Wine Barrels to Help the Homeless

Above are some more pictures of the 10 wines barrels to be auctioned at the Seattle Food and Wine Experience. See the previous post for additional pictures and the names of the artists who have donated their time to help Heroes for the Homeless, a Seattle charity dedicated to advocating for individuals in the city without housing. These barrels will only be available at the Seattle Food and Wine Experience. Click here to purchase your tickets today!

Display one of these beautiful wine barrels in your home!

The Seattle Food and Wine Experience is proud to feature 10 wine barrels painted by local artists. The above pictures are a sampling of the works in progress which will be available through a silent auction at the event. All proceeds from the auction will benefit Heroes for the Homeless.

The contributing artists are:
Nicki Sucec
Colleen Lambert
Robin Harlow
Juanita Hagberg
Jeannie Burham
Holly Ives
Jennifer Kemp
Thomas Wikan
Christy Hansen
Juriaan Korbijn

These wine barrels will only be available at the Seattle Food and Wine Experience. Tickets to the event are on sale now.

Explore Sonoma County

Sonoma County is 30 miles north of San Francisco and borders the Pacific Ocean.

Sonoma County has more than one million acres of land.

Sonoma’s landscape is extremely varied with valleys, mountains, riverbeds, plains and benchlands making for 13 diverse wine regions.

Chardonnay is the county’s leading wine varietal with 16,000 acres dedicated to growing this grape.

Sonoma County’s Alexander Valley is known for it’s soft Cabernet Sauvignons and the Russian River and Green Valley are known for complex Pinot Noirs.

There are more than 250 wineries in Sonoma County.

Sonoma County boasts a temperate year round climate.

Visitors to the area enjoy outdoor activities such as touring redwood forests, surfing and golfing.

Dining in Sonoma County means indulging in local produce, cheeses, olive oils, meats and seafood.

For more information on Sonoma County Wines visit:
http://www.sonomawine.com

For more information on travel to Sonoma County visit:
http://www.sonomacounty.com

Local Lingo - "Length"

There are certain terms that are commonly used when tasting wine that help others understand your subjective interpretation.

The term "length" refers to how long the flavor of a wine lingers in your mouth after tasted. Long in considered a positive descriptor and wines with length typically are considered higher quality.

Explore New Zealand

New Zealand was the last landmass on earth to be discovered, making it the youngest country in the world at just over a thousand years old.

New Zealand cuisine draws inspiration from the traditional kitchens of France and Italy, as well as the exotic dishes of Asia and the Pacific Rim.

Travelers to New Zealand enjoy pristine natural surroundings, unique wildlife and adventure activities.

New Zealand is home to the kiwi, a flightless bird about the size of a large hen, which is also the nickname for a New Zealander.

Kiwis (the people not the birds) drink almost 3 gallons of wine per person per year, which makes them 28th in the world for wine consumption.

They rank 33rd in wine production.

New Zealand is known for their exotic, vibrant intensely flavored Sauvignon blanc.

Several Sauvignon blancs from New Zealand will be available for tasting at the Seattle Food and Wine Experience.

Other popular varietals from New Zealand include Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sparkling Wines, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

The vineyards of New Zealand are the most southerly in the world.

For information about travel to New Zealand visit http://www.newzealand.com/travel/USA/

For more information about New Zealand wine visit http://www.nzwine.com/

Are you up for a challenge?

I'm talking about the World Wine Challenge created by Barry Wiss, Vice President of Communications and Trade Relations for Trinchero Napa Valley. The World Wine Challenge serves as both an educational tool and a fun way to show off your body of wine knowledge.

To play the game you first select your level of difficulty as "Wine Drinker", "Wine Student" or "Wine Master". Then press the "Challenge" button and a globe will spin to display a multiple choice question about the region it lands on. You then have an alloted time to answer the question. Once you have answered you can then press "Learn More” button for in-depth information about the topic.

The World Wine Challenge will be featured at the Trinchero Napa Reserve booth at the Seattle Food and Wine Experience.

Want a practice session? Try a demo right now.

Explore Napa Valley

The Napa Valley in California is about 55 miles northeast of San Francisco.

Napa Valley is visited by as many as five million people each year, making it the second most popular tourist destination in California, second only to Disneyland.

Though just 30 miles long and a few miles wide, Napa Valley is home to diverse microclimates and soils uniquely suited to the cultivation of a variety of fine wine varietals. This climate covers only 2% of the world’s surface.

It is California’s best known wine region even though it produces only 4% of the states wines.

Napa Valley is home to almost 400 wineries.

Only 9% of Napa County is planted to vineyards.

Among the internationally acclaimed wines produced in this small region: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Sangiovese, Zinfandel and Cabernet Franc.

In addition to touring wineries visitors enjoy scenic balloon rides, regenerating spa mud baths and world class cuisine.

Napa Valley is the Featured Wine Region for the 2008 Seattle Food and Wine Experience.

For more information about travel to Napa Valley visit http://www.napavalley.com/.
For more information about Napa Valley wines check out http://www.napavintners.com/.

Heroes Drink Wine

It’s exciting to think of attending The Seattle Food and Wine Experience and sampling an unfathomable amount of national and international wines along with gourmet foods right here in Seattle. But it is even more exciting to think of the possibilities this event will provide for a fairly new public charity in the state of Washington.

Heroes for the Homeless provides those living without shelter with basic needs while they endure the long wait to secure safe, affordable housing. In doing so they also help them stay independent and out of the criminal justice system. Heroes for the Homeless is committed to making a difference in the lives of these individuals by offering food, a hot beverage, clothing, hygiene products, outdoor survival supplies, and information on how to get social service assistance.

In the year and a half since Heroes for the Homeless was founded they have distributed more than 8240 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, 5152 cups of hot chocolate, 3582 bananas, 1874 bottles of water, 1560 pairs of socks, 821 hygiene kits and 821 hard boiled eggs. And perhaps equally as important they have shown men, women and children living on the streets of Seattle that someone cares.

If you agree that every human being is valuable then please support this wonderful charity by purchasing a ticket to the Seattle Food and Wine Experience. You can also contact founder Tricia Lapitan at (425) 985-7852 or info@heroesforthehomeless.com to receive information about how to volunteer at the event. For additional ways that you can help this cause check out the “How You Can Help” Section of their website.

Are California wines better than French wines?

It seems like I can't turn on the computer these days without finding an article or review about Bottle Shock, the independent film based on the true story of "The Judgement of Paris" tasting where California wine beat French wine in a blind taste test in 1976.

While the wines at the Seattle Food and Wine Experience won't be served blind, you will be getting a rare opportunity in Seattle to taste French wines and California wines together in one place. For those of you who are hard-core Washington wine lovers you will be able to compare and contrast them next to their French and California counterparts, affirming what makes wines from Washington unique. But why stop at France and the USA? Wines from all over the globe will be represented. Over a thousand different wines coming together to create a sensory trip around the world.

Whether or not you are old enough to remember the tasting depicted in the Bottle Shock movie, the Seattle Food and Wine Experience will allow you to "judge" for yourself which wine regions are the best.

Champagne

The Seattle Food and Wine Experience will feature an entire section of tasting booths dedicated solely to Champagne and Sparkling Wine. Since it is an event where all wine connoisseurs should feel welcome, today's entry will give those new to the wine world a brief explanation of the difference between Sparkling Wine and Champagne.


The term "champagne" is often used to describe all sparkling wines. However Champagne is a region in France and true Champagne only comes from this region. In fact in many countries it is illegal to label a Sparkling Wine as "Champagne". If you select a bottle of Sparkling Wine it just means it was produced somewhere other than Champagne. It doesn't meant that it will be any less enjoyable.

Tickets are on sale!

Tickets to the Seattle Food and Wine Experience are on sale now! The inaugural event will take place 10/25 and 10/26/08 and will be the first of this magnitude to feature wines from around the globe combined with gourmet food in Seattle. Only a limited number of tickets are available and the event is expected to sell out. To purchase your tickets visit ticketmaster.