One of the best aspects of the Wine Bloggers Conference is how far the local wineries go to impress our bloggers – and this never shows up more than in the two dinners provided as part of the conference. This year, we are grateful to have Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and the Washington Wine Commission sponsoring our two dinners and I wanted to present a brief vision of how the Ste. Michelle Wine Estates (SMWE) dinner will go.
Imagine coming down from your hotel room at the Marcus Whitman Hotel and approaching the grand ballroom. You’ll be greeted by Domaine Ste. Michelle winemakers with a glass of sparkling wine and will have time to mingle in the foyer with your fellow bloggers. The doors to the ballroom then swing open and inside are an array of food and wine stations around the edges of the room. Each station will offer delicious, locally sourced dishes paired with wines from Ste. Michelle’s family of wineries, including Chateau Ste. Michelle, Columbia Crest, Northstar, Spring Valley Vineyard, and Snoqualmie. You’ll have a chance to meet the winemakers as they stroll the room, pouring a variety of wines for your enjoyment. You can walk around to mingle, sit down at one of the banquet-style tables, or grab a few moments at a cocktail table as you enjoy dinner in a casual atmosphere. On a big screen in the background is playing a video of images from Washington wine country and for a few moments we hear from the two chefs who collaborated on the meal, John Sarich from Ste. Michelle and Bear Ullman from the Marcus Whitman. What a beautiful evening.
And this is just one of the many food and wine events occurring during the weekend!
– Allan Wright