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.