Swirl, Sniff, Slurp, and Spit

Sundays usually find us belting out the karaoke at The Twilight Exit, Pabst Blue Ribbon in hand   But this Sunday Seattlest is heading uptown for what’s being billed as “The Ultimate Wine and Food Event”--The Taste of Washington Showcase of Wineries and Restaurants. Seattlest is not going to waste one word nitpicking their grandiose marketing description.  After attending last year’s event, we’ve drunk the kool-aid.  (Repeat after us … “This is an epic tasting event”).  165 wineries,  90 restaurants, 3.5 hours. 

Each winery is paired with a restaurant.  Fish Club is serving a slow-roasted cherry-lacquered duck breast to pair with L’ecole no. 41’s 2002 Perigee.  Cutters Bayhouse will serve smoked salmon chowder to taste with Hurricane Ridge’s 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon.   Then there is Ray’s Boathouse seafood bar:  piles of oysters on the half shell, smoked salmon, smoked scallops—all paired with a crisp white semillon.  And there’s no skipping the Dessert café where local pastry chefs and chocolatiers pair their creations with Washington dessert wines.  190 wineries!  90 restaurants!  We’re salivating in anticipation.

As you enter the Qwest Event center you are handed a map of the winery and restaurant table locations along with your wine glass.  Seattlest prefers the aimless meander.  However, since there is no way we can taste it all, we make make a point of visiting our favorite wineries while we can still negotiate the map.