Walk or Run to Fabulous Wine and Gourmet Foods
By: Michael and Eli...
Published: July 17, 2014

The 27th Annual Auction of Washington Wines gives you the opportunity of one day to three days to sample the amazing wines and food of Washington State. The fun starts August 14th with the Picnic & Barrel Auction at Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in Woodinville, WA. Enjoy a picnic of wine tasting and gourmet foods prepared on site while listening to live music on the beautiful concert grounds at the winery. Taste the wine from over 30 Washington Wineries and mingle with the winemakers (over 100 invited). Pick your favorite, and then bid on it at the “Barrel Auction”.  Oh, and before you leave we heard you must check out the dessert station.
The auction and other events in during the weekend, hosted by the Auction Washington Wines, benefits Seattle Children’s Hospital and also supports the winemakers of tomorrow through viticulture and enology research at WSU.  Additional information can be found at www.auctionofwashingtonwines.org
 
Want to feast at a winemaker’s dinner? There will be several venues to choose from on Friday night August 15. A winemakers dinner is an intimate dinner prepared by an elite chef from the Puget Sound area and paired with the finest wines from one of the Washington AVAs. Washington has twelve AVA’s (American Viticultural Areas) with all but one but one located in Eastern Washington. Washington wines have won many awards in worldwide competitions. If you desire, you can have your own competition at your table while you sample these great wines.
 
After all of this feasting and wine sipping it might be time to burn off some calories. One option is to go on a bike wine tour to sip wine and then peddle to the next winery.  Or – participate in the Charity Run & Walk on Saturday August 16. Hosted by Columbia Winery, the 5K or 10K Run/Walk raises money to help pay for uncompensated care at Children's Hospital. Additional information on this event can be found at http://www.runforchildrens.org/.
After all that exercise - drive to Ste. Chateau Michelle winery for the Wine Gala the evening of August 16. The six coarse gourmet meal will be prepared by world class chiefs expertly paired with some of the finest wines of the region. Each table will have a prestigious winemaker joining you, with entertainment provided by Richard Gray from the Seattle area professional theatre scene.
You will not be disappointed in the weekend events and you can attend one or all of them. I had the pleasure of attending a similar event in the Tri-Cities area of Washington and sampled the world class wines and locally sourced food. It was an evening to remember.  To reserve space for these summer events check out www.auctionofwashingtonwines.org.
About our guest contributors:
 Michael Fagin is a freelance travel writer who has traveled across Canada and visited all the major Canadian wine regions. Mr. Fagin is currently touring the Pacific Northwest enjoying the wine country, dining, and hiking the region. While he is not writing Mr. Fagin is a weather forecaster  for West Coast Weather, LLC forecasting weather for the West Coast of the US as well as on an international basis. Mr. Fagin has a weekly hiking and weather segment every Wednesday on his blog: www.hikewashington.net.
His wife Elizabeth Fagin, also a travel writer, is co-author of this article.