A Night in Italy with Joy and Benoit - Wine Dinner

Joy and Benoit team up again for another fabulous wine dinner featuring Italian Cuisine and Wines on Saturday, November 14 at 5:30 p.m. This is the same weekend as the Olympic Peninsula Wineries Autumn Wine Tour . We have something quite special in store for our guests.

In talking to Benoit about the dinner, I found out that if Joy had a choice of what to eat and cook, it would be Italian with lots of pasta. Most of her training has been in Italian cuisine in New York and Seattle. Joy worked under Chef Walter Piscano for 7 years at one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle, Tulio Restorante, located in the Hotel Vintage Park. Chef Walter is known for his boldly flavored, sophisticated Italian dishes.

Throughout the dinner Joy and Benoit will share stories about their trip to Italy in 2007 to VinItaly, the Italian wine conference, and their dinner at Allegrini winery. Some of the wines served will be from this famed winery. In addition to the fabulous menu below, Joy will talk about the regional menus and dishes they ate in Verona, Rome and Florence along with a special story about working at a goat farm in Tuscany.

Joy’s and Benoit’s dinners are memorable. The last was the “Joy and Julia” dinner in our cellar at Olympic Cellars. I’ve finally posted the videos to Olympic Cellars YouTube Channel .

Enjoy, Kathy
Olympic Cellars Winery

Call Joy’s Wine Bistro for reservations. 360-452-9449. Dinner is $55 per person.

A Night in Italy With Joy and Benoit

Bacala (Salted Cod cake)
Zenato Lugana

Squash RavioliLivelli
Orion Primitivo

Roasted PorkAllegrini
Pallazo de la Torre

Chocolate Tiramisu
Dessert Wine

Liquid Sunshine for the Thanksgiving Table

Today on the Peninsula it is intermittently pouring down rain with brief outbursts of sunshine and rainbows. When I dropped off my cleaning the lady at the counter said, "Enjoy the Liquid Sunshine!" Hadn't heard that phase before but loved it along with her friendly smile.

Of course, for me, my mind eventually gets to wine. "Sunshine in a Glass" is my favorite description for our Lemberger Rosé, a.k.a. Rosé the Riveter. The wine is fresh, crisp and doesn't over power food.

Benoit, my French foodie and our winemaker, thinks that wine made from Lemberger grapes is one of the best food pairing wines. Being French, he always has a small glass of wine when he takes lunch and it's always Lemberger.

During the holidays we make lots of different side dishes and desserts, usually our favorites from handed-down family recipes.

The highlight of the meal is not the food but "gathering" with those we love. I like to pick wines that enhance and not crowd out all the different flavors, especially Aunt Edna's Green Been Casserole with French Fried Onions or better yet... corn pudding! Now don't laugh, we all have those handed down family recipes. It wouldn't be the same without the tradition!

Happy Holidays, Kathy
Olympic Cellars Winery

Passport Wine Tour, Oysters, Clams and much more

Wines, Oysters, Clams and much more…

Harvest is complete and bottling is next Tuesday. Then we’re ready to celebrate and share the bounty during our annual Passport Wine Tour event on Saturday and Sunday, November 14-15 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

This year’s event will not only focus on our wine and new releases but also our local Olympic Coast Cuisine. We are partnering with Peter Becker, CEO of Little Skookum Shellfish Growers, a sustainable oyster and clam aquaculture since 1883, Bell Street Bakery and Nash’s Organic Farm.

Just as some background, for the last year I’ve been working with representatives of the four counties on the Olympic Peninsula in the formation of an Olympic Culinary Loop Tourism Organization which will serve as a catalyst in shaping the region’s culinary signature “Olympic Coast Cuisine”. This organization will focus on attracting new tourists to the area, increase visitor length of stay, inspire investment in farms and land, and preserve the region’s agricultural heritage. (More about this organization and its mission is at the end of this email.)

The Olympic Peninsula Wineries is your host for Passport Wine Tour. This year it is B.Y.O.G. (Bring your own glass which will be fun to see your favorite glass and hear the story behind the glass). Tickets are $25 which will waive the tasting fees at all 6 wineries or you can opt to just pay the $5 tasting fees at the wineries you visit. Your choice!

At Olympic Cellars on Saturday and Sunday: Tasting room is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. for event and tasting of a full selection of our award winning wines.

· Oysters on Saturday and Clam Chowder on Sunday

· Bell Street Bakery breads made with local, organic grain will be served with spreads made from hummus and local organic root vegetables all weekend

· Holiday Wine Release: Cranberry Jubilee

· Wine specials and gifts showcased to help you “check off” your holiday shopping list

Saturday, Nov. 14, from 12-4 p.m. Outside on the Patio in our “heated venue”….

· Enjoy pairing of our white wines with oysters grilled and on the half-shell

· Taste our new wine release under Benoit’s winemaker label: La Galopine, 2008 Roussanne and Viognier blend from famed Red Mountain’s Ciel du Cheval vineyard

· Savor 4 different oysters from three local regions (South Puget Sound, Hood Canal and Discovery Bay) and four featured shellfish farms:: Little Skookum Shellfish Growers (Little Skookum small Pacific oysters); Hama Hama Oyster Company (Hood Canal small Hama Hama Pacific oysters); Taylor Shellfish Company (Totten Inlet Kumamoto oysters); and Port Discovery Sea Farms (Snow Creek small oysters)

Sunday, November 15 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the tasting room

· Clam Chowder (Peter Becker’s Grandfather Bishop's family clam chowder recipe made with Little Skookum Shellfish Growers’ sustainably farmed Manila clams www.skookumshellfish.com/recipes)

We look forward to pouring our wines for you and yours and hosting this culinary focused event,
Cheers, Kathy, Molly, Lisa and Benoit


Olympic Peninsula Loop Culinary Tourism Association

The Olympic Peninsula Loop Culinary Tourism Association (Olympic Culinary Loop) exists to define, promote and celebrate the Olympic Peninsula’s unique culinary experience, educate consumers, and ultimately establish the region as a niche destination to enhance economic development and the region’s tourism product.

Olympic Coast Cuisine reflects the diverse microclimates, coastal proximity and Native American heritage that characterize the Olympic Peninsula. The combination of sustainable locally-grown and foraged fruits, vegetables, herbs and berries, locally hunted game, bountiful local sea fare, and handcrafted local wines offers farm to table experiences that instill a unique sense of place. Prepared with reverence to the local history and culture, fresh Olympic Coast Cuisine is best enjoyed amid the beautiful scenery that surrounds the Olympic Peninsula loop.

Washington's First Auction of Wine "Art" Barrels

Retired wine barrels from the North Olympic Peninsula's six artisan wineries were donated to the Port Angeles Arts Council (PAAC) early this summer. Volunteer artists transformed the wine barrels into unique one-of-a-kind "art barrels" which are offered for sale using a unique online auction format.

The PAAC is hosting the auction to support its mission to nurture the vitality of the arts community and showcase the talent of local artists.

The ten local artists who volunteered their time and talent to the project were given free creative rein. Most artists worked in their garages, a.k.a. "Studio G", developing picturesque themes ranging from rustic, barnyard scenes to aquaculture to vineyard panorama using paint, fused glass, paper collage and hand painted silk.

The public is invited to visit http://portangelesdowntown.com/ (click on Auction), to view and bid on a series of 10 wine barrels that have been transformed into visual - and functional- works of art. Artists bios and video interview with Donna Cloud.

Bids will be accepted until 5 p.m. on Friday, November 6. The winning bids will be announced on Friday, November 6 at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center during Paul Chasman's One-Man Guitar Festival, which begins at 7:30 p.m. The concert is PAAC's inaugural fundraising event.

For more information on the Art Barrels Auction or the Port Angeles Arts Council, contact Eric Neurath at 360.452.5911, fotos@olypen.com

Semper Gumby - Bottling At Olympic Cellars

For the last 3 years a volunteer group from the Coast Guard stationed in Port Angeles has been our bottling crew. I recently had to change our November bottling date by a week and received an email back... No Problem. Our Coast Guard Motto is "Semper Gumby" (Always Flexible).

Well, I hadn't heard of this before and Googled it. Semper Gumby is the unofficial motto referring to the cartoon character with the official motto "Semper Fidelis", always faithful.

Cheers and a Toast to our bottling crew as they are both faithful and flexible. For 3 years they've touched every bottle that has come off our mobile bottling line and stacked thousands of cases.

We have a volunteer program called 2xSuccess. For every hour volunteered at the winery you earn 1 bottle of Working Girl Wines. The "earned wine" goes on the books until the volunteer organization has a fundraiser.

The Coast Guard uses their funds to help CG families in need. Each crew member also receives a "love box" of a bottle of each wine that comes off the line. They are first to taste our newest wines and vintages.

Bottling is scheduled for Tuesday November 10. Here's some prior year photos.

Vineyard Angel Gets A Full Body Makeover

Last year all of the wineries on the Peninsula created Scarecrows out of wine barrels. Olympic Cellars' creation was inspired by my love of sun flowers and the desire to have a watchful "angel" over our La Petite Vineyard.

I can tell you we had a pretty good laugh when our scarecrow was completely assembled and in the ground. Molly said she had quite a "bootie" and I thought she looked vaguely like a "telly tubbie".

Our Angel braved the frigid winter and (believe it or not) the heat wave of summer. Guess we should have watered her or at least given her a few glasses of wine... because alas she began to shrink, her "oak" was drying out! Her face was cracking and her body was literally falling out of her metal barrel staves.

Libby came to the rescue to give our angel a facelift (we had to decapitate her first). Then metal artists John and Cynthia Dash took her aging barrel body back to their studio and breathed in new life with a whole new sinewy shape. Her hand is even on a spring... she greets winery guests with the perfect Beauty Queen wave. And her loose barrel stave skirt actually blows in the wind scaring off pesky grape eating birds.

It was a late Friday afternoon when she was installed. All of us were exhausted after crushing grapes all day and a bit slap happy. So when someone mentioned that the upper torso was a "bit flat" and needed some embellishment, you can only imagine the topic. To stay authentic it was suggested that we use the "punts" cut from a very large wine bottles and attach them it to her chest. (The punt is the concave portion at the bottom of a wine bottle.) Bottle sizes suggested were called Jeroboam (3L) and Methuselah (6L) which are way bigger than a magnum. I learned something new but don't know if I'm going that far!

I rang the harvest bell again and poured us some wine. The Working Girls are tired. It's been a good harvest. Cheers, Kathy

Twilight Coming To Houston

This past week I've been in Houston working the market, visiting my distributor and attending Working Girl wine events at WineStyles in the evening.

We pack a whole lot into these visits and when the evening comes to an end all I want is a G&T. I didn't have a car this trip and so the only close restaurant was Chili's, who by last night welcomed me by name.

"Welcoming" is the only one word to describe the people of Houston and Texas. They are the most gracious, respectful and helpful people I have met traveling. Now, the only thing that worries me is that I was referred to or greeted with words like "Ma'am, Sweetheart and Thank You Honey". As I listened and watched the crowd, it seemed like those terms were saved for the older women or very young!

The final kindest... as I walked to my gate at Hobby airport... a lady crossed through several people to come over and tuck in my tag in at the back neck of my t-shirt. "There you go, honey". I was so amazed all I could do is mumble a simple Thank You.

But back to the subject of this blog... I'm sitting in the owner's office of my distributor talking about our Working Girl Wines when she got a text and glanced down at her phone. She looked puzzled and said "Has anyone heard of a wine called Sparkling Twilight?" I leaned forward and said "that's my wine!"

Then all the office staff, mostly women, was standing at her door. Apparently they were checking out my website since I was in the office and came across our Sparkling Twilight wine and the story. Also they are HUGE Twilight fans and stood begging Carol, the owner, to bring in the wine.

A little arm twisting later, I could hardly say "no" to my Texas Roots. I don't think 56 cases will cover the 4th largest city in the U.S. but for right now Houston, TX will be the only other city besides Port Angeles, WA where this wine will be available prior to the New Moon premiere on November 20th.

Whoops, they just called my plane. Cheers, Kathy