Woodinville Wine Update

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. [click to continue…]

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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.

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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.

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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. [click to continue…]

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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: [click to continue…]

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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. [click to continue…]

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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.

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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. [click to continue…]

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Some of you may have heard talk about a Washington Merlot nationwide Twitter tasting coming up on March 25th. We would love to have participation from as many Woodinville wineries as possible. If you don’t have a Merlot, a Merlot domination blend can qualify. Below is more information on how you can participate. I’ll be one of the participating bloggers & tweeters. You can follow me on Twitter @Shona425

You’re invited to participate in an exciting nationwide tasting event featuring Washington Merlot. Thursday, March 25 from 5-7pm PT, hundreds and potentially thousands of people will be simultaneously talking about Washington wine. A similar event was hosted focusing on California Cabernet. During this event 50 wineries and over 300 individuals used Twitter to ‘tweet and taste’ about California Cabs. Aside from the thousands of tweets about California wine, hundreds gathered in tasting room ‘tweet-ups’ and the event garnered local media attention and recognition in the New York Times. [click to continue…]

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