Woodinville Wine Update

Wineries Who Tweet: Woodinville Part 8

Shona Milne — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:28:21 +0000

Gordon Brothers is @gordonwines. Barrage Cellers is @BarrageCellars. Pomum Cellars just joined a few days ago as @PomumWine. Sparkman Cellars is @SparkmanCellars. Dusted Valley Vintners is @DustedValley. I finally got Village Wines to sign up and they can be found at @MyVillageWines. I sat with Tefft Cellars to get them signed up as @TefftCellars.

@ColumbiaWinery and @ancwine both just hit the 1000th follower mark. Maybe I can be next? You can follow me at Shona425.

Challenger Ridge: Girlfriend’s Day

Shona Milne — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:39:10 +0000

Looking for a fun day out with your girlfriends? Challenger Ridge has just what you are looking for. On Saturday, March 20th, you can enjoy wines by the glass, appetizers, and do a little shopping and swapping. There will be a clothing exchange so clean out your closets and bring your clean, gently used, unwanted clothing items and see if you can find a new outfit. In addition, there will be a Silpada jewelry show, makeup by Motive Cosmetics, hair and nails by Divine Salon and Spa.

Centellino: Review of Italian Wine Decanter

Shona Milne — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:29:42 +0000

I had the opportunity to test the Centellino, top of the bottle, wine decanter the other night. The Centellino is blown glass, handmade in Italy. It certainly looks nice sitting on top of my bottle. It looks a little confusing at first but it is easy to use. I had a Columbia Winery Red Willow 2005 Cabernet Franc and I thought it would be a good wine to experiment with. I dusted off a couple of Tiffany & Co. hand blown crystal glasses so I could do a side by side comparison. I was completely amazed right away after pouring some wine right from the bottle and then using the Centellino. I could smell the red fruit, especially the cherries, and some oak in the glass which I had run through the Centellino. The other glass seemed to be lacking any aroma immediately after being poured into the glass. I kept going back between the glasses during the evening and found that the oak and cherry flavors intensified and there was also a flavor of vanilla and a long finish. The glass that I ran though the Centellino definitely opened up that wine to a degree that surprised me. I will use this again and again.

The history of the centello, ciantello or centellino dates back to ancient times. The Latin name was “cyatulus”, the diminutive of “cyatus”, taken from the Greek “kyathos” derived from the verb “kyo” which means “to pour”.
It was used to pour precious nectars and ancient ambrosias. After time, the centellino took the form of a ladle and was used in medieval refreshment houses to pour a proper serving of wine, much to the traveler’s delight.
With the coming of glass and the storing of wine in flasks and bottles, skilled artisans designed a Centellino using mouth-blown techniques. Today, the “Centellino” enriches tables by pouring and oxidizing the perfect portion of wine, thereby making the experience more noble and harmonious.

Accidental Wine: Cleaning Up

Shona Milne — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:02:26 +0000

Reading in the Sunday Seattle Times about Accidental Wine. This company, located in LA, is selling wines on the internet with blemished labels. Business is good with the tough economy. We all want bargains.

Canadian Ice Wine: Quail’s Gate

Shona Milne — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:12:00 +0000

I just saw a story on King 5 Evening Magazine about Canadian Ice Wine. I just love ice wine and late harvest wines and I don’t really like sweet wines. I would rather pass on dessert after dinner for a glass of ice wine. I like to think of it as dessert in a glass. Quails Gate in the Okanagan is the featured winery. I’ll be looking for this on my next trip north.

South African Wine: Drink Well Do Good Tour

Shona Milne — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:50:08 +0000

I took part in a South African wine tasting on Wednesday night, hosted by Savour Speciality Foods in Ballard. It was to promote the 2010 Drink Well Do Good wine tour through the International Society of Africans in Wine. The Drink Well Do Good tour hopes to raise $150,000 to develop a training center for South African vintners. The ISAW vision is that through the celebration and appreciation of fine wine, they can uplift and educate, while diminishing poverty and inequality. The ISAW advocates reducing poverty through the business of wine. You can help the cause by attending the fundraiser in Seattle which will be Sunday, April 25th at Chop Suey.

I did get to try three South African wines. Two were from Seven Sisters. A Chenin Blanc which had balanced acidity and nice minerality. Very food friendly wine on a nice day. The Pinotage/Shiraz took a bit of time to open up but had flavors of earth and blackcurrant and a bit of chocolate on the nose. The Shiraz gave the Pinotage some “leather jacket attitude”. M’hudi is the only black South African owned winery in South Africa. You will want to look for their Sauvignon Blanc for summer drinking. Very food friendly and high acidity and flavors of tropical fruits.

Food & Wine Pairing Network: Live

Shona Milne — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:20:50 +0000

On Saturday night I attended the launch of the Food and Wine Pairing Network. The site has just launched and they are planning more live meet ups to exchange recipes and wine pairings. I took a Chilled Avocado soup. It was decided that a nice crisp Sauvignon Blanc was the right pairing. Make sure you sign up.

The Food and Wine Pairing Network has evolved from our adventures in wine pairing. We have had so much fun and have learned so much, not only about the alchemy of food and wine pairing but also the bringing together of people to enjoy it. Our goal here is simple; we want to bring people together, virtually, and in person, to share food, wine and conversation together.

We envision the Food and Wine Pairing Network being a place to:

1. Search for information about food and wine pairing
2. Share your experiences with food and wine pairing
3. Discuss food and wine topics in group forums
4. Plan picnics, dinners and parties for friends, new and old
5. Plan virtual tastings and tweet ups
6. Learn new recipes and cooking techniques
7. Discover new wine varietals
8. Host your own food and/or wine related blog
9. Provide exposure to your existing food and/or wine related blog
10. Learn new ways to enjoy food, wine and friends!

Seattle Food & Wine Experience: Yummy!

Shona Milne — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:37:24 +0000

What a great event! It’s a nice size event that does not overwhelm you with concern about how you can get to every booth in one afternoon. I’d like to thank Jamie Peha and many sponsors of the Seattle Food & Wine Experience. I was one of eight bloggers & tweeters who were tweeting live about the SFWE as we went along with our eating and drinking adventures. I’d love to list everything I ate and drank but it would take up too much room. The food was stood out was Maple Bar with Bacon from Frost Doughnuts, the Porcini Chicken with Wild Mushrooms and Black Truffle Vinaigrette from Pearl Bellevue, Alaskan King Salmon Gravad Lox with Pummelo and Rye Toast from Ray’s Boathouse, and all the lamb dishes from Ruth’s Chris Steak House. They were all wicked good! I had some outstanding wines also. I loved the Red Blend from Duck Pond Cellars, Grand Reve was pouring the Series IV and Series III, Hard Row to Hoe was delicious, Kiona Cellars had a delicious Lemberger and their Ice Wine was also wonderful. I even drank beer from Pike Brewing Company.

Dine Around Seattle: Eat & Drink Locally

Shona Milne — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:16:42 +0000

Dine Around Seattle also begins today. From March 1st to the 31st, Sunday through Thursday you can dine at many of our fine restaurants for dinner for $30 from special three course menus. It includes appetizers, entree, and dessert. Many of the restaurants also offer lunch for $15.

Washington Wine Month: It’s Here

Shona Milne — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:28:28 +0000

Oh my, how did it get to be March already? Today is the start of Washington Wine month. According to the Washington Wine Commission it’s the twelfth year it will be celebrated in March.

Local retailers and restaurants are celebrating our world-class wine region with unique in-store displays, by-the-glass specials and winemaker dinners across March. It all leads up to the region’s premier wine and food event, Taste Washington! Seattle on March 27-28, 2010. This is the twelfth consecutive year that Washington Wine Month will be celebrated in March. The Washington Wine Commission is proud to offer educational materials such as AVA maps, posters and copies of the Touring Washington’s Wine Regions guide to help raise positive awareness of our industry. To receive copies of materials go to Contact to find the request form. Find out what Washington Wine Month events are happening in your area by clicking on Events for a variety of options on how to experience Washington wine in March!