Thoughts on Men, Rosé and Volunteering at Events

By Christopher Chan

Vintus Maximus : Can Cool Guys Drink Pink?

Ahhh…summer in Washington! There are very few places on earth as wonderful as the Pacific Northwest in the summer. Albeit, we suffer through a gray whale of a rainy seasonal affective disorder to get here, but when it’s great, wow is it great! Life is even better when you can select a fantastic and fun wine for the weather—a crisp dry or off-dry white or rosé is absolutely perfect for a hot sunny day in the back yard or on the deck.

What’s that? This bad-boy wine guy who chews on 1st growths and cult wines with beefy tannins and new oak cannot be seen drinking a pink “girly” wine, or he can’t stand sweet? Hold on tough guy. First, let’s get it right; Pink ? Sweet, so chill. In fact, chill is the thrill during these dog days of summer. But Chris, the wine has no oak! Oak’s a joke on hot days as it just weighs down the wine and your palate. Trust me on this one; go find a light, bright white like Oregon Pinot Gris or Washington Viognier, chill it and swill it. Even better, think pink and venture out on the color wheel of flavor with Rosados or Rosatos, depending on the heritage of the grape as in Italy or Spain. Not every wine has to be an introspective breakdown of the structure, aroma and finish. Summertime is for fresh, cold, fruity wines, so put down the decanter and find me an ice-bucket!

Grapes for Apes: My Life as a Vino Volunteer

Want more out of wine? Come open up a case of volunteer red! Yes, I am one of the luckiest guys around, because I get to work and play in the world of wine; but sometimes there’s more fun to be had by getting involved. This past July, I had the great pleasure of enjoying the culmination of months of energy and effort in the form of the 33rd Annual Woodland Park Zoo Jungle Party and Washington Wines Festival Camp Korey benefit auction in Carnation, Washington. One of the coolest things about wine is that it brings people together, and often good things come of it. Take the Woodland Park Zoo Jungle Party, or what I like to call “Grapes for Apes.” This is a fantastic gala reception, dinner and wine auction on the lawn at the Zoo. Great food, fantastic auction items and, of course, sunshine! The wine auction is awesome—what other way can you buy wine, help out and write off? Sign me up for more.

At this year’s auction, I “won” Mandarin Chinese lessons (how does one say “Soft Tannins” in Mandarin? I’ll tell you soon), and also picked up a Magnum of Boudreaux Cellars Cab—thanks Rob! Wow, what a great event, and it all goes to help support our world-class zoological gardens. Now, speaking of world-class, Camp Korey featured a host—make that a giant dressed up barn—full of world-class Washington winemakers sharing their wine and time to help raise funds for Camp Korey, a summer camp for terminally ill and disfigured children.

Talk about a star-studded event—me and hundreds of guests and volunteers got to hang out, sip and chit-chat with Dunham, aMaurice, Betz Family, Quilceda Creek, McCrea, Tamarack, Syncline, DeLille and many, many more generous vintners. I was thrilled to be a volunteer, pouring wine, taking out the trash and even bussing tables. They even let me taste a few wines (wink, wink). Great people, great cause, great wine and great food; and Carole King played to cap off the evening.

So, if you are looking to get something extra out of your wine experience, maybe you’d like to volunteer for one of the year-round wine events. It’s the perfect way to meet winemakers, wine lovers and support a new or favorite cause. Who knows, you might even get to learn Mandarin!