Another Successful, Fun and Educational Taste Washington

Congratulations to the Washington State Wine Commission and Visit Seattle for another successful Taste Washington on March 28-31, 2019.

Voted one of USA Today’s 10 Best Wine Festivals, Taste Washington featured four full days of wine and food events with Seattle’s hottest chefs and acclaimed Washington winemakers.

Of note, thousands of people participated in the annual celebration of the excellent wine made in this state. We attended the Grand Tasting, and had a most excellent time.
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Browne Family Vineyards

Browne Family Vineyards opened a new tasting room in Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square in February, and kindly sent us some samples of their new rosé release and some Bordeaux-style red wines.

Browne Family still has a tasting room and vineyard in Walla Walla, where they’ve been producing wine since 2005. In addition, Browne Family creates two wines exclusively for one of our favorite Asian restaurants, P.F. Chang’s.

We enjoyed their 2017 Grenache Rosé and the 2013 Klipsun Merlot at a media preview of Taste Washington last month, where we met Courtney Browne, proprietor with her husband and owner, Andrew Browne, who is also CEO of Precept Wine.

Here are the wines we received and tasted.
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Run, Don’t Walk, for Tickets to Seattle Wine and Food Experience

Whether you live in Washington state, Oregon or British Columbia, you’d better move quickly – tickets are going fast for the ninth annual  Seattle Wine and Food Experience. If you like good wine, beer and food, mark your calendars for this taste explosion on Feb. 24-26.

“The Seattle Wine and Food Experience curates an incredible list of makers and producers and supports the community,” according to Jamie Peha, executive producer and president of Peha Promotions, who has been running the event since 2010More than 600 wines are available for tasting throughout the weekend, along with a huge selection of breweries, ciders and distilleries. And with three days at a variety of price options, guests can attend just one event or splurge and enjoy the whole weekend.

The activities kick off Feb. 24 with Pop! Bubbles & Seafood at McCaw Hall from 6-9 p.m., followed by Comfort on Feb. 25 at the Fremont Foundry from 5-8 p.m., and the popular  Grand Tasting on Feb. 26 at Seattle Center Exhibition Hall from 1-5 p.m. — but once again there is a VIP experience, with a one-hour early entry.

Pop! Bubbles & Seafood offers more than 30 sparkling wines from around the world, paired with delicious seafood prepared by local chefs. A wonderful Seattle experience!

Comfort features comfort food such as mac and cheese and burgers, along with beer and cider. Oh, and did we mention a Fry Bar? How cool is that?

The Grand Tasting is the largest of the three events, with 25 chefs, 100 wineries and dozens of beer, cider and spirits purveyors. You can find a full list of wineries that will be pouring, along with beer and cider and spirits, in addition to information about numerous restaurants serving gourmet bites.

The event benefits Les Dames d’Escoffier Seattle, a philanthropic organization that provides scholarships and mentoring for women in the culinary, beverage, and hospitality industries.

Tickets are available at the Seattle Wine and Food Experience website.

So run, don’t walk to get your tickets! We hope to see you there.

Cheers!
Margot and Dave

Semiahmoo Resort’s Oenophile Club

Screen Shot 2016-03-20 at 12.45.13 PMSemiahmoo Resort launched a unique wine club this month, targeted at wine aficionados in Washington state and British Columbia.

The Oenophile Club features six wine tastings annually, plus reduced pricing for a number of events at the spectacular resort.

  • Six wine tastings annually; additional tastings throughout the year are reduced to $15 per tasting (full price is $20)
  • No corkage fee on one bottle per visit, per week, at Pierside Kitchen or Packers Oyster Bar
  • Advanced notice of all vintner and winemaker dinner dates — including Spring Valley (July 28), Cakebread Cellars (Oct. 4), Stag’s Leap (Nov. 3) and more. See more details in our previous blog post.
    • Preferred vintner and winemaker dinner reservations at 10% off
    • Special reserved seating for eight guests and 10% off entire reservation (when using one member card)
  • Access to private wine storage in resort wine room, subject to availability; maximum five bottles
  • Access to private cooking classes, and wine pairings, at Pierside Kitchen with the resort chef
  • Preferred resort room rates on vintner and winemaker dinner nights, subject to availability
  • Personalized Oenophile Club card

The annual cost is $225 — which works out to be less than $20 per month.

So now you have an opportunity to support your local resort – and have fun doing it!

We hope to see you there!

Cheers!
Margot and Dave