Seattle Hot Picks!

This past week was the Seattle Wine&Spirits Magazine Hot Picks event.


Presented with the catchy phrase of "Drink Wine. Save Water" the event was a celebration of Wine & Spirits critic's top picks. A to Z's 2006 pinot noir, with a critic's score of 90 made the grade and we were invited to pour our wines and hang out with a bunch of other wine professionals, eat some tasty bites, and generally have a good time.


The event was held at the Paramount Theatre, a beautiful old building with quite a fascinating history.



To all of you that turned up and to our hosts, thanks for making this a great event!

The Steamboat Inn

Ed note: several posts have been languishing in drafts unpublished. apologies/enjoy

Every year in May we run down to the Steamboat Inn on the North Umpqua river for a weekend of winemaker dinners, and this year was no exception.



What has changed, however, is the composition of the weekend. Steamboat weekends follow a pretty set formula. Each night a winery is paired with a chef. Last year, for example, we were paired with the inestimable Marco Shaw from Fife. We came in on Friday and enjoyed Eric Bechard's pairings with Patty Green's wines, and then Saturday it was our turn to "host."


This year, well -- as Bill likes to say, we've become the monster that ate Cleveland. With four brands all together we got a whole weekend to ourselves -- which was both nice and bittersweet. Part of the fun is having a chance to get away from the rat race, as it were, and hang out with your colleagues. In the past Bill's daughter Hadley has organized a softball game for us with winemakers against guests.

Anyway, as usual Steamboat was a brilliantly tranquil retreat.


If you haven't had a chance to make it into the Umpqua National Forest I strongly recommend you get a trip on the calendar. With pristine glacial waters and silent pools it's one of the most rejuvenatory spots I can imagine.

Even better, come down next year for one of our dinners! They're simply amazing -- insanely good food, excellent wines, and good company. What more could you ask for?

Many many thanks are due our hosts, Jim Van Loen and Pat Lee. Thanks are overflowing as well for the chef's who paired beautiful dishes that made our wines shine -- Gabe Rucker of Le Pigeon, and Marco Shaw of Fife. See you next year?

Spring's in the air!