When the Perfect Gift is an Experience: The Herbfarm

The Herbfarm Exterior: Courtesy of Willows Lodge

My husband and I have largely forgone gift-giving when it comes to physical things. Occasionally I still receive a beautiful bottle of wine, but I view wine as a moment captured in a bottle — an experience. What trumps the experience of a lovely wine, consumed at its pinnacle moment? Wine paired with food. So when I opened the mail this week to receive The Herbfarm’s 2018 Restaurant Schedule, I was reminded of just such a pairing that I had the honor of experiencing last Christmas season.

Located in the heart of Western Washington’s Woodinville Wine Country, The Herbfarm is consistently ranked as one of the world’s top destination restaurants. The restaurant's mantra: “No dish can be better than its ingredients, and the best ingredients are usually local” informs its ever-changing menus. By supporting local farmers, cheesemakers, wineries, and so on, they preserve local foods, traditions, and moments in every meal.

Much has been written about The Herbfarm as a restaurant (see Forbes, Frommer’s, and The New York Times for starters) so I’ll leave the reviews to the dining experts. As a somm, what intrigued and delighted me most was the pairing of local food and drink for each course.

What Grows Together Goes Together

Menu and wine card. Photo by Amy Dickson

The Herbfarm’s menus, often not finalized until hours before each singular evening seating, are shaped to showcase and capture the essence of the season. The local food and wine come together in such a way as to elevate the sense of terroir: nine courses and five wines, all hand-selected to complement each other.  For example, my meal contained a course of Poulet Bleu, a blue-footed chicken with black trumpet mushrooms and an air-dried persimmon sweet and sour sauce. Paired with a 2013 A.D. Beckham Amphora Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley, and I was in heaven.

In Perfect Harmony: Drink and Food

Chef Chris Weber explaining the night’s meal: Courtesy of Trip Advisor

On that note, the nine-course meal takes several hours and is perfectly matched to whatever you feel like quaffing:

Wine: Your five courses will come with pre-selected wines that will delight and dazzle. During my seating I enjoyed an Argyle Brut from Oregon (with mussels), Avennia’s Sauvignon Blanc from Yakima (wild winter sturgeon), Efeste’s Chardonnay (celery root with truffle), that lovely Pinot Noir (blue-footed chicken), and Kevin White’s Grenache-Mourvedre-Syrah blend (grilled Wagyu coulotte). Don’t want to stick to the script? Ask for the 150+ page wine list and I am sure you’ll find exactly the right vintage for your evening. Arrive early to your reservation and explore the onsite cellar where you can ask Sommelier Bruce Achtermann about the 26,000 bottles and more than 4,500 selections. A wine lover’s dream come true!

Herbfarm Wine Cellar: Courtesy of The Daring Gourmet

Beer: Say beer is more your thing? No problem! Note your preference in your reservation and the staff will carefully curate your experience with local lagers and ales. Prefer imports? Flip to the end of the exhaustive wine list and you’ll find a lovely selection of European ales to please your palate.

Dessert: The Herbfarm has the dessert wine market cornered. From late-harvest Alsatian wines to rare Tokaji from Hungary, you have many options. Most delightful is The Herbfarm’s collection of Chateau d’Yquem Sauternes. Using an anaerobic system that allows extraction without removing the cork, I opted for a single ounce of the 100-point 2011 vintage. A whole bottle would have set me back $1650 — instead I tried one of the world’s most perfect (and rare) wines for $65. I’ll never forget the taste of that sweet nectar. There’s nothing like it.

Non-Alcoholic: Non-drinkers (and there was one in my party) are treated to a meal paired with custom shrubs, juices, and local mixes using fresh herbs and ingredients also found in the dishes. Dinner is followed by a selection of local coffees, teas, and herbal infusions.

Reservations Required

The Herbfarm’s co-owner Carrie Van Dyck, right, and chef Chris Weber (to Van Dyck’s right) plate one of the evening’s nine courses. Courtesy of Erika Schultz / The Seattle Times

The Herbfarm’s 2018 Dining Schedule is out now and reservations aren’t recommended, they’re required, often months or even years in advance. If you’re looking for a gift for the foodie in your life, the oenophile of your heart, or the person who is intent on collecting memories instead of “stuff,” try The Herbfarm. I’m already looking at next fall’s, A Mycologist’s Dream theme, to enjoy the best in foraged local mushrooms. I know there’s a Pinot Noir waiting in the wings to join in.

Salud!

Amy L. Dickson is a communications professional, freelance writer, and contributor to Rain or Shine Guides. She is a Level 1 sommelier and can be found Sundays at Portalis Wines in Ballard. Follow her at @amyldickson75

The Wine Gift that Keeps on Giving

The holidays are quickly approaching and if you have a Washington Wine Lover on your shopping list, you might be struggling with what to buy. My guess is he or she already has a fancy wine key, plenty of stemware, and a drawer full of bottle stoppers. It could be a safer bet to buy wine, but sometimes it can be difficult to decide on a single bottle or even a year-long club membership.

What if there was a way to give the gift of more than 150 wines for less than $100?

Hang on to your corks because the Passport to Woodinville is THAT Christmas Miracle.

A two-pack of Passports, found at Seattle-area Costco stores, retails for $99. Each passport is valid for one standard complimentary tasting at more than 50 participating wineries. Most tasting rooms usually charge a small fee ($5-$20) to taste their wines, so if you visit fewer than a dozen tasting rooms over the course of 2017, it’s paid for itself.

The Passport is a genius gift for wine lovers who like to try before they buy and want to truly dive into the world of Washington wine. For sommelier students like me it’s a cost-effective way to train my palate and learn more about our local enologists.

But wait, there’s more! The Passport is also valid at a handful of Woodinville breweries and distilleries, too.

The Passport to Woodinville is located near the gift cards at Costco. Can’t find it? Check the end caps. Take the large cardboard cutout to the cashier to exchange it for the booklets and instructions. Passports must be activated online before first use and are valid the full year 2017.

Pro Tip: If you have a group of six or more using Passports, please call your selected tasting room(s) beforehand and make a courtesy reservation. You’ll get better service and the staff will appreciate the advance notice.

Last but not least, Passport owners receive special discounts at popular Woodinville Wine Country events throughout the year. I seriously can’t wait to start collecting all the winery stamps in January. Bubbles, anyone?

Salud!

Amy L. Dickson is a communications professional, freelance writer, and contributor to Rain or Shine Guides. She’s currently training at the NW Wine Academy for her Level 1 sommelier certification. Follow her at @amyldickson75.

The Tallest Drinks in Seattle

The Smith Tower's Temperance

The Smith Tower got a facelift this year! For those of you who haven't been to the new and improved Observation Deck yet, we highly recommend it. Along with the all-time favorites like the lever-operated elevator, The Wishing Chair, and the incredible views at the top, the experience now includes a much higher amount of educational content and a speakeasy style bar! Seems so obvious now that the space was always missing a bar, how did we not figure this out sooner?!

The staff was incredibly friendly and helped us land on a delicious cocktail named Serenity for our drinking pleasure. In true speakeasy fashion it was strong, but good. And you can sip it in comfy chairs as the sun sets on Seattle. It really is a beautiful space with a wonderful view.

The Smith Tower is 35 stories tall (462 ft.), placing it in 3rd place on the list. It might not be the tallest, but something about standing amid all the buildings that have sprung up since 1914 is pretty magical. 

Space Needle's SkyCity

SkyCity is the high-end, rotating restaurant at the top of the Space Needle. The restaurant is the shape of a donut, wrapped around the Space Needle right beneath the observation deck. When you exit the elevator you are led to a table along the outer edge; definitely try to get a table against the window -- watching the city circle below you is a ton of fun! When you eat/drink at SkyCity you also get complimentary access to the Space Needle's observation deck, so make sure to factor in time to head up before or after dining.

At over 500 ft. tall, SkyCity sits in second place on our list of tallest drinks in Seattle! 

Insider Tip: Going to SkyCity does comes with a food and beverage minimum. Dinner is a tad pricey at $35/person, but they have a promotion right now for Sunset Hour with a lower minumum of $25. For comparison a ticket to just the observation deck is $22, so we think this is the way to visit the Space Needle! From 2:30 - 5:30, Monday - Friday, you can go to the top, have a drink while the sun goes down over the city, and visit the observation deck. It ends December 16, 2016 though so hurry on over! 

Columbia Center's Sky View Observatory

Columbia Tower is the tallest building in our skyline and also has the highest observation deck in Seattle (we covered it here). Your ears will pop as you ride the elevator up to the 73rd floor. When you arrive, you will be granted beautiful 360-degree views of the entire area and this is the only observation deck that includes unobstructed views of the Space Needle and the floating 520 bridge. On clear days you can see as far as Mount Hood in Oregon. 

Their cafe/bar is a bit lacking compared to the other places on this list. It's the Panera Bread to the Space Needle's McCormick and Schmick's. But, they have local beer and wine and happy hour, which is exactly what we were looking for when we visited after work at 5:00 PM. We sipped on a Naughty Nellie from Pike Brewing Company and a red blend from Chateau Ste. Michelle.

At 900 ft. this is the tallest you can be in the city while sipping on an adult beverage! 

The Tallest Geographic Point- 35th and Myrtle

Well what do you know? The tallest geographic point in the city is not in Queen Anne, it is in West Seattle in the Delrigde neighborhood at 35th and Myrtle St. We wouldn't recommend drinking here though (do as we say not as we do), as the city frowns upon opening beers on street corners, but we found a really great bar, The Westy, nearby where you can enjoy a nice taplist along with wine and cocktails.

This one is obviously a bit off trend from our previous three, but we thought it would be a fun one to include-- now you know a little piece of Seattle trivia! 

Standing at the tallest geographical point in Seattle!

Alright folks. That concludes our drinking in tall places post. it was random. It was fun. We raise our glass to you for reading Rain or Shine's recommendations! 

Cheers!

Napa in Bluejeans? Walla Walla Is So Much More

Walla Walla Incubator buildings near the airport where several small wineries get their start.

Remember when hippies in coveralls with a passion for unfiltered chardonnay ran the CA Napa Valley? Me neither. Those glorious heydays expired long before I could buy my own meal in a restaurant, let alone a vintage wine worth drinking. So it makes my hackles rise when the New York Times refers to Walla Walla as “Napa in Bluejeans,” as if one of Washington’s richest viticultural areas is like your rustic cousin who’s not sure which spoon to use with his vichyssoise.

Walla Walla is its very own AVA here in Washington state, sequestered in the south-eastern corner right next to Oregon, and produces some of the finest, well-structured wines on our local shelves. Mostly small producers and several estate wineries dot the map in a relatively compact area that lends itself to a weekend wine trip over the pass. I recently spent a glorious sunny weekend over in Walla Walla in the midst of the harvest/crush so now is absolutely the time to gas up the car and scoot over I-90.

Walla Walla is broken into roughly four geographic areas, so here are a few tips as you dip your toe into this terroir-rich region:

West

As you roll into town along HWY 12, you’ll encounter several wineries including L’Ecole No 41 in an old schoolhouse, and the sprawling lovely, expanse of Waterbrook Winery. All have parking and tasting rooms, so go ahead and stop in even before you get to your hotel. Better yet, save room in your trunk to load up on a few bottles on your way back out of town as wine dies in hot cars.

Insider Tip: Old HWY 12 is also home to some great wineries, including Cougar Crest and Reininger Winery. Some require you to call for specific estate addresses so plan ahead.

North (Downtown)

Not producing wines on your estate, but want to pour for the thirsty Walla Walla crowds? Many wineries have tasting rooms within short walking distance to each other in the quaint downtown district. You can hit up several like Mark Ryan, Rotie Cellars, and Trust Cellars without even breaking a sweat. Personally, I think Maison Bleue has the most beautiful, tranquil tasting room downtown. Tasting fees are often rolled right into the cost of a bottle if you decide to buy.

Insider Tip: Several tasting rooms are by appointment only, or you must accompany a wine club member to gain access. This is true of Corliss Estates and Doubleback. Plan ahead if there’s a specific wine or winery you’d like to try and make friends with club members by following event lists or signing up for updates.

Corliss Estates keeps its back library down in its own wine cave cellar below the facility.

The remarkable tasting and event facilities at Corliss Estates.

Done at Doubleback Winery

East (Airport)

Like Woodinville with its Warehouse District, Walla Walla has transformed several industrial buildings near the airport into wine incubators for fledgling producers and full-blown production facilities for others. Nearly two dozen winemakers are happy to showcase their vintages to you there, including K Vintners, Corvus Cellars, and Palencia Wine Company (with their incredibly well-priced $20 Cab Sav). Plenty of parking and lots to try.

Insider Tip: Walla Walla isn’t just wine; there are some great craft beer makers and distillers too. Give Shot in The Dark Craft Distillery a try if you’re looking for moonshine or a delicious Apple Pie liquor that would be perfect for Thanksgiving.

Large stainless steel fermentation tanks in action during crush and production.

The pump-over method keeps the “cap” moist and healthy during primary fermentation.

South

Heading back out of town and / or into Oregon you’ll find several more estate wineries. Think long rows of vines, huge chateau style buildings, and some of the most famous dirt in all of Walla Walla: The Rocks District. The Rocks District is a sub-appellation of the Walla Walla Valley AVA, which itself is a sub-appellation of the Columbia Valley AVA. This is one of the only AVAs where the boundaries are defined by the type of soil found there: cobblestones. The rocks impart a minerality to the grapes grown there found nowhere else in the world. If you’re lucky enough to try a wine from Cayuse Vineyards or Pepper Bridge Winery, you’ll see why the stones make the difference.

Insider Tip: Plenty of delicious wine still on the Washington side of the border. This author’s favorites can be found at Va Piano Vineyards and if you visit in the fall, you might still see fruit on the vines or production happening right in front of you at the facility.

Acres of fruit-laden vines at Figgins Family Wine Estates, just outside Walla Walla.

Many tasting rooms line the streets of downtown Walla Walla and make for a great afternoon stroll.

If you feel like putting in a few hours on the road, or want to catch one of the few daily Alaska Airlines flights out of SeaTac, Walla Walla is a perfect getaway for PNW wine lovers. And here’s my last insider tip: There aren’t a ton of hotels in Walla Walla and motels might not be your thing, but in recent years dozens of new VRBO and Airbnb houses have opened their doors. If you get a few friends together you can enjoy Walla Walla on a budget, some with a full pool, hot tub, kitchen, and often times in historic adorable homes in this charming wine village.

Salud!

Amy L. Dickson is a communications professional, freelance writer, and contributor to Rain or Shine Guides. She’s currently training at the NW Wine Academy for her Level 1 sommelier certification. Follow her at @amyldickson75.