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International Food Bloggers’ Conference: Wine

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A small part of the amazing wine collection at Purple

We arrived in Seattle just in time for lunch on Thursday.  My blogger friend, Christina, recommended Purple Cafe and Wine Bar, so we decided to try it.  The food and service were wonderful!  We’d hoped to return to try one of their unique wine flights, but unfortunately, every time we went back, there was a really long wait.  If you’re in Seattle, I recommend making reservations!

The bottling process

 

The Chateau Ste Michelle Winery hosted a pre-conference tour and tasting for IFBC attendees.  It was a lovely, perfect day in Seattle.  Half an hour outside the city, Woodinville is a world away.  It’s rural, lush, and agricultural.  The award-winning winery was established in 1912 and is famous for its Riesling.  Our tour started with a flute of chilled, sparkling Michelle Brut Rosé from the Columbia Valley.  It was light and would be wonderful for sipping in the garden with friends.  The tour of the winery included a demonstration the bottling process and discussion of the varieties of wine they produce.  Our guide led us into the tasting room where we were greeted by John Sarich.  John narrated a 5-glass tasting for us that was accompanied by hors d’oeuvres that allowed us to experience the influence that wine and food have upon each other.  He concluded his talk with a special signed copy of his book, Chef in the Vineyard – Fresh & Simple Recipes from Great Wine Estate.

 

Three whites, two reds, and a plate of hors d’oeuvres

On the second day of IFBC, we attended the “Wine & Writing: Live Blogging: An Exercise in Writing with @BordeauxWines” session where we were regaled by Ward Kadel (@drXeNo) and Sam Klingberg (@brokewino) as they served us several wines from the Bordeaux region of France.  My favorite, of course, was the Chateau Haut Mayne 2010 Sauternes. 

Sauternes and Peaches
They discussed the basics of wine tasting, flavors, and terroirs.  Wine is meant to be experienced through the eyes, nose, and mouth.  Ward and Sam provided cups with fruit, mushrooms, and chocolate to approximate the sensation of the wines.  Their session was lively and hands-on.  My fellow Doristas, Adriana and Michelle, were in the session along with Dorie Greenspan.
John and I often mention the wine we serve with the food on our blog, but I’m inspired to describe them in more detail.  Why does this wine work with this dish?  And how does it enhance the food, or does it?  Some wines are lovely on their own, others shine with food.  Now that we have a bit more vocabulary to use, we’ll work on it right here!
Cheers!
Pike Place Market in the early morning
These recipes are provided for your personal use. If you publish them, or re-post them, please give me credit. Grazie e Buon Appetito!

Comments

  1. Christina Conte says

    Oh yeah!!! So happy that you went and enjoyed PURPLE, Susan! I guess I’m lucky we got to try it since there was a long line when you went back. I love your photo of the wine bar! Great post, as usual!!! 🙂

  2. Liz Berg says

    Gosh, what fun I missed! The winery tour sounds like such lovely outing…and I could certainly use some education on wine pairing. It was such an amazing conference…so, so glad we finally got to meet in person…wish we would have had more time to chat! Next time.

  6. Charles says

    I could certainly use some education on wine pairing. It was such an amazing conference…so, so glad we finally got to meet in person…wish we would have had more time to chat! Next time.
    Thanks