Washington Road Trip Day 1: Seattle

I was lucky enough to be invited by the Washington State Wine Commission to attend the 2010 Road Trip. Basically, they invite about 40 – 50 sommeliers and wine buyers to Washington for an intensive tour through the AVA’s of wine country. Having never actually made the trek myself, I leapt at the opportunity. 5 days in wine country paid for – of course I did!

I landed in Seattle to the typical rain and gloom. I just wouldn’t have been happy if it wasn’t disgusting weather. It would be like meeting the Pope while he was smoking a doobie. We were shuttled directly to our hotel at the Edgewater. It actually was on the edge of the water! Cute little hotel and very lodgy-feeling. And apparently famous for hosting the Beatles in 1964 during the whole Beatlemania craze. In fact, they snuck us down the same stairwell to our buses. No screaming girls, though….

After a brief “primer” with Master Sommelier Shayn Bjornholm, we were shuttled off to the Space Needle for a wine tasting of the 11 AVA’s. IN the Space Needle! Great atmosphere. And very cool wines as well. Some interesting finds were:

Tsillan Dry Riesling 2008
Syncline Gruner Veltliner and Mourvedre
DeLille Harrison Hill 2007
Hedges ‘Red Mountain’ Blend 2007
Dupont ‘Red Mountain’ Les Gosses Syrah (vtg?)

After the tasting, we stood atop the Space Needle and took in the view at our leisure, deciding who we were going to hook up with and where we were going for dinner. I latched on quickly to a small group and we dined at Lark. Very good tapas-style restaurant. Pricey, but the food was truly delicious. I highly recommend the Sea Bass which was the best I may have ever had. And the Buratta ain’t a bad way to start with the local Billy’s Tomatoes.

With dinner, we ordered a bottle of the McCrea Grenache Blanc, a Teroldego (forget the producer…) and a Januik Red Blend (to support the locals again). The Grenache Blanc was a real surprise and very good. Sourced fruit from the Boushey Vineyard. All of the wines were sound and versatile with the array of dishes.

Sadly, no after-partying as we were getting up bright and early to fly out to the Tri-Cities in the morning. And by bright and early, I actually mean dark and early…

Let the Road Trip ensue…