SEATTLE’S PREMIER WINE AND FOOD FESTIVAL, TASTE WASHINGTON RETURNS MARCH 22-25, 2018
Coming off its biggest year ever, Taste Washington will be back for another four-day festival March 22-25, 2018.
This past March, the 20th anniversary celebration drew more than 7,000 attendees – a festival record. The Grand Tasting poured over 675 wines, served bites from 65 restaurants – honoring Capital Grille as 2017 Best Bite award - and shucked 9,600 oysters! Planning for 2018 has begun and will include popular events including the Grand Tasting, educational seminars led by industry leaders, the Red and White Party, Taste Washington on the Farm, and the New Vintage. Tickets to the 21st annual Taste Washington will go on sale December 1, 2017 at www.tastewashington.org.
About Taste Washington:
Taste Washington is the largest single-region wine and food event in the United States, featuring more than 225 Washington State wineries and more than 65 Pacific Northwest restaurants. The 21st annual event will be held on March 22-25, 2018 at various locations in Seattle. The 2018 Taste Washington welcoming sponsor is Alaska Mileage Plan. The Washington State Wine Commission launched Taste Washington in 1998 and the festival is now produced by Visit Seattle. For more information, visit www.tastewashington.org.
About Washington State Wine:
Washington State Wine represents every licensed winery and wine grape grower in Washington State. Guided by an appointed board, WSW provides a marketing platform to raise positive awareness of the Washington State wine industry and generate greater demand for its wines. Funded almost entirely by the industry through assessments based on grape and wine sales, WSW is a state government agency, established by the legislature in 1987. To learn more, visit www.washingtonwine.org.
WWW.WASHINGTONWINE.ORG
WWW.TASTEWASHINGTON.ORG
IAN BLACKBURN – FOUNDER/CO-WINEMAKER, BEEKEEPER CELLARS & OWNER/FOUNDER, WINE LA
Beekeeper Cellars is the vision of best friends and co-winemakers Ian Blackburn and Clay Mauritson. The two collaborated after adventurous individual careers in the wine business, and at last, decided to work together on a project of their own.
Clay, a 7th generation grape grower, and his family found themselves the owners of a significant slice of the Rockpile Appellation, through an amazing set of historical land transactions. The Mauritson family realized the potential and parented the creation of the ROCKPILE AVA. In 1998, Ian and Clay climbed the hill and watched the Madrone Spring Vineyard get planted, while discussing the future of Rockpile and the dream it represented.
In 2008, Clay saw the fruits of his family's labor taking shape and came to Ian with a unique opportunity to source some of the Rockpile fruit. He told Ian in the difficult days of 2008, “now is the time to get in and build the business and have it take shape as the market improves, and to not wait until business is strong as you will have a hard time getting access to the right quality assets.” Ian took heed of Clay’s wise comment and said "When your best friend is Clay Mauritson and he offers Rockpile fruit and to assist with winemaking…... you make Zinfandel.”
In Los Angeles, Ian operates a specialty wine marketing organization known as wineLA and has pioneered wine education for the past 20 years (since 1995) through www.learnaboutwine.com and www.wineLA.com. Beekeeper Cellars is also involved in Ian’s Masters of Wine Thesis project and provides him the winemaking training he requires to help pass the difficult Masters of Wine exam...an ongoing pursuit.
ABOUT WINELA
wineLA is about enhancing the wine culture of Los Angeles. To do so, wine must be in rhythm with fashion, music, food and other beverages. It must take advantage of the geography, the architecture and the centers of interest. Los Angeles is a giant playground with an amazing array of venues, spaces, wine bars, restaurants, beaches, roof tops, gardens, and magical views. We want to be a part of the LA lifestyle, the wine lifestyle, and celebrate the people, the place and the passion.
wineLA will promote significant events, occasional classes, and tastings of merit. This is phase two of what we started 20 years ago at LearnAboutWine.com - America’s first wine education website and first in wine event creation. LearnAboutWine will now evolve onto a digital platform; the transformation will take some time; so we will slowly rebrand our event efforts onto wineLA, reduce the number of activities we focus on, and elevate our efforts to focus on the next big thing… Doing what is best for the wine industry and the communities we serve. Edicts: innovate, evolve and excite.
We thank you for joining our newsletter, we will be sending fewer emails and packing them with amazing content. We want to be your wine content provider and would love to hear about your favorite places, your music, your locations - we want to be under the influence of what ignites your passion for Los Angeles.
OCTOBER EVENTS:
WINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
100+ WINES - 200 GUESTS
Marina City Club - Marina Del Rey
Oct. 04, 2017 / 5:30 PM - 9:30 PM
THE FOOD EVENT 2017
THE NAME SAYS IT ALL - TONS OF WINE, BEER, FOOD & FUN!
Saddlerock Ranch - Malibu
Oct. 15, 2017 / 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
LA TIMES "BITE NIGHT"
CELEBRATING J. GOLDS TOP 101
The MacArthur - Los Angeles
Oct. 23, 2017 / 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM
COLLECTABLE BURGUNDY VS. AGED BAROLO DINNER
Otium - Los Angeles
Oct. 26, 2017 / 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
FALL FOOD + WINE FESTIVAL
33RD ANNUAL EVENT
Parkway Grill - Pasadena
Oct. 29, 2017 / 5:00 PM - 10:00 PM
9TH ANNUAL
STARS OF CABERNET
35 WINERIES - 1 NIGHT ONLY
Peninsula Beverly Hills
Nov. 15, 2017 / 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
WWW.WINELA.COM
WWW.BEEKEEPERCELLARS.COM
