Taste Washington 2012

Why You Should Attend

For a wine blogger in the Northwest, Taste Washington is a must-attend event. It’s like a Comic-Con for wine geeks.

If you’ve been to Taste Washington, you’ve seen our type. You’ve seen us pouring over the list of wineries, studious expressions on our faces. You’ve seen us sticking our noses in our glasses while our eyes flutter, swishing wine around in our mouths with furled brows, taking notes. You’ve seen us holding up the line in order to ask pointed questions of the winemakers, and wax eloquent about everything we know about wine in order to gain a modicum of approval from award-winning winemakers. You’ve seen us coalescing in small groups, comparing serious opinions, giving hot tips of must-try vino, and then disbanding just as quickly to return to the fray. You’ve seen us in the middle of the room, glued to our phones while we inundate the social media platforms with our opinions.

Well, this is the image some have of wine writers. But, here’s the truth of it. We wine writers aren’t much different than you. We just love the wine.

The eyes of wine writers I know still light up when the walk into the CenturyLink Field Event Center and see the more than 200 Washington wineries ready to pour their juice, just like kids walking through the gates at Disneyland. We love the flavor of wine, the texture of wine, the smell of wine, the look of wine, and even how wine makes us feel. We like our wine with food, we like our wine by itself. We like our wine after a long day, we like our wine in the company of friends, we like our wine on an afternoon of relaxation. We just like to talk about it, too.

Taste Washington provides the best opportunity of the year to try Washington wines.  A lot of Washington wines. While this is a great opportunity for wine writers, it’s just as beneficial to you.

In a single afternoon (or two if you’ve got the time and stamina), you can sample wines from over 200 Washington wineries, as well as bites from scads of Washington eateries. You can ask questions. You can collect information. You can pick your favorites. What this does for you is the same as what it does for us: for the next twelve months, you’ll know what to look for in your local wine shop, or whom to order from, or what to recommend to friends. You’ll know which wines you want to enjoy with food, which wines you want on a lazy afternoon, which wines you want at the end of a long day, which wines you want to share. Taste Washington is a delicious afternoon of window shopping, without the windows.

Taste Washington isn’t just an event for wine geeks. It’s for everyone who loves wine and food. You can take a casual approach to the event, or you can take an aggressive strategy like those proposed by Clive Pursehouse at the Northwest Wine Anthem. You can take the exhibitors at face value, or you can look for secret, hidden gems via social media like Sean Sullivan proposes at the Washington Wine Report. Whatever your method, you will get to try a grip of wine and food, and walk away armed with information to approach your wine for the next year.

Don’t miss the opportunity.