You may remember that a few months ago I wrote about a Woodinville Wine Country home in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood being staged in preparation for going on the market. We hit the market in a big way last Saturday with the Build a Winery event!
The plan for “Build a Winery” was that attendees would gather at this beautiful luxury Wine Country home . There they would get a little run down on how to build a winery in the city of Woodinville and then we would go to wineries to see how they have built their wineries in local homes, participate in a tweet and tast kind of Twitter scavenger hunt while tasting local wines.
The first part of the plan went really well. We had a fabulous party surrounded by a backdrop of lush gardens and beautiful cedar trees. Add to the setting a perfect Seattle warm summer day and the rich, spicy aroma of traditional Spanish Paella being cooked over an open fire by John of Eastside Cookery. We ate and drank local wine met fun people and then when it came time to see the wineries….nobody wanted to leave the kitchen or back deck of this great home. We never got to the wineries! This Woodinville Wine Country home proved to be magical, captivating, warm, inviting and a welcoming place to linger with friends and stay awhile.
Thank you @rubiromero for the twitpics above and @violinkris, @bbhorn, and @shona425 for your social media expertise and assist!
While at harvest in Prosser last fall I commandeered Jeff Hogue’s grape harvester. The fleeting moment I drove that harvester was an empowering one. Learning how to build a winery is the logical next step.
Join me Saturday June 27 from 1-4 for a Summer Celebration and Build a Winery event. There will be a traditional Spanish Paella chef cooking outdoors, great wine, and games…. Bring your internet capable phone to participate in our “twitter” game scavenger hunt which will take you to participating Woodinville wineries including JM Cellars, Hollywood Hill Vineyards and NW Totem Cellars. See how local winemakers have succeeded in building their wineries, drink their wine, tweet about it and win.
Where: 15410 NE 173rd St., Woodinville, WA 98072
When: Saturday, June 27th
Time: 1-4pm.
For more information call me at 206-200-9849, leave a comment to RSVP!
A bold red wine worth trying! Here are three grown and made in Washington that I’ve recently tasted and can highly recommend. Carmenere is a French grape originally planted in the Medoc region of Bordeaux. It’s been said that Carmenere is the next Malbec.
Washington’s wine industry is made up of a lot of mad scientist. A few are of the computer science varietal. Anyway, I do think the analytic, perfectionist, inquisitive qualities of these “scientist” make for some interesting wines. I was introduced to one such scientist and his Washington homegrown Carmenere.
Patrick Merry of Merry Cellars a former computer scientist was pouring his 2006 Seven Hills Vineyard Carmenere at Village Wines. It is made up of 98.5% Carmenere, 1%Petite Verdot, & 0.5% Merlot. black pepper, spice, nice hints of vanilla
Merry Cellars describes their Carmenere as “an experience that won’t disappoint”. I found that to be true. They also go on to say that this centuries old Bordeaux varietal is finding new life and new expression. And I would say that Merry Cellars is definitely doing their part.
The Seattle Wine Awards rightly recognized the winning attributes of Tertulia Cellars Carmenere. Awarded Gold for their 2006 Phinney Hill Carmenere this is smooth, full bodied, with hints of vanilla and plums. Made of 90% Carmenère, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot.
Ryan Raber~Tertulia Cellars Winemaker at Seattle Wine Awards
Another great Washington Carmenere that needs mention is Smasne Cellars 2006 Carmenere – Phinny Hill Vineyard, Horse Heaven Hills. bold, pepper, spice really nice.
An interesting point made about the Carmenere grapes growing in Walla Walla was that there are not many vines planted. The vineyard that Merry Cellars buys from has a small crop that they were thinking about pulling out to plant a more popular varietal. Thankfully, the Carmenere will stay and in my opinion more should be planted. So, save the vines try Carmenere you won’t be disappointed.
Hmmm… I am thinking Carmenere will be a good match for next weekends Paella and Build A Winery Event!
Your Carmenere thoughts, recommendations??
In the beginning there was order…. And then the fun began. This is a picture of the “blogger room” at the Seattle Wine Awards. Kathy Gill is setting up C.R. Sandidge Wines of Chelan on Twitter. After the winemakers had a couple glasses of wine we were able to convince them of the attributes of social media and why a Twitter account would be like joining the party;-)
P.S. The C.R. Sandidge 2006 KISS was Chelan wrapped up in a wine glass, sweet summer peaches, apricots and honey….amazing;-)
The Seattle Wine Awards could not have done a better job to get the word out about Washington Wines! Here is a scene from the “social media” hub of the wine awards. It was an honor to be included! Thank you @timreha and @wineawards!
Highlights of the Grand Tasting event were delivered real time via twitter and displayed through a large Twittter Chat screen that delivered real time information to those that attended. 
Over 760 Washington wines were reviewed by some of the area’s most accomplished and recognized wine 
professionals.
“The goal of the Seattle Wine Awards is to recognize, celebrate and promote excellence in Washington wine by honoring the best red and white wines in varietal/price categories with Double Gold, Gold, Silver and Bronze – Grand Awards of Excellence. In addition, the Seattle Wine Awards also recognizes by consensus, the highest quality Washington wines with the honor of Vintner’s Award – Outstanding Washington Wine.”
The judges for this years Seattle Wine Awards are:
Thomas Price ~ Metropolitan Grill, Advanced Sommelier
Amy Mumma ~ Central Washington University World Wine Program
Tim O’Brien ~ Salty’s Restaurant, Director of Wine
Lisa Rongren ~ The Herbfarm Restaurant, Sommelier
Mark Takagi ~ Metropolitan Markets, Director of Fine Wine
Jake Kosseff ~ Kosseff Wine Consulting and Founder of Extraordinary Dining Society
Jeff Fournier ~ Esquin Wine Merchants
Ole Thompson ~ Wild Ginger & The Triple Door, Director of Wine
Rob Ord ~ International Sommelier Guild
Ryan Allison ~ Cellar 46, Owner
Bob Bain ~ NW Wine Specialist
David LeClaire ~ Wine Events & Promotions, Seattle Uncorked
Gerry Warren ~ Seattle Wine Society, Board of Directors
Join the fun, taste the wine, meet the winemakers and enjoy fine food at the inaugural Seattle Wine Awards Grand Awards Tasting to be held at The Rainier Club this Sunday, June 14.
Go to www.seattlewineawards.com or call Christopher Chan, (206) 853-4677
Here is the deal… Visit me at my open house today from 1:30-3:30 in Kirkland at 221 5th Ave S., Unit E101 and receive a card for a free wine tasting at JM Cellars in Woodinville….TODAY only!
Call me at 206-200-9849 if you have any questions.
Why rent when you can build. Two lots just listed in the city of Woodinville with winery possibilities!
Many of us in the Pacific Northwest have just emerged from a strenuously challenging winter. The sun especially the intensity of it is welcomed. I hear people apologetically complain about the heat. They truly are joking because the sun in this quadrant of the universe is awesome. To celebrate I checked in with the wine world on twitter on what is known as #winewednesday. I sent a tweet out to see if I could get recommendations from Pacific Northwest wineries and preferably their winemakers on what wine they recommend pairing with our beautiful, sunny, warm, O.K… really hot weather (for us in the PNW).
Here are the three NW wineries that tweeted back (pictured starting from left to right)
@KingEstate-Located SW of Eugene, Oregon? Who knew? Wine close to U of O my Aluma Mater. They recommended their Signature Collection Pinot Gris
@JBookwalterWine-Woodinville and Richland, WA recommended their ‘08 Anecdote Riesling. Hint of sweet but not too sweet….perfect for a hot day…ran to the tasting room to taste because they also recommended stopping by:-) Thanks…
@SokolBlosser-Dundee, Oregon. Their hot weather wine recommendation is a white blend called Evolution… Fun label;-)
The sunny day wine challenge is to taste these wines, comment, and tweet about them so that we can compare notes for next #winewednesday. Next week we will tweet out for more recommendations from wineries and winemakers. I think if we taste enough wine recommended by the people who make the wine by the end of the summer we should collectively have perfected the best sunny day wine list around!
What do you think?
