After the cruise we spent an extra day in Seattle to finish doing touristy stuff and we found this great place called The Tasting Room Wines of Washington. Unnecessarily long name aside, this place is really cool. It was put together by six different wineries as a way to showcase their wines.

Word of warning: It is a little difficult to find. It is in the Pike Place Market but it is pretty well hidden down an alley, it is worth the effort.

The two women manning the tasting room were knowledgeable about the wines but what was really cool was the way they organized their wine flights. If, like us, you don't know anything about these wineries or wines they've set up the flights to allow you to sample the best wines based on mood. For example, they had a flight of "Rainy Day Reds..." that consisted of 4 blended reds (some Bordeaux-style, others with really unique varietals) from the various wineries.

If you are in Seattle, you should check it out.

Seattle is one of those cities I have always wanted to visit, so when i found out that our cruise ship was leaving from there, i figured it would be a great opportunity to stay couple of extra days in Seattle and get to know the city. Of course, there was no way I could be in Washington and not visit a couple of wineries.

We booked a wine tour that took us to Silver Lake Winery and Chateau St. Michelle.

Our first stop was Silver Lake winery. In addition to Silver Lake wines, the winery also wines under the Hoodsport and Blind Date labels. The tasting room is located in what appears to be a converted warehouse and it feels more like a wine shop than a tasting room.

As part of the tour package, we were able to taste 7 pre-selected wines. That was a bummer, because I really wanted to try their Cabernet Franc. The whites we tried were their Chardonnay and their Sauvignon Blanc. The Sauvignon Blanc was nice, not specatular, but a good wine. Of their reds, the only one that stood out was their Merlot. it had hints of cherries and a peppery taste that really made it stand out from most Merlots.





Chateau St. Michelle was a completely different experience. While the tasting room, and the grounds, were huge they were also very charming and it made the experience that much more enjoyable.

We were also limited in the wines we were given to taste (one of the downsides of using a tour), but the wines we tried wee unique and our pourer was very engaging. The standout wine was the Artist Series Meritage. This blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot was a complex wine that was extremely flavorful with a long finish.

I'm leaving for an Alaskan cruise this Thursday. The cruise leaves from Seattle, so we are going to hang out there for a few days. While we are out there we are going to check out some of the wineries in Seattle.

Which got me thinking: how many wineries are in Alaska? It turns out there are four of them. Unfortunately, none of them are in places where we are going to stop. But, it looks like many of the wines are available at Wines International in Ketchikan, which is part of our trip :).