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March 27: Taste Washington Seminars

The once-a-year wine classes are not to be missed, but one is already sold out. Get your tickets now.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Mar 11, 2010 at 12:51PM 0 Comments

Taste Washington is just three weeks away and as I did last year, I’m going to heartily recommend you sign up for one of the seminars on Saturday.

Sunday’s Grand Tasting is great, but the seminars are fascinating and intimate, and will focus your tasting skills before you begin the sip-and-spit marathon at Qwest field. The food pairing seminar with Tom Douglas has already sold out, sadness, but there are a couple of others that sound good.

I like, in particular, the concept of Icons of Tomorrow: the Proving Grounds. The class explores which wines will be: “the next Cayuse Vineyards, Col Solare, Leonetti Cellar, or Woodward Canyon.” Grand Reve, a very fruitful collaboration of talented Washington growers and blenders (with a tasting room in Kirkland), will be there. And Efeste will be on hand to rock everyone out with its Big Papa Cab, as will Gramercy Cellars and its syrah knockout, the 2007 John Lewis.

Icons of Tomorrow is $40 and runs from 1:45 to 3pm on Saturday, March 27. All seminars are held at The Bell Harbor International Conference Center. Sign up here.

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Tags: Tastings and Classes, Wine Tastings, Taste Washington, Washington Wines

Oeno Files

Legendary Swirl: Tuesday, March 9 at El Gaucho

A suprisingly social wine event in the basement of El Gaucho Belltown.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Mar 08, 2010 at 10:24AM 0 Comments

Legendary Swirl takes place March 9 from 5 to 7pm.

Legendary Swirl, the annual tasting party where a bunch of great Washington wineries set up shop in El Gaucho’s cavernous black basement, is a surprisingly social event. I remember last year I had only just bit into a wee slice of aged Angus—it had been draped, like some beefy beret, onto a tiny square toasty—when the first stranger approached.

She had no idea who I was or what I was doing there, she just came over to say hello.

If you’re the sort of wine drinker who likes to get to know the people behind your favorite bottles: this one’s for you. It’s almost like going to a cocktail party where half the guests make wine for a living.

This year’s Legendary Swirl takes place Tuesday, March 9 from 5 to 7pm. Tickets are $95 per person, call El Gaucho for details. Some of my favorite wineries attending this year: Andrew Will, Col Solare, Delille, Efeste, Gramercy Cellars, L’Ecole, Long Shadows, Pepper Bridge, and Woodward Canyon. Admission buys you a taste of any and all wines—you receive a ginormous sipping vessel upon your arrival—as well as access to an impressive buffet of succulent snackies like those aforementioned beef bites.

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Tags: Belltown, Wine, Wine Tastings, Drinking Events

Oeno Files

Wine Tasting Picks for Tonight: Thursday, February 25

Free Indian syrah at Vino Verite, Airfield Estates at Picnic, and five Australians plus snacks at Grand Cru.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Feb 25, 2010 at 01:44PM 0 Comments

So you’ve probably spent the afternoon thinking about how you haven’t ever tried a smoky syrah from India, right? Well tonight you can. Portland-based distributor Rupert Kanuri of Premium Vintage will be at Vino Verite on Capitol Hill pouring the Indian wine, plus an aged pinot noir from Oregon and a couple of other bottles (thanks for tip CHS). The tasting runs from 6 to 8pm and is free.

Picnic in Phinney Ridge is pouring wines from Airfield Estates—you are going to love the unoaked chardonnay. The tasting runs from 5:30 to 7:30pm, includes six wines plus snacks, and costs $8.

And in Bellevue, Grand Cru has a $15 tasting at the bar: try five Australians while you snack on truffled popcorn, cheese, bread, nuts, and olives.

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Tags: Bellevue, Capitol Hill, Phinney Ridge, Wine Tastings

Oeno Files

Do You Love a Wine Drinker?

Three ways to save yourself this Valentine’s Day.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Feb 11, 2010 at 10:38AM 0 Comments

Non-wine people who date wine drinkers are kind of in for it on Valentine’s Day. The expectation is that you go above and beyond, the reality is that you have no idea what you are doing.

I’m going to offer three ways that you can get the job done well this year. The best part is that all of them can be accomplished this Saturday, February 13—the day before V-Day.

We’ll deal with your procrastination issues later.

SLACKER VALENTINE
If your significant other is only mildly into champagne, impress with the value-driven Mountain Dome NV Brut (the one with the gnomes on the label that looks like the official wine of Magic: the Game). It is well worth the $12-$14 at which it retails and easily purchasable at Metropolitan and Madison Markets.

If you need to seriously impress, drop $105 for the focused and lively NV Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose, a standard-setting champagne always in stock at McCarthy and Schiering.

INTERMEDIATE VALENTINE
Speaking of McCarthy and Schiering, winemaker Chris Camarda will be pouring the 2007 Andrew Will red wines at the Ravenna shop from 11:30-2pm on Saturday, and at the Queen Anne location from 2:30-5pm. Pick the bottle you like best and offer it up. There is no going wrong with Andrew Will, in my humble opinion, and the personal touch that comes with being able to say “this was my favorite” shows you’re not just going through the motions. This is important.

CHAMPION VALENTINE
If you know nothing about sparkling wine and want to know more, you can sign up for a Sparkling Wine 101 at the Waterfront Seafood Grill. The class runs from 3:30-5pm on February 12, costs $35, and will be taught by Waterfront wine director Kristen Young. The price includes a blind tasting of five different sparklers.

This one should impress the pants off your beloved wino, since you’re not only learning what to buy, you’re taking an active interest in something he/she likes. You can also offer up the class as a Valentine’s gift and attend together. Either way, pants off.

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Tags: Downtown, Wine, Valentine's Day, Wine Tastings, Sparkling Wine

Oeno Files

Wine Tastings Tonight: Thursday, February 4

A Haiti benefit and art opening at Picnic, South African wines at Esquin, Lachini at Local Vine, and more.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Feb 04, 2010 at 10:34AM 0 Comments

Tonight from 6 to 9, Picnic is waiving its usual $8 wine-tasting fee, asking instead that you donate the money to ShelterBoxUSA’s efforts in Haiti. The event doubles as an opening for painter Sierra Scott’s new exhibit in the store. Ten percent of proceeds from art and wine sold tonight will also go to Haiti.

From 5 to 6:30pm Esquin Wine Merchants’ weekly tasting will feature whites and reds from South Africa. Free.

Lachini Vineyards winemaker Ron Lachini, a really nice guy who makes lovely Oregon pinot noir, will be offering tastes of his wines at the Local Vine tonight from 6 to 8pm. The cost is $5.

The deal at Seattle Cellars is that if you buy a $10 Riedel glass you can bring it back every Thursday from 5 to 7pm for free tastings. This week the store pours “uncommon” grapes: semillon, cinsault, and trincadeira (a Portuguese varietal) among them.

From 5 to 9pm tonight, West Seattle Wine Cellars will be pouring samples from Epicurean Wines, an Australian label.

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Tags: Wine, Wine Tastings