Thomas Price passes Court of Master Sommelier master exam.
Posted by: Julie H. Case on May 23, 2012 at 03:45PM0 Comments
Photo by Courtney Perry
The Metropolitan Grill’s Thomas Price got some fancy new bling today when it was announced he had passed the exceptionally rigorous Court of Master Sommeliers master’s exam. The gold pin he’s now sporting signifies he’s among fewer than 200 other men and women around the world to earn the title of Master Sommelier. Nearly 600 have tried.
Before today only four other Washingtonians—Gramercy’s Greg Harrington (who also serves as chairman of the Court), Canlis and Washington Wine Commission alum Shayn Bjornholm, the Fairmont’s Joseph Linder, and Pasco’s Angelo Taverno —held the distinction of Master Sommelier.
In order to even sit for the master sommelier diploma exam, candidates must have first completed an introductory course and passed the certified and advanced sommelier exams. The master’s exam consists of three parts: an theory examination, a practical wine service examination, and a blind tasting of six wines. During the tasting, the candidate has 25 minutes to identify the vintage, grape variety(s), country, region and appellation of the wine. From 2003 to 2011, the pass rate for the exam has been as low as 3.5 percent and as high as 16 percent. Averaged out, fewer than 12 percent of candidates pass the exam.
Canon (and Seattle) represents in the cocktail industry’s most significant form of recognition.
Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on May 17, 2012 at 04:15PM0 Comments
Clearly this man knows what he’s doing.
Major congratulations are in order for barman and Canon proprietor Jamie Boudreau, who is nominated for the American Bartender of the Year at the Tales of the Cocktail’s annual Spirited Awards. The James Beard Foundation may have (finally) added a cocktail category to its restaurantcentric awards extravaganza, but for people who serve, sell, or mix spirits for a living, this is the big time.
Boudreau is one of ten final nominees, along with major names like Jeffrey Morgenthaler of Clyde Common in Portland. Most of the list of nominees reads like a love letter to New York and Los Angeles, so cheers to some Seattle representation. Local spirits writer Paul Clarke, whose grasp of all things booze is both fearsome and inspiring, is nominated in the Best Cocktail Writing – Author category, and former Seattleite Brad Parsons is getting more kudos for his bookBitters: The Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All.
The winners will be announced July 28, at Tales of the Cocktail. This is the tenth year for this epic industry event, which blends seminars and brand education with lots of good old-fashioned New Orleans hijinx.
Oola gin and Dry Fly whiskey win big in California-based spirits competition for small brands.
Posted by: Brian Colella on Nov 18, 2011 at 09:00AM0 Comments
Oola’s triple-gold-medal winning gin at their Capitol Hill tasting room.
Capitol Hill newcomer Oola Distillery sent along the news that it won multiple medals in the 2011 MicroLiquor Spirit Awards, the results of which were announced on Tuesday, Novemer 16. Owner Kirby Kallas-Lewis says he entered the inaugural small-brand spirits competition before the facility was even open to the public, just to see how his product measures up “against the best microdistilleries in the world.”
The answer is: pretty well.
Oola’s gin was awarded the triple gold medal, the competition’s highest honor. Spokane’s Dry Fly Distilling also took home a triple gold for its Washington Wheat Whiskey. Both of these spirits, plus Dry Fly’s vodka, also won gold medals in the packaging and design category. Oola’s vodka was among the gold medal winners in the taste category, but also snagged silver for packaging and design.
The distillery’s tasting room, which opened in early October, offers bottles of gin for $33 and vodka for $30—bring a friend, since you can only buy two bottles at a time. You can also peek in on the liquor-making magic while you enjoy your maximum two ounces of samples. Tasting room hours are 2–8 Tuesday through Thursday and 2–10 Friday and Saturday.
Pacific Distillery’s excellent Absinthe Pacifique won big in San Francisco.
Starting March 29, Headlong—Woodinville Whiskey’s unaged whiskey—will be on shelves at Washington State liquor stores; the Peabody Jones vodka is on its way to getting listed in state stores too, reports Woodinville Whiskey’s Cameron Rogers.
The week before last Peabody Jones won a silver medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. And speaking of that competition, another Woodinville-based distillery, Pacific, did some butt-kicking there this year too. Distiller/owner Marc Bernhard’s Voyager gin won a double gold medal, his Absinthe Pacifique won gold.
I agree with your choices, San Francisco World Spirits Competition. That’s why I included both of Voyager’s products (as well as Headlong, onto which the Beverage Testing Institute recently bestowed a whooping 92 points—pretty fly for a white guy) in this recent roundup of recommended local spirits, bitters, and grappas.
Seattle’s Small Screen Network was nominated in the category of “Best Drink or Beverage Program” on the web.
Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jan 14, 2011 at 02:33PM0 Comments
Last night, winners of the Tasty Awards were announced at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. In 2010, Raising the Bar with Jamie Boudreau (produced by the Seattle-based Small Screen Network) won the Tasty for the Best Drink or Beverage Program on the web, and it was nominated again this year. Alas, it did not win.
Which of our state brews won awards this year? Check it out.
Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Oct 07, 2010 at 01:09PM0 Comments
Washington State winners include beers from three Seattle-based breweries.
The Great American Beer Festival took place last week in Denver—the annual event doles out the most important beer awards of the year.
Want to see how Washington State fared in 2010? I’ve included all the award winners below by medal (gold, silver, bronze) and by category (categories are in bold).
Big congrats to all our breweries—including Seattle-based beermakers Hale’s (whose kolsch is definitely among my top five most purchased beers), Pyramid, and Elysian.
GOLD Kellerbier/Zwickelbier Hale’s Ales (Seattle) Kolsch Brown Porter Ram Production Brewery (Tacoma) Total Disorder Porter Vienna-Style Lager Chuckanut Brewery (Bellingham) Chuckanut Vienna Lager
SILVER Fruit Beers Pyramid Breweries (Seattle) Apricot Ale Field beers Elysian Brewing Co (Seattle) Dark o’ the Moon
BRONZE Other Strong Beer Boundary Bay Brewery (Bellingham) Imperial Oatmeal Stout German-Style Pilsner Chuckanut Brewery (Bellingham) Chuckanut Pilsner
Editors Allecia Vermillion and Christopher Werner and a crew of contributing barflies report on the latest in openings, happy hours, bartender shuffles, and local liquors.
0 Comments
