012 DCZ Zinfandel, a local Bellingham favorite
• Forgeron Cellars: 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon, another fantastic release from our friend Marie-Eve Gilla in Walla Walla
• Jones of Washington: 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon (the talk of the VIP room)
• Lost River Winery: 2013 Cedars, a unique blend of 50% Cab Franc and 50% Merlot
• Proper Wines: 2013 Estate Syrah for when you like your Syrah nice and funky
• Revelry Vintners: 2013 “The Reveler” red blend
• Tucannon Cellars: 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon, a great find from Red Mountain
• Two Mountain Winery: 2013 Reserve Cabernet Franc
• William Church Winery: 2013 Sur La Mer and 2013 Malbec (We’ve been long-time fans of both of these wines.)

Event organizer Zacchoreli Frescobaldi-Grimaldi told us that plans are already underway for the second festival in 2017, so mark your calendars now.

Cheers!
Margot and Dave