Buzzworthy Events
Now in its second year, Pike Brewing’s Chocofest plays matchmaker to local chocolates and their boozy counterparts.
Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Feb 08, 2010 at 02:56PM
That’s going to make you thirsty, lady. Chocofest pairs artisan chocolates with local beverages.
Best Valentine’s-related event so far: Thursday, February 11 is Chocofest at Pike Brewing Company from 6-9pm. As such, there will be more than two dozen kinds of chocolate paired with over twenty beers, barley wines, meads, and spirits.
Vendors and products to get excited about include: Clear Creek Distillers from Oregon—they make grappas, eaux de vie, and wine brandies. Claudio Corallo, whose chocolates everyone is always freaking out over, Mount Baker Vineyards (I’m hoping they’ll be pouring some of their very food-friendly late-harvest viognier), absinthe from Pacific Distillery, and typically sold-only-at-farmers-markets Trevani Truffles.
RSVP with Michael St Clair at the brewery by calling 206-812-6613, tickets are $25 at the door.
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Tags:
Local Spirits,
Beer,
Valentine's Day,
Desserts,
Pike Place Market
Shoppity shops
Try something new from one of Seattle’s oldest wine shops.
Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Aug 13, 2009 at 03:00PM
A happy display case at a happy place.
The Place Pike and Western
The Deal A well-curated collection of bottles at all prices, specializes in wines form Washington, France, and Italy.
Owner’s Picks Nebbiolo Langhe 2007, $21.99; 2008 Beresan Cabernet Sauvigon, $29; 2007 Rôtie Cellars Northern Blend, $35.
Our Picks 2007 Chinook cabernet franc rosé, $14.99; 2006 Domaine de la Rouletiere Vouvray ($14.99)
The Scoop Wednesday afternoons, sample high-end wines for $5, on Fridays the staff pours complimentary sips of cheaper wines to sip while you shop.
The first time I walked into Pike and Western, I knew I’d found a friend. All around me were my favorite value wines: Here was a bottle of Poet’s Leap riesling, there was the cab franc rosé from Chinook, in the back I some stacked cases of Domaine de La Rouletiere, a favorite affordable vouvray from the Loire that I had discovered at Voila Bistro but had given up on finding in any of the local wine shops.
Owner Michael Teer says he is always fighting the perception that small wine stores are somehow high end only and have a huge mark up. He shows me bottle after bottle under $20, all of them, he says, selected and tasted by his staff—obsessive food and wine people who specialize in finding pairing wines for special meals. “And you don’t even have to tip us like you do the barista” says Teer.
Teer bought Pike and Western in 1991 after working there for 11 years, and is a great lover of the Italian wines from the Piemonte—he introduces novices by way of a reasonable priced nebbiolo or dolcetto. “People will drop $60 for a cab, but not a Barbaressco” he laments. For the initiated, there are a number of high-end piemontese in stock.
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Tags:
Pike Place Market,
Happy Places
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