Sauced

Ferry Call: A Wine Weekend on Bainbridge

Next weekend, do the whole island thing with a wine buzz.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Sep 22, 2010 at 10:32AM 3 Comments

Behold, your designated driver.

There are seven wineries on Bainbridge Island, did you know this? There’s also a distillery called Bainbridge Island Distillery, but this isn’t about that. This is about wine, and how the weekend after next, October 1-3, the island is celebrating its wine with a series of events knows as Bainbridge Island Wine Weekend.

On Friday there’s a free concert and street party. The all you can eat oysters—Port Madison petites—are at Pegasus coffee house, and cost $50. These you slurp with melon de Bourgogne from Perennial Vintners. (Melon de bourgogne is the grape used to make muscadet, the classic oyster-pairing wine.)

Saturday is the day for a farmers market tour with a local chef and a roving restaurant graze. Sunday is the big general tasting day—it’s $35 for general admission. Get all the details here.

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Tags: Wineries, Oysters, Wine and Food Pairings, Bainbridge Island

Want to Learn Wine Blending?

…Or just taste a bunch of food and wine? Check out the Blend event on September 12.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Aug 10, 2010 at 10:06AM 0 Comments

Learn the art of the blend for the bargain price of $15.

Reps from 40 wineries will show up at the Bell Harbor Conference Center on Sunday, September 12. The occasion is Blend, a wine-and-food-pairing extravaganza. The food is provided by chefs at hotels and event spaces managed by Columbia Hospitality. Fortunately for you, one of those hotels is the Inn at Langley, and the chef there, Matt Costello, makes awesome food.

The munch and sip takes place from 4 to 7:30pm and costs $59.

But here’s the part that I find the most intriguing. (I’ve definitely buried the lede here): You can attend one of two, 90-minute wine blending seminars for the bargain price of $15. The seminars go from 2:30 to 4pm. Sign up to learn how Chateau Ste Michelle does its red blends or learn how Bordeaux-style blends are made from a Columbia Winery rep.

Either way, you get to taste what you create. Sounds like a great opportunity for wine nerds.

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Tags: Booze 101, Wine Tastings, Wine and Food Pairings

Kirkland Uncorked is Upon Us!

The annual outdoor festival at Marina Park begins in just seven days.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jul 09, 2010 at 02:49PM 0 Comments

Marina Park, pretty summer setting for Kirkland Uncorked

Summer marches forward at an alarming pace. It’s already time for Kirkland Uncorked, the annual wine, food, and music festival that goes on at Kirkland’s Marina Park. Very, very pretty.

Entry to the tasting garden is $20 in advance, $25 at the event, and includes 10 tokens that you can exchange for samples. The tasting garden hours are from 5-10pm on July 16 and 17, and 1 to 6pm on the 18th.

Here is the list of participating wineries—don’t miss Airfield, Dusted Valley, or Maison Bleue—Airfield Estates, Dusted Valley / Boomtown, Five Star Cellars, Four Lakes Chelan Winery, Hollywood Hill Vineyards, Irlandés Limited Reserve Winery, Knipprath Cellars / La Bodega del Norte, Maison Bleue Winery, Naches Heights Vineyard, Northwest Cellars, Northwest Totem Cellars, O.S. Winery, Patterson Cellars, Plaza Winery, Vin du Lac, Whidbey Island Winery, Zerba Cellars.

See website for details on events (among them—no kidding—a dog modeling contest hosted by CityDog magazine) musical lineup, and chef demo schedule.

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Tags: Kirkland, Wine, Wine Tastings, Washington Wines, Wine and Food Pairings

A Stupid Question for a Sommelier

Waterfront Seafood Grill’s head wine woman talks local sparklers and the foods that love them.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Apr 30, 2010 at 11:40AM 1 Comments

Kristen Young, director of wine at the Waterfront Seafood Grill, has been committed to service from a very young age—she grew up hanging coats and shaking martinis at her parents’ dinner parties in Ohio.

After moving to Seattle in 2001, she worked at Campagne and Nell’s, developing her passion for fine food and wine. Before moving to Waterfront, Kristen opened Tilth with Chef Maria Hines, overseeing the wine program and front-of-house operations.

Here, a stupid question for Kristen Young.

I like to support Washington’s wineries but I love champagne. Are all the best sparkling wines from France, or can I get really high-quality sparklers made in the Northwest?

There are some excellent options for drinking and supporting local sparkling wine. One of the best that Washington has to offer is Domaine Ste. Michelle’s Luxe. Chateau Ste Michelle focuses on the traditional process of fermenting in the bottle, which gives the wine very elegant and fine bubbles. Also, the grapes (in this case, all chardonnay) are mostly sourced from Heily Vineyard in the Columbia Valley. Cooler climate sites like Heily showcase natural acidity and minerality. These grapes are treated with respect: hand-picked, carefully pressed, and aged five to six years.

Sold. Any tips for pairing sparkling wine with food?

Two basic types of pairings come to mind. First, there is the “like with like” matching, such as raw oysters served with a clean and mineral-driven sparkling wine. I would suggest the A. Margaine Premier Cru Blanc de Blancs.

Then you have yin-and-yang pairings—fried chicken and a brut rosé, for instance. Probably my favorite sparkling wine in the country is the Soter Brut Rosé from the Willamette Valley of Oregon. It is so versatile. You can pair it with oysters, truffled popcorn, beef tartare, salmon, poultry (especially fried chicken)… There are endless possibilities.

Fat and acid are best friends when it comes to food and wine pairings. Fried chicken needs the contrast of crisp and lively bubbles to cleanse the palate. It’s the same reason that French fries and beer go well together, or potato chips and Coca-Cola for that matter.

Should I serve sparkling wine with dessert?

It can be tricky. You always want to serve a dessert wine that is sweeter than the dish with which it is being served. Mismatching weight and intensity is a common mistake when pairing sweet courses. Lighter desserts like angel food cake or lemon souffle will work well with a Moscato d’Asti (a sweet, low-alcohol sparkler from Northern Italy).

Quite often, however, sparkling wines are too dry for desserts.

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Tags: Wine, A Stupid Question for a Sommelier, Sparkling Wine , Wine and Food Pairings