Correction & Wine Weekend Preview

First, let's get business out of the way. Thanks to my friends P & S who, after reading the Giow Ba Mee Moo Dang entry from a while back each reminded me that luk chin refers not to fish balls, but to meat balls generally. To get fish balls, you have to order luk chin bla, bla meaning fish. That said, I have found I tend to get fish balls when I just say luk chin, so you may be safe [if you like fish balls, that is] either way.

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Second, and more exciting, I spent this weekend at this fun event. More than 50 other wineries in the area feature annual Thanksgiving weekend food & wine pairings, with many wineries bringing out reserves, barrel tastings, and new wines just hitting the shelves. My dad is the proverbial "town doc" and my mom works in the town's [only] schools. Between the two, they know just about everyone and it is always a treat to scurry from winery to winery where the wine-makers and pourers are family friends. The winery below is a long-time family favorite where the middle school ex-principal & my childhood baby-sitter both work and always give us [secret] great discounts.


We also had a great time playing with the family golden retrievers at Chinook & tasting wine from the Sunflower series to fight Sarcoma Cancer at Willow Crest. I can't launch into a full description now but I look forward to writing about the wine & food I sampled all weekend long.

As my friends in New York and California hear all too often, I'm proudly from a premier wine-growing region. While flipping through [the admittedly not-renowned for wine reviews magazine] Consumer Reports at my uncle's place after Thanksgiving dinner, I was happy to note that Washington Wines, along with more than a few from my town, were hogging spaces in the top ten. If you want a more reputable source, buy yourself a couple bottles of Washington wines after I finish my account of the weekend's festivities & see for yourself.

The Washington wine industry began in the 1900s with the technology that is responsible for every single tree in my town: irrigation. It survived Prohibition by selling to the Catholic Church. [I think even the most secular of my New York friends can thank the Church for that.] Apparently the whole industry temporarily collapsed after those snotty Californians went all the way to the Supreme Court to knock down Washington's laws protecting local wineries and open up the market in 1969. According to an article in Wine Spectator, the "generic" wineries fell & a mass market California winery [ie, they place adds in every cooking magazine I've ever read] began to dominate. But things have clearly picked up since then. There are at least 30 wineries in the vicinity of my 5,000 person town alone and Washington is the second largest wine producing state in the country. [And just because California is three times as big doesn't mean the wine is better!]

Three years ago, my town saw the entry of another remarkable piece of technology. I think this blurb from a neutral observer tells it best:

"October was a momentous month for the 5,000 residents of Prosser, in eastern Washington's Yakima Valley wine region. The town--home to 12 wineries, including Hogue Cellars and Snoqualmie Vineyards--received its first full stoplight. Turns out the increase in wine tourism (30,000 to 40,000 people visit each year) led to a need for better traffic control. "I never thought I'd see the day," said Hogue cofounder Gary Hogue, who was born and raised in Prosser. He's going to see it at least once more. The town will add a second traffic light this spring."

Yes, ladies & gentlemen, we're headed for the big time now.