Last weekend, March 26-27, we attended Taste Washington Seattle. On Saturday, there were the Seminars. I attended one morning and one afternoon session. Lynn attended two other seminars, "Ladies First: Women in Washington Wine" and "With a Rebel Yell: Washington Wine Rock n Roll Winemakers." On Sunday, we both attended the Grand Tasting as media participants. Here's my report.

The Seminars

I attended the morning seminar, "Washington Emerging Varieties: Grenache Panache," moderated by Bob Betz (Betz Family Winery). The panelists were Shannon Berg (Seattle Magazine), Brian Carter (Brian Carter Cellars), Sara Schneider (Sunset Magazine) and Sean Sullivan (Washington Wine Report). After introductory remarks by Bob Betz, Brian Carter started the discussion with various quotes from Washington wine pioneer Dr. Walter Clore about how Grenache vines need to be stressed to establish strong roots and whose fruit needs to be handled gently. Of the wines tasted, I found the 2009 Betz "Besoleil" Grenache (to be reviewed in the May Review issue) and the 2009 Maison Bleue "La Montagnette" (April) to be the standouts.

My afternoon seminar, "What's the Point(s) Rating Washington Wines" was moderated by Sean Sullivan (Washington Wine Report) with panelists Rebecca Murphy (The Dallas Morning News), Sara Schneider (Sunset Magazine), and W. Blake Gray (The Gray Market Report). The panelists stated their rating systems: Sara Schneider and the Sunset Magazine wine evaluation staff use 20 points but only for internal use - recommendations are reported without scores. Blake Gray hates the 100 point system and uses a Five Star rating system. Rebecca Murphy's The Dallas Morning News uses blind tasting panels to evaluate wines. There was a good deal of discussion by winemakers and the panel, with many disliking the 100 point system and how it caters to marketing wines by the numbers. Christophe Hedges (Hedges Family Estate) made an impassioned advocacy for not making wines for ratings. Allen Shoup (Long Shadows) made a pertinent statement that how wines taste and go with food is more meaningful. Two standout wines were the 2009 Long Shadows "Poet's Leap" Riesling (my rating, 19/20 points) and the 2006 Grande Reve Collaboration III Syrah (19/20 points) I rated the 2008 Hedges Family Estate Red Mountain Blend a "Best Buy" at 18+/20 points.

The Grand Tasting

I found the 200 winery event at the vast Quest Field Event Center to be unwieldy and difficult to navigate. Luckily, we got an hour and a half head start as media participants. There did not seem to be too many problems with overindulgence by the public, but did find people hogging the tables at sought after wineries such as Betz Family Winery, Andrew Will and Gorman. There was plenty of good food and some of the most interesting wines were at the AVA tables, such as the Yakima Valley and Lake Chelan (where I tasted an excellent sparkling wine from Karma Cellars). Standout wines were found at Betz Family Winery, Andrew Will and Gorman Winery - I will review these in the May issue of my Review of Washington Wines.