Intrigue Blog & Chocolate Shop!

This was the 3rd annual (but our first) Sips & Shoes fundraiser event produced by David LeClaire, an event that is becoming especially popular. Not surprising since the event holds a lot of appeal! Women from all over Seattle donate their shoes to auction for charity, drink fine wines from wineries located all over the world, eat chocolate, and buy calendars from firemen. This year the proceeds went to support the Ryther Child Center. Over 400 people attended, and together they raised about $10,000 for the Ryther Child Center!

We found some especially good pairings with wine from the PengWine label this year. They have a collection of wines produced in their Chilean vineyards. Some notable combinations were the Fairy Rose of Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec with the Kirsch truffle, and the Gentoo Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz with the Jamaican HOT Chocolate.

On November 15th we had the pleasure of seeing some of you at Village Wines for their pre-Thanksgiving Event. Intrigue has visited Village Wines several times over the last year and each time has been a big success; they have warm staff, a cozy atmosphere, and fantastic wines. If you are traveling out to Woodinville for a day of wine tasting, be sure to stop by Village Wines to try their weekly selection of wines. Oh, and drop our names while you are there!

Village Wines has a great description of their business on their website, so I won’t try to rewrite it:

“Village Wines is focused on creating the “place to gather” for a fun and vibrant community of wine lovers. Village Wines, is a premier wine and beer retailer and tasting room that features unique, distinct, and limited availability wines and beers from around the world. We have a strong focus on wines from the Northwest as well as craft and Belgian ales. Our warm and inviting tasting room is the ideal gathering place where locals and tourists can enjoy frequent complimentary and reserve tastings. We are located in the heart of Woodinville wine country, across the road from the Hollywood School House, just around the corner from the Chateau St Michelle, Columbia Winery, Redhook Brewery and the Willows Lodge.”

Big thanks to Carla for helping us with the event! She was a valuable assistant with table setup and picture taking (though she somehow manage to avoid appearing in any!). Be sure to check the events page to find out when we’ll be visiting Village Wines again.

Sunday was a good time for Aaron and I. We were invited to attend our second Precept Ambassador Club event—their annual autumn wine tasting party. The venue handled the large crowd (between 500-700 people, we were too busy to get the exact numbers). Precept Wine Brands owns a number of wineries, including names like Apex, Browne, Waterbrook, The Gate, and Shingleback. Nearly all of the wines were discounted 20% - 30% from their normal retail price. They were even pouring some of our all-time favorite beverages: Belgian-style beers!

The event was held at Herban Feast’s historic SoDo facility. You can see in the picture above just how beautiful their space is. Herban Feast left a lot of the old pipes and rigging, and they didn’t repaint the interior. Instead they opted to retain the mature, rustic charm of the building. The space is available for lots of different occasions, so if you are thinking of a company party or a wedding reception, check them out!

There was no shortage of wine at the event. Several of the featured wine brands like Apex and Browne had their own table with a selection of wines to share, while other tables were grouped by type of wine. My favorite area was the ‘Sexy Syrah’ table—which had Black Bubbles (a effervescent sryah)—next to the ‘Cab is King’ table.

Kym Davey flew in from Australia for the event to pour the Davey family’s Shingleback, Red Knot, and The Gate wines. He was a really a nice guy who made a special effort to stop by and belly up to the chocolate tasting table. I found it funny, though, that his wine pours were substantially less generous than those of the volunteers. He must know firsthand how much work goes into filling each bottle!

Our truffles were a big hit! The new (or long absent) flavors of Kirsch, Peppercorn, and California Bay were well received. The California Bay was especially intriguing; many people found it tasted the way a eucalyptus tree smells. Anyone that’s spent time along the California Coast picked it out immediately.

Big thanks to everyone that visited the table, and a big thanks to Precept for having us out again!