Performing Live at Walla Faces – Bluestone

February 12, 2011
6:00 pm	to	8:00 pm

Performing Live at Walla Faces – Bluestone, groves for dancing and listening. Wine by the glass or bottle available for purchase. No cover.

Walla Faces Tasting Salon
216 East Main Street
Walla Walla, WA 99362

Two Is Better Than One: Patterson Cellars Opens a Second Tasting Room

The more, the merrier. Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. Two is better than one.

Patterson Cellars, a Woodinville “warehouse” winery now with a second location in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, also carries the same sentiment as a French proverb, a biblical verse and a popular alt rock band – just in a more business-savvy, less saccharine tween fashion.

Two is better than one for John Patterson and his fiancee, Stephanie, with this new addition to the winery as well as their pending nuptials. With the hope of bringing back good return for their work, the tasting room is anticipating the business they’ll see with the regular 10 million visitors the market sees annually, according to PikePlaceMarket.org.

The 1,800 square foot space is ready and able to handle private tastings, dinner parties that can seat up to 50 and weather permitting, patio seating over looking the Puget Sounds. Patterson Cellars is now taking John’s 22 years of experience in the industry to the next profitable level.

The winery has been awaiting its additional tasting room opening at the market for several years now, said Stephanie, who mentioned she and John have put in their due diligence since 2006 for this particular post to bare the Patterson Cellars.

“We just wanted to be accessible,” John said. “We couldn’t believe that this spot finally became available and it was well worth the wait to become part of Seattle’s most iconic institution.”

Called the “Soul of Seattle,” Pike Place Market is home to more than 200 commercial businesses year-round, 190 craftspeople and nearly 100 farmers who rent space on a daily basis. Not to mention the 240 street performers and musicans, the residents of the 300-plus apartment units and now Patterson Cellars.

Oh yeah, they have wine there too.

Here’s a few you can’t get yet but be patient like the Pattersons and you’ll get yours.

• 2010 Viognier-Roussanne, Ciel du Cheval: Them heats’ in the hills in Red Mountain, so for this bright and juicy blend, John took fruit from a vineyard that receives a little less heat and a bit more wind, flushing in the acidity necessary to keep these two varietals taut and sleek. With honey and tropical fruits of melon and pineapple on the nose, the palate mirrored the aromas with succulent fruit, spice and a clean, crisp acid-driven finish. – 7.5
• 2010 Tempranillo-Sangiovese Rose, Rattlesnake Hills: John does not shy away from the avant-garde of grape varieties in Washington State and his anomalous rose is none the different. Classic in the funky aromas derived from Spanish varietals, the Tempranillo screeches on to the scene with meaty tone comparable to ground beef (but unoffensive) backed by strawberry fruit and undeniable watermelon. Think the ultimate barbecued burger on the patio wine. – 7

Okay, that was mean. Here’s a few you can get now.

• 2008 Forbidden Red, Columbia Valley: You might have seen it now, well, everywhere. This juice has gotten some recent action with some retail giants in the city and is making headway with its, once again, original blending choices by John. Touriga (Nacional?), Cabernet Sauvignon, Primitivo, Cabernet Franc and Mourvedre make up this “everyday red.” Gamey with dried fruit and creme brulee on the nose, the palate is stuffed with raspberry, currants and vanilla cream, backed by easy tannins and a food-friendly approach calling you to the doors of Piroshky-Piroshky the next block up. PS – just because the name says it twice, does not mean you need to get two Russian pastries. I’m warning from experience. – 7

• 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley: 100% Cab and medium-toast barrels boast the potential amplitude of this wine, with dark, dried fruit, a bold fig aroma and plenty of smokey spice. The tannin sizes up the nose with similar sassy flavors and balanced acidity to back it up.  – 8

Visit Patterson Cellar’s tasting room within the Soul of Seattle, located at 1427 Western Avenue, Seattle (on Western Avenue below Pike Place Market adjacent to the Pike Street Hill Climb). Check Patterson Cellars online for more information or follow the team on Facebook or Twitter.

Loving Wine Doesn’t Make Me Debonair–Does It?

I arrive at the DASWI conference (Discuss and Argue Silly Wine Information) where a buxom brunette named Vinifera Galore meets me at the check-in table. She’s been waiting just for me. She hands me a glass of wine and with demure smile says, “Your reputation precedes you, Mr. Barber. Care for a Savigny les Beaune?” I look her in the eye and with a charming grin I coyly reply, “As long as it’s not a ’92.” My entourage of brown-nosers and wannabees politely laugh because the joke is actually on the ’92 vintage, which everyone knows was rather dreadful, really.

“Splendid! Splendid, old chap!” they say as they gather around me in their blazers, silk scarves, and turtle-necks. I straiten my ascot, begin speaking, and they hang on my every word. I know all the wines, vintages, regions, and facts and I spew them liberally. Some passersby believe I’m speaking in tongues. Before long I’m pontificating obscure wine minutia with a passion that some astronomers reserve for arguing that yes, Pluto really is still a planet, damn it.

If the above paragraph appeals to you, you’re reading the wrong column. The true story is that I’m more likely to attend the IJAWA conference (I Just Appreciate Wine’s Awesomeness) while wearing an ABGB T-shirt (Anyone But Green Bay). The judging method I use is very simple. There’s one needle and it’s located front and center over the wow-factor gauge in my head. The wine that sends that needle highest wins. Does that mean I don’t taste and appreciate the hints of forest floor, the nuance of baked leather, or the subtle tones of moldy walrus hide? No, actually I do–but obsessing on it only gets in the way of discussing more important topics like why the Goddesses of India have so many arms or what on Earth the first person to ever milk a cow was thinking.

I love wine. But for me, once it becomes a matter of trying to outwine someone else, I bale quicker than when I had my blind date with Rosie O’Donnell.

This week’s recommendation comes from Washington.

Corvidae Lenore 2008, Columbia Valley Syrah ($11.99): I’m tempted to soliloquize about how drinking Lenore is like drinking liquid, silky, dry hay. Or espouse its light tannins and balance of pepper with fruit, etc. All of this would be true but I just won’t let that get in the way of appreciating its total awesomeness.

To read more of Kris Barber’s insights on wine, visit his blog at winerogue.wordpress.com

Seattle Food and Wine Experience: An Epic(urean) Adventure

I am perhaps the only wino that doesn’t care about food. I know, I know. I can hear jaws dropping everywhere. I’m quite open about it, and when I tell people this, they look at me like they just discovered an albino crow or the fabled chimera. Shock and horror. I like food, sure. A guy’s gotta eat, but I’ve just never gotten too excited about it like I am about wine.

There have been, however, a few times when I’ve seen what all the food-fuss is about–when I’ve damn-near been converted to a foodie in road-to-Damascus fashion. One of those times was last year at the Seattle Food and Wine Experience.

Of course, I went to the event for the wine, but I’ve been known to nosh on some vittles from time to time. A Roquefort parfait from the Artisinal Table (now closed, sad-face) with a glass of Gewürztraminer had an effect on me like the Buddha’s first enlightenment–I saw all of my past and future meals and knew that things would never be the same. Add lamb from Ruth’s Chris Steak House, bacon maple bars from Frost Doughnuts, sandwiches and pasta from Maximus/Minimus along with tasty bites from many other Seattle fooderies and I could have died a fat and happy man. The SFWE is like a buffet with three Michelin Stars.

And–egad!–there was the wine. Lots and lots of gorgeous juice. My cup runneth over. You couldn’t throw a kalamata olive without hitting a winemaker pouring vino for the thirsty mob. I started with a striking Merlot from Terra Blanca, and the rest was an odyssey with a golden fleece there for the taking at every booth.

Let me give you an idea of what the SFWE is like. You’re given a glass at the door (you can bring your own special glass if you roll like that) and an encouraging nod and grin that bespeaks the same sentiment given to me when I was forcefully pushed down my first water-slide when I was short and timid: “Trust me, it’s going to be a great ride.” From there, you’re greeted with a pavilion brimming with food and beverage that makes your heart race like a dog with two tails–you just don’t know which to chase first. You can either strategize your approach using the list provided, or you can make your way through like a bee in a clover field. I personally prefer the latter approach, because, hey, time’s a-wastin’. For four hours of unabashed hedonism, you move from one gastronomic sensation to another, learning stuff along the way. I also recommend taking notes or, better, pictures on your mobile device, because there’s plenty you’re going to want to remember to seek out the next day.

Needless to say, I’m really excited about the 3rd Annual Seattle Food and Wine Experience coming up on February 27 at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. Well over a hundred wineries, a dozen breweries, over twenty restaurants and twenty-five other exhibitors in one room is nothing to sneeze at–unless you’re allergic, in which case you’ll be hospitalized indefinitely.

In addition to all the food wine and beer from the individual producers listed below, there are plenty of other great attractions, too, in the form of themed exhibitions by culinary powerhouses from the Pacific Northwest:

French Wine Scholar™ Program, taught by global wine expert, Joel Butler MW (Master of Wine)

December 7, 2010
6:00 pm	to	8:00 pm
December 14, 2010
6:00 pm	to	8:00 pm
December 21, 2010
6:00 pm	to	8:00 pm
December 28, 2010
6:00 pm	to	8:00 pm
January 4, 2011
6:00 pm	to	8:00 pm
January 11, 2011
6:00 pm	to	8:00 pm
January 18, 2011
6:00 pm	to	8:00 pm
January 25, 2011
6:00 pm	to	8:00 pm
February 1, 2011
6:00 pm	to	8:00 pm
February 8, 2011
6:00 pm	to	8:00 pm
February 15, 2011
6:00 pm	to	8:00 pm
February 22, 2011
6:00 pm	to	8:00 pm

WineKnow LLC, Seattle’s newest wine appreciation and education company, is the sole provider of the excellent and nationally praised French Scholar Program, a nine week intensive course (including exam) for those who really want to get at the heart of the most highly acclaimed wine country in the world for the last 2 centuries!

Classes include Course Manual, visual presentations, Wine tasting and Final “exam”. When you pass the exam (optional but strongly recommended), you will have the right to the wine-industry recognized post-nominal: French Wine Scholar (FWS) AND on line support. Go to Registration section on mywineknow.com website for class details/dates

WineKnow LLC is: Joel Butler MW (Master of Wine), one of the first two Americans to hold this distinguished Certification, the highest in the wine business (1990), and one of only two MW’s in Washington,and former Director of Education for Ste Michelle Wine Estates, and a global wine judge and writer. He also instructs Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) courses (Look for WSET courses offered by WineKnow starting soon!), the most widely recognized global wine education program.

Karen Graf is: currently Director of Retail operations for DeLille Winery in Woodinville, holds the Advanced Certificate from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust, and has worked in the Washington wine industry for over a decade.

Urban Enoteca
4130 1st Ave. South (south of West Seattle Bridge overpass about 2 blocks)
Seattle, WA 98115
ph. 425-765-4080

ONGOING December 7 2010 – Feb. 22, 2011

« Previous Page