Wine & Spirits Magazine Hot Picks

Last Tuesday my wife and I went to the Wine & Spirits Magazine Hot Picks in Seattle. It was held at the Paramount theatre which seemed like an odd location at first but I really like the way it panned out.

They took out all of the seating on the main floor except at the very back which opened up the whole area right up to the stage (they used the covered pit as well). The Paramount has an ornate look to it and when you added in some lighting, some music and load of tables of wine and food, it just made for a great venue.

As you walked in to the event, there was white wine to the right, red wine to the left and desert wines right as you walk in. They grouped the wines by region which was a thoughtful touch.

The food was all tapas style... some were just tastes, bites of stuff. Restaurants represented included Monsoon, Qube, Herb Farm, Canlis, The Harvest Vine, Tom Douglas catering and Crush among a few others.

Really liked the lamb bites that Canlis provided and the prosciutto pizza that The Harvest Vine provided. It was cool to see all of the chefs from the restaurant there although I image the conditions they had to cook were far less than ideal. Even so, the food was tasty.

Among the wines, Pelton House and Cadence really stuck out as good. The Pelton House wines were made in more of a French style and we really enjoyed a nice discussion with the winemaker. Cadence had their second label, Coda there which was really quite good as well.

Overall, it was a really good event.