Serret and I started off 2018 with a healthy lunch at Purple Cafe. Just looking over the food photos from that post makes me want to run down there for lunch today!
Jen and I got a personal tour of the beautiful DeLille Cellars Carriage House and its posh wine club room. Jen is a huge fan of DeLille’s D2 wine, and she shortly after succumbed to the temptation of joining the DeLille Cellars wine club.
In mid-January, we had the privilege of meeting Woodinville wine industry legend Bill Collins during a memorable visit to the Lauren Ashton tasting room. Bill sat Jen and me down and treated us to a two hour personal wine education lesson. We learned so much and were so delighted to get to know Bill. He has since retired from the industry and we’ll miss him!
In March, Serret and I visited the incredibly beautiful tasting room at Fidelitas in the Hollywood District. We thoroughly enjoyed learning about their Bordeaux-style wines from Therese – she is a delightful person!
I am so grateful to Serret for introducing me to Savage Grace wines. They’re incredible! I really must get on the wait list for their wine club. We met winemaker Michael Savage, and the tasting room associate, Leslie, has been so kind and helpful to me over the course of my many, many following visits to this tasting room.
We love wandering around the beautiful grounds of Willows Lodge, and took a leisurely sneak peek at Spring in March.
Serret and I visited Gard Vintners in March and met the incredible joyous bundle of enthusiasm that is Christina! What a treat! We loved the wines, and were so impressed by how many fun events Gard hosts every week at their tasting room at The Junction in Woodinville.
Jen and I were graciously given a tour of the incredible DeLille Chateau estate and grounds, on a rainy, cold day in March. We learned about their offerings for event rentals and hosting weddings at the Chateau.
As Spring approached, I was delighted to be able to serve friends lunch outdoors a couple of times a week (with Woodinville wine to accompany our food, of course!)
In March, Jen and I escaped to sunny San Diego for the Social Media Marketing World conference. We learned so much about better ways to share our stories with you on Instagram, Facebook, and through video. (We’re still a little nervous about making videos!) When we got home, Davenport Cellars kindly donated the use of their tasting room so we could share what we learned from this expensive conference with our local Washington and Woodinville wine industry compatriots, most of who we met through introductions from Nancy Croisier of Vino Social.
One of my very favorite tasting room experiences this year was when my friend Claudette (who runs Eastside Social Club) and I spent an afternoon at Woodhouse Wine Estates. We enjoyed meeting the exuberant events manager, Dee, who comes up with the most interesting event offerings! We love that so very many of their events are fundraisers for local charities.
My sister Mariel, an up-and-coming makeup artist, also has a birthday in April (Mine is on the 2nd). She flew up so we could celebrate our birthdays together (albeit a week or two after our official festivities). We knew she would love the Matthews winery tasting room!
In May, Jen took a couple of friends to Lake Chelan for the weekend. She was honored to get a personal tour of the Tsillan Cellars winery from the owner, Dr. Bob Jankelson! She came back just raving about her trip, and made a special point of taking me to the Woodinville Tsillan Cellars tasting room soon after.
I’d always wanted to eat at Tandem Dinner & Wine Bar, and finally got to when we celebrated my friend Angie’s birthday. It was a truly magical evening, and I cannot recommend this place highly enough for your special occasions.
We were honored to be asked to cover and participate in the DeLille Spring Barrel event. We were able to buy the last two empty decorative barrels they had for sale, to use in future photography posts and for decor in our backyards.
We were invited to cover the second annual Sisters of the Vinifera Revolution event, an inspiring gathering of local women winemakers. We can’t wait to go back if they host a third annual SOVR event!
In June, Serret helped me create a (if we say so ourselves, over-the-top-lovely) event to celebrate National Rosé Day. We had amassed quite a collection of local Woodinville Rosé bottles, most of which didn’t survive the evening (grin).
I’m sure Jen will agree with me that our trip to Cave B Estate Winery in Quincy this July was one of the top highlights of our year. The hotel and resort are no longer owned by the winery’s founders, but we still enjoyed tasting Cave B Estate Winery’s Washington wines at the tasting room on the property. The views from the resort were astounding, and we enjoyed our restful nights sleep in the Yurt, Cavern Room and Cliffhouse rooms we rented. We also enjoyed a terrific meal at Tendrils Restaurant, with a sunset view of The Gorge.
In July, we took a little field trip outside of Woodinville to meet the Washington winemaker behind Pursued by Bear wines. He just happens to also be a handsome actor. Jen and I were fangirling hard but tried to disguise it! As a side note, his Syrah is really delicious!
We were invited to cover the After Hours Woodinville Wine Walks on Thursday evenings throughout summer and early fall. They alternate between the Hollywood District and the Gateway District/Artisan Hill. It’s a great opportunity to taste wines from smaller wineries we don’t have a chance to visit on our busy weekends.
I don’t quite want to admit to you how exactly many Sangria Sundays I attended at Castillo de Feliciana over the summer!
We really took advantage of beautiful sunny summer weather, especially on Friday afternoons when Woodinville tasting rooms throw open their doors and invite guests out onto spacious patios.
In August, we hosted a wine tasting party for friends at the spectactular Zen Lakes property in Woodinville. Our guests didn’t let the heat and smoky weather prevent them from enjoying wine, fruit, cheese and desserts!
We are eager to rent out the Zen Lakes property again and revisit the beautiful Japanese teahouse.
Several weekday evenings this summer were spent enjoying the delicious food, wonderful service, beautiful music and gorgeous surroundings at Willows Lodge’s Fireside Lounge. We are eager to resume our visits when winter is over! Meanwhile, we still enjoy the indoor part of the Fireside Lounge quite often. (This photo is of my friend Keto Carole, a local ketogenic nutritionist and comedian).
Jen and I traveled to Walla Walla for the Wine Bloggers Conference in early October. We met so many of the winemakers who create our beloved Washington and Woodinville wines! Pictured here are the Armstrongs, Jen and Tim. They were very warm and kind people and we’re so glad to have gotten a chance to get to talk with them. Their Woodinville tasting room is located at The Junction.
Gard Vintners hosted Jen and several other wine bloggers for lunch during the conference; I went to lunch courtesy of TruthTeller Winery.
In October, I hosted an autumn dinner party for twenty fabulous female friends. I served a large variety of Woodinville wines, and actually had to run out to several tasting rooms the next week to replenish my home cellar!
In November, we joined the Woodinville community in enthusiastically welcoming Teatro ZinZanni to their new home at the former Redhook Brewery site. Their new show is “Hollywood & Vine.” We were granted a behind-the-scenes tour during their busy first opening week.
We were so honored to meet the Teatro ZinZanni Artistic Director/Director of Programming, Reenie Duff. Her creativity and enthusiasm is so inspiring. If you haven’t been to a Teatro ZinZanni show yet (or if it’s been a while!) definitely check out this magical experience.
We got bogged down with family responsibilities over the holidays, so didn’t go out wine tasting much in November and December. We’ll just have to make up for it this winter now that the holidays are over and the pace of life is a bit more leisurely again!
As I look through our photos from our wonderful adventures (or should I say escapades?) this past year, I’m reminded how much of our story is really about the people, not particularly the wine. We’ve enjoyed drinking incredible wines (and local spirits and beers, too!) throughout the year, but more importantly, we’ve met amazing people. From winemakers to our fellow wine industry bloggers, passionate (and patient with us!) wine tasting room associates, local wine enthusiasts and visiting tourists, chefs and restaurant owners, entrepreneurs and our friends who have accompanied us, we’re so grateful for all the people who made 2018 so memorable. Thank you!
-Carrie
You can visit more of our Year in Review courtesy of our Instagram feed!
