• Sparkling wine and artisanal cheese reception
• Sample wine blends from 40 top producers from Washington State, Sonoma County, and Portugal (click here for wines)
• Gourmet cuisine from Columbia Hospitality chefs – click here for menu!
• Chances to win two-night getaways to Columbia Hospitality’s fabulous hotels and a five night stay at The Oitavos hotel in Cascais, Portugal!

 Seminars 2:30 – 4:00 PM

Seminar 1: Blending with Chateau Ste. Michelle
Participate in the hands-on red wine blending process of small wine lots with the different wine tiers of Chateau Ste. Michelle (Artist, Ethos, Single Vineyard, Vintage Reserve, Columbia Valley). Small lots focus on Cold Creek and Canoe Ridge Vineyards and grower lots from Indian Wells and Stone Tree Vineyards. Have fun with the “American Idol” rounds where you’ll taste through each wine lot, then blend by tier to get to the final blends. Taste, discuss, compare, contrast. You are the judge!

Seminar 2: Blend – Inspiration, Experience, Intuition with Columbia Winery
Participate in a hands-on blending session using the five Bordeaux grapes varietals (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot, Malbec). A sprinkle of salt, a dash of pepper; a little more bass, a little less treble. We are all blenders. If we listen to our senses, we know what’s missing and we know when it’s just right. Blending wine is no different. Let your palate be your paintbrush as we show you the secrets of making a perfect blend.

Are you familiar with Gordon Brothers Family Winery? Yeah, that’s what I thought…So, let’s Fix That, Right Now…

GIFFORD HIRLINGER TO OPEN WOODINVILLE TASTING ROOM

Walla Walla, WA June 22, 2009 – The owners of Gifford Hirlinger, a Walla Walla-based wine producer, are very excited to announce the addition of a wine tasting room in Woodinville’s Hollywood Vineyards Retail Center, opening July 1^st.

The winery produces 100% estate-grown premium wines from fifteen acres of sustainably farmed vineyards established in 2000 in the Walla Walla Viticultural Area by Peter and Stephanie Berghan.  Varieties include cabernet sauvignon, merlot, malbec, petit verdot and red blends, as well as pinot gris.  The Berghans’ son, Mike, serves as Winemaker and General Manger, with a philosophy focused on minimum intervention to allow full expression of the fruit.  Production will peak at 2200 cases with the 2009 harvest.

“We thought our family was new to the Walla Walla area, but as it turns out we have somewhat of a history here,” says Berghan.  “Gifford and Hirlinger were the last names of relatives on both sides of the Berghan family who were born in Walla Walla after their families crossed the country in covered wagons in the mid 1800’s.” 

“We are really looking forward to showing our wines directly to the wine enthusiasts in the greater Seattle area and the many tourists who visit wineries in Woodinville,” says Berghan.

Managing the winery’s western Washington extension will be Jessica Turk, Mike Berghan’s sister.  “Having a family member who knows absolutely everything about Gifford Hirlinger’s vineyards and wines will be a great benefit to our visitors in Woodinville,” observes Peter Berghan.

The tasting room is located at 14469 Woodinville-Redmond Road N.E., near the Hollywood Schoolhouse at the intersection of 148^th Avenue N.E. and N.E. 145th Street, and near other wineries including Chateau Ste. Michelle, Columbia Winery, DeLille Cellars, Brian Carter Cellars and the Bookwalter Winery Tasting Studio.  The winery’s website is www.giffordhirlinger.com.

Bringing our wonderful wines to Woodinville has been a dream for Tefft Cellars ever since Joel Tefft first began the winery back in 1991. For almost 20 years our loyal fans in Western Washington have made the trek to our Tasting Room just outside of Yakima, and they are extremely excited that our wines will now be available in their backyard.

Just to give you a little background on Tefft, our vineyard and cellars are located in the little town of Outlook in the Rattlesnake Hills AVA. Earlier this year, two local Tefft-wine-loving-families purchased the winery from Joel, and we couldn’t be more excited about carrying on his tradition of creating fine wines that are priced to be accessible by a wide audience. Our vineyard produces incredible estate vintages from our mature Nebbiolo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Syrah and Chenin Blanc vines. But we don’t stop there! Our winemakers Joel and Marty also make several award winning wines and ports from Cab Franc, Zinfandel, Merlot, Muscat and Dolcetto fruit grown by our neighbors in Rattlesnake Hills (…in fact, our Dolceto Rose’ just won the “People’s Choice Award” at this week’s ‘Rose’ Revival’ in Seattle!).

I paid a visit to Cowan Vineyards for their grand opening today. I was surprised that with their Scottish background that there were no bagpipes or anyone wearing a kilt. They did provide some lovely shortbread to nibble on while tasting their wines. I was surprised to really enjoy their 2007  Muscat Canelli. I’m not a big fan of white wines and especially something that I thought would be too sweet. It had a touch of sweetness and I thought this would a nice wine for a sunny day. My favorite of the wines is still the Tartan Red. I’ve always liked this blend. I think Cowan Vineyards has great prices on their wines also.