Autumn Harvest Wine Party

Most people from outside Seattle probably initially think of rain and gray skies and Starbucks when they hear the word “Seattle.” But one of our well-kept secrets is that we have stunningly beautiful mild Octobers here in the Seattle (and Woodinville) area. Quite often in October, we have sunny afternoons and temperatures still in the 60s.

For us locals, weather in the 60s means we can just throw on a little sweater, and be perfectly happy eating and drinking outdoors. We love taking advantage of those sunny non-raining days!

Jen and I invited some wine industry friends over on a recent sunny, clear autumn afternoon – we were going to drink wine, eat cheese and desserts, and gossip madly about Woodinville wine industry goings-on.

We decided to throw the party outside, and thought it would make for an extra special afternoon if we set out the table under my festively decorated gazebo. It took us just a bit over an hour and a half to pull out decorations from my storage room, wind faux autumn leaves and orange Halloween lights around the gazebo, tie the giant wreath up (using kitchen twine) and set up the folding table and chairs.

Our grocery run was to Metropolitan Market in Sammamish, where Wine Diva Lifestyle is the wine steward. We didn’t need to buy any wine (we accumulate quite a few bottles every week over the course of our blogging adventures) but shopped for berries, apples, baguettes, fancy cheeses, chocolates, nuts and olives, and other tempting goodies. The pumpkin cake was a delightful find at a local QFC grocery store.

We were pretty happy with the way things turned out – it felt so magical!

We set out a couple dozen wine glasses on a nearby bar console table for guests to help themselves.

The first three wine bottles we opened were from Woodinville tasting rooms Cascade Cliffs, Chandler Reach, and Rocky Pond.

A small boombox nearby provided a witchy soundtrack, with lots of Stevie Nicks songs – we kept the music low, though, so as not to disturb the neighbors.

Jen took a little break after running in and out of the house multiple times, grabbing festive faux pumpkins, setting out decorations and bringing out food from the kitchen.

Our spread was designed with the idea that our guests would go out to dinner after they left our afternoon party, so we provided nibbles and treats rather than a full party meal.

I kept my dogs indoors so they wouldn’t steal treats nor get into the grapes (which are toxic to dogs).

We sat down after our hard work setting up the party, and indulged in a little pre-party drinkypoo!

We will absolutely not confess how much of the wine we consumed before our guests even arrived!

Happy Harvest, Autumn and Halloween to you from us! Cheers!

-Carrie

(Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you)