Vin et Robe: A Pictorial
Photos by Kyle Goldie.
Dresses by Sabrina Del Rey.
Locale DeLille Estate, Woodinville, WA.
Trade Route Brewing Company
May 31, 2009 by Cody Ellerd
Filed under Blog, Features
Ain’t nothin’ but a Chi thing, baby
By Cody Ellerd
When customers are drinking like fish and having a splashing good time, some Buddhists believe that it is the Laughing Buddha (a.k.a. the Patron Saint of Bartenders) who is responsible for all the fun.
It is precisely this figure, with his gleaming golden skin and proud beer belly, who welcomes visitors to the Trade Route Brewing Company, a small, two-year-old craft brewery in South Seattle that is becoming a local favorite among fans of unusual beers and Asian cuisine.
Seattle Wine Awards
May 31, 2009 by Doug Haugen
Filed under Blog, Features
Breaking it down
By Doug Haugen
It smelled like a winery in full production. When we walked up the stairs to the third floor of the Rainier Club, we realized that the directions the concierge gave us were wholly unnecessary. Like Toucan Sam, we just had to follow our noses.
It was the yeasty, fruity smell of upwards of 300 bottles of wine, the second half of an extensive two-day evaluation, and it was drawing us up the stairs like the call of the sirens. Walking into the Grand Dining Room, we were met with tables blooming like tulip fields with Riedel stems filled with wine, seated with groups of relaxed but studious evaluators with the smugly serene, sagely amicable expressions of people who think they’ve landed the best jobs in the world. The sunlight streaming through the tall, ballroom style windows gave them a cherubic glow. It was like walking into a cocktail party in heaven.
Seattle Wine Awards Winners
A Whole Lot of Hart
May 27, 2009 by Doug Haugen
Filed under Blog, Features
“Here it is. God, please don’t screw it up.”
This is how vineyard manager Ken Hart feels every time he hands over the grapes from his vineyards to winemakers. After the planting, the pruning, the watering, the weeding, the spraying, the testing, and scads of intermediate tasks not so easily categorized—essentially after a year of intensive labor and TLC—the vineyard manager has to let his baby go, and just hopes that it’s found a good home. “You spend eleven and a half moths [growing the fruit], and some winemaker comes out and destroys the whole thing to pick the fruit when it wasn’t ready. They’re paying for it, what can you say?” You can imagine him, perhaps, waving a solemn goodbye to the fruit as the truck heads up the road.
Getting Schooled
April 10, 2009 by Doug Haugen
Filed under Blog, Features
THE WINE IDIOT
I remember the first bottle of wine I ever bought. I’m not talking about the Boone’s Farm, either. I’m talking about the real deal. I was in college at Central Washington University, my friends were coming over that night, and I wanted to get something to impress them. You know, do something classy. Candles, Enya, wine. Yeah, sophisticated. I walked to the nearest supermarket, and started browsing the wine section. I didn’t know a merlot from a hole in the head, so I looked for a cool bottle at a price I could afford on my coffee shop budget. That’s when I saw that chubby bottle with the basketweave around its girth. You know the one. Chianti.
The Pike Brewing Co.
April 10, 2009 by Tara Dezao
Filed under Blog, Features
By Tara DeZao
When I visited The Pike Brewing Company, I expected it to be just another pub with an adjacent brewery; but, if my Wino travels have taught me one thing, it’s to expect the unexpected. Pike’s is not your run of the mill brewery; this 22,000-square-foot structure underneath the Pike Place Market houses a pub, a brewery, a microbrew museum and some of the best beer that I have ever tasted.
An Open Letter to the Washington Wine Industry
By Jen Doak
Manager, The Tasting Room
Dear Washington State Wineries,
I love that the turn of a new year symbolizes new beginnings. From the seasonal shifts to the start of a fresh calendar, it is a natural time to be optimistic, hopeful and curious.
It is my desire that most of you take this fresh start as an opportunity to channel your inner Curious George and realize that being complacent is no longer serving you. George left his surroundings to live in the big city, and I encourage you to mix it up as well.
Our industry is spoiled. Our landscape and geography has given us this great soil and topography to make beautiful wines. We’d been losing professionals to other wine regions due to the lack of education in enology and viticulture. The State Legislature answered our prayers by providing curriculum at the community college and university level. Wine consumption rates are increasing across the United States while beer and spirits are decreasing.
What’s missing? We can do better. We can ask for help. We can admit that not having all the answers is not a sign of weakness but rather a sign of strength.
How many of you actually have a business plan? Do you have a marketing plan in conjunction with that? Do you have a mission statement? Your vision and values should be integrated with every part of your visual and brand development.
Everything you do is a reflection on the company. You might say, “No kidding, Jen,” but let me tell you that I’ve received so many emails from winemakers inviting me to events with typos or missing information. I’ve shaken hands with winery reps wanting more information about their wines, and they didn’t have a business card. I’ve done research on the internet to find many websites are an afterthought or non-existent. And don’t even get me started about label designs that are out there. This is a critical insight into who you are and the first thing that connects you to the consumer.
I want you to succeed, and I want what is on the inside to show on the outside. The old saying “A book isn’t judged by its cover” sadly does not apply to the wine world.
Please know that this criticism is not served without praise. You have established us as a force to be reckoned with in an international arena. You have given up your day jobs in hopes of turning a passionate hobby into a profession. We are an industry known to help out our fellow winemakers in times of need. You’ll loan your crush pad to a neighbor. An industry blog posts that so-and-so has a broken labeler, and many of you step up to lend a hand. Large wineries release contracts with vineyards during a freeze so that the smaller wineries have wines to produce. You are unique. You are special. You make wines that deserve more attention.
A dedicated fan,
Jen Doak
[The views and opinions expressed in this open letter are those of the writer, and not necessarily that of WINO Magazine. -The Editor]
Red Wine & Chocolate
February 7, 2009 by Erin Thomas
Filed under Blog, Features
Legend says the Greek gods drank fermented grape juice, and the great lover Casanova had a hankering for hot cocoa. With great influences come great products, which make the great pairing of wine and chocolate.
O’Shea Scarborough
February 7, 2009 by Doug Haugen
Filed under Blog, Features
By Doug Haugen and Josh LaRosee
“So, if you like wines with 100% new oak…please visit some other winery.” This is how Darryn O’Shea and Travis Scarborough of O’Shea Scarborough Winery greet visitors of their website. We got the same impression when we visited the winery in person; a couple of guys with singularity of purpose, making the wines the way they like them. If their effort were as simple to decipher, so easy to archetype, then we would not have decided to write a feature on them.
