Taste of Washington Weekend, 2008

Taste Washington 2008

This weekend is the Taste Washington wine event that showcases Washington State wines to the world. On Saturday morning we attended the seminar "Washington Wine Library TV". In town was Gary Vaynerchuk to host this wine tasting event while filming an episode of Wine Library TV. Here is Gary's profile as described on the Taste Washington website: Gary Vaynerchuk, self-trained wine expert, is revolutionizing the wine industry. His blog, Wine Library TV, boasts a cult-like following resulting from his enthusiastic, unconventional, and often irreverent wine commentary. In the name of “expanding one’s palate," Gary convinced Conan O’Brien to lick salted rocks and shared samples of dirt and grass with Ellen Degeneres.With a wealth of knowledge and an entrepreneurial spirit, Gary re branded the family business as Wine Library. Within a five year time period, Wine Library grew from a $4 million dollar business to a $45 million business. What raised Gary’s notoriety even more than his business acumen was his foresight. Inspired by sites such as Youtube.com and Facebook.com, Gary leveraged technology to reach an untapped audience. His daily 20 minute webcasts caught the attention of a demographic new to wine and eager to learn. Within a short time, beer sales were outpaced by wine. While his youthful following broke down barriers in the wine industry, the business world (and Web 2.0) admired Gary for creating a new generation of branding, focusing on the Internet. Gary’s unique identity as both a wine expert and a “real person” has reinvented the concept of wine tasting for a new generation.

We enjoyed the tasting seminar which allowed us to be a part of Wine Library TV and to taste 6 different Washington State wines.

2005 Harlequin "Celilo Vineyard" Chardonnay, CG $28
2004 Nicholas Cole "Camille" Blend, CV $48
2004 Boudreaux "Reserve Champoux Vineyard" Cabernet Sauvignon, HHH $100
2006 Cougar Crest Viognier, WW $20
2005 Gramercy Cellar Syrah, WW, $40
2007 Nefarious "Stone's Throw Vineyard" Riesling, CV $18



Later that evening we attended a party for Gary that was held at Seattle Wine Storage. This was a fun and wild event. The party was structured as a pot luck food and wine festival. About 75 Seattle area wine lovers brought over 100 different wines to be shared and tasted during the party. The wines were great and definitely "over-load" as the boisterous crowd swirled, sipped, drank and spit throughout the evening. After tasting about 40-50 wines, last night, we are moving slowly today!