August 23, 2010

Auction of Washington Wine Barrel Auction & Picnic

The Barrel Auction and Picnic with the Winemakers is the kickoff event for the Annual Auction of Washington Wines. This is an annual event, now in its 24th year, that benefits the uncompensated care program at Seattle Children’s Hospital as well as the Washington Wine Education Foundation.

The iffy weather turned out to be perfect once the picnic started. Not too hot, not too cold. Chateau St. Michelle did a wonderful job transforming their grounds for the picnic...Read More

August 1st, 2010

Cider Braised Cold Smoked Salmon

This recipe was an attempt to recreate a dish that I had at Trellis, the restaurant at the Heathman Hotel in Kirkland, WA.

Cold Smoking is used to add a touch of smoke flavor. Unless the food properly cured, it should be cooked after cold smoking either by grilling, braising etc...Read More

July 17th, 2010

WBC 2010 Part 2 - A Sumptuous Feast

WBC for me was a bit like a multi course dinner with 300 of your best friends, most of whom you are meeting for the first time in the flesh. A dinner that you prepare, save and anticipate for months.

The “amuse bouche” was on Friday with the incredibly generous goodie bag filled with books, wine, jump drives, CDs and magazines. Just like an amuse bouche before a meal, it was a wonderful surprise. I want to thank all the generous sponsors for that gift. I was grateful that I was staying there at the motel, that puppy was heavy and I was able to take it back to my room and not have to carry it around like some did...Read More

July 2nd, 2010

WBC 2010 Part 1 - Half the Fun is Getting There

The anticipation had starting building weeks before. I started June with a calendar chock full of both work and play, with the climax being the Wine Blogger’s Conference I would be attending the last weekend. Finally the time had arrived. Although I live within driving distance to Walla Walla, I still had a long day ahead of me. But you know it is a lot easier to get up at 5:00am when you are excited to go! I was accompanied by my husband and our best wino friends. The 4 of us loaded up the SUV and we were off... Read More

June 15, 2010

Have Wine, Will Travel

Ah, camping in the Northwest. It can be risky this early in the year. You’d better have your tarps and waterproof matches at the ready. Armed with a positive weather forecast and low tides, we loaded up our gear and headed to Dosewallips State Park on the Hood Canal. Of course, just because you are “roughing it” doesn’t mean you can’t have wine... Read More

May 31, 2010

Vintage Party 2010

We hosted our Vintage Party, a blind tasting wine dinner for a few of our close friends, this past weekend. I love doing a blind tasting, as it promotes great conversation. Plus, since there are no wrong answers, people feel free to express what they are seeing, smelling, and tasting.

We pulled some of our best bottles out of the cellar for this event. All the wines had been decanted for 6 hours. We invited six guests, and assigned each guest to a bottle. Starting with wine #1, we asked the assigned person to taste and describe the wine to the group. Then we poured tastes for the remainder of the group and discussed the wine. This format worked well and made for a nice pace in tasting as well...Read More

April 21, 2010

Are you in the club?

I am no expert on wine clubs. In fact, due to budget I belong to exactly 2 wine clubs. Given my love of wine, this takes some diligence because if I could I would belong to far more. So, it really takes something special to move me to join a winery's wine club.

We have been fans of Fidelitas Wines for a long time. In fact, we are fans of most of the wines that Charlie Hoppes has a hand in. It was about 2 years ago we jumped onto the Fidelitas wine club and we have been enjoying the ride. I find myself comparing every other wine club I am looking to join to theirs. Let me tell you why... Read More

April 12, 2010

Goose Ridge's Woodinville Tasting Room

Last Friday evening I had the pleasure of going to the soft opening of Goose Ridge Winery's new Woodinville tasting room, located at 14450 Woodniville Redmond NE Suite 108. They are in the same complex as the Mazatlan restaurant and neighbors with Alder Ridge Estate, Canon De Sol, and Airfield Estates... Read More

April 4, 2010

Taste Washington Wrap Up

As I languish in my post Taste Washington blues, I thought I should gather my thoughts before they are lost and post up my highlights of the premier WA wine tasting event of the year. First, let me shout out a huge thank you to the Washington Wine Commission for their wonderful hospitality as well as going above and beyond to make this truely the Ultimate Wine Experience

This event can be overwhelming. You simply are not going to sip and taste everything that is offered. It would be an impossible task that would probably incur bodily harm. That's why I went in with a firm gameplan. I mapped out ahead of time where the wineries were that I for sure did not want to miss. For the most part it worked out well and I discovered some other gems along the way.... Read More

March 17, 2010

What's in a Name?

I have had many different reactions to my handle, KSyrah, that I use on various social media sites and message boards. Honestly I picked that name because of my love of wine, especially Syrah. Plus I liked it's play on the classic song Que Sera, Sera.

Recently at a wine tweetup, we were asked wear nametags with our name and our twitter handle on it. I encountered a lot of "Oh, you're KSyrah" and "I love your twitter handle", but for the first time I had someone ask me "Do you work for K Vintners?". My answer? I wish! However, I don't think that Charles Smith needs any help what so ever promoting his wines.... Read More

March 8, 2010

Wine Filled March

March is such an exciting time in Washington State for wine lovers. First off, it's Washington Wine Month. That means many of the retailers in the state will be offering amazing deals and discounts on WA wine.

There are two major release weekends in March. On March 5th thru 7th, Betz Winery had their Spring Release weekend where they released their bourdeaux inspired blends. Betz always puts on a nice spread. I was able to visit them, along with some of my other favorite wineries in Woodinville on Saturday and was impressed as always with their offerings... Read More

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