Monday, November 15 (Seattle/Woodinville)

Monday we drove north of Seattle to Woodinville to go wine tasting for the day. Our first stop was Chateau Ste. Michelle, the largest and most well-known winery in that area. We chose it not because of its fame, or because we can’t get their wines at home, but because they opened an hour before anyone else!

CSM has a huge property and the first thing we saw as we were parking were two peacocks. We made our way to the tasting room and wandered around a bit as it is fairly large and has lots to look at, from your typical wine food and accoutrements to various arty crafty stuff to, of course, lots of wine. We eventually bellied up to the tasting bar where Renee helped us. She was very nice and was impressed that we actually know a little bit about wine, could pronounce things properly, etc. Apparently that doesn’t happen too often ;) Renee, like many pourers who you get to chatting with, also gave us tastes of some wines not on the list. We love that!

We got two tastings and shared – the (basic reserved?) tasting and then the dessert wines. We were surprised to learn that while CSM is widely distributed, there are plenty of bottles that you can get only through their winery. We were also surprised to learn there really aren’t any grapes in Woodinville – all of the vineyards are in the eastern part of the state, and there are just tasting rooms in Woodinville. CSM started this trend some 30 years ago to capitalize on its proximity to Seattle, and many other wineries have since followed suit.

A woman popped in to grab a couple of bottles of wine for her Thanksgiving dinner and we thought – how nice would it be to just be able to pop into your local winery for a few bottles of wine? We just don’t have that kind of proximity in Eden Prairie. We did buy three bottles there, and if our money supply was unlimited we probably would have bought more. We did make a point of buying whatever we wanted on this trip, as we always talk about how we wish we had bought more wine on our honeymoon trip to Napa Valley.

Our next stop was Januik-Novelty Hill, which is actually two wineries but share a tasting room. It could not have been more different from CSM. Whereas CSM is very classic elegance, J-NH is extremely modern in style/design. We liked it a lot; especially this cool horse grass they had lining the exterior of the building. It was very slow in there and the wine pourer had plenty of time to chat with us. There was just one tasting menu, but it had a lot of options and we could each pick four wines to try, so we selected different options and then traded off with each other. Apparently Monday mornings are a good time to get business done, because the wine maker was in, the artist whose paintings were on the wall stopped in, etc.

We then went to Silver Lake, mainly because it was on our way to where we thought we might be heading for lunch. We figured we could fit in another few glasses of wine before we absolutely *had* to get food in our stomachs! Silver Lake was a much more commercial operation run by “Uncle Rick.” An older gentleman, but a total shyster who laid the whole wine membership sales pitch on pretty thick. Despite that, he was entertaining and we had a good time. In addition to Silver Lake wines, they also carried bottles from several other wineries.

We definitely needed to have lunch at this point! We were debating between Red Hook Brewery and a place called the Barking Frog. The Barking Frog sounded a little upscale for what we were looking for, but all the locals recommended it so we decided to go for it. It was an excellent choice! The wait for a table was insane, something like 40 minutes. For lunch. On a Monday. We were told we could eat at the bar if we wanted to, and snatched up that option! And what a great deal this place turned out to be. For $15, you could get a three-course lunch – appetizer, main entrée and dessert. For another $12, you could get a wine pairing. For $27/person, we had an excellent midday meal! I believe I had scallops, ??, and a caramel apple cake of some kind. Josh had a ? salad, pork belly and a flourless chocolate torte.

Next up was Matthews Estate, which we had to hit up for obvious reasons – even though they spell the name wrong ;) Imagine our surprise when the “estate” was a trailer. Hot. Still, their wines were very good – albeit pricey. Went to J. Bookwalter next, as it was just up the road. Turned out to be a good move as the guy asked us where we had stopped throughout the day, etc., and I mentioned I had wanted to hit up Dusted Valley but (according to their website) they were closed. He said no, he was pretty sure they were open, and made a call to confirm. Yes, open! So, we hung at J. Bookwalter a bit and were then on our way.

Dusted Valley is a little storefront in a strip mall, which may not lend itself to being super cool. I had wanted to go there because on their website their wine club is called the Stained Tooth Society and had a cool skull logo with vines growing out of its mouth. I was hoping they would have Tshirts and they did! DV is owned by two guys from Wisconsin who are a bit younger than us. Apparently they were both working corporate-type jobs, decided it wasn’t really what they wanted to do with their lives and said “Screw it. Let’s make wine.” They seem to have a good sense of humor, handing out toothbrushes with membership to the Stained Tooth Society, etc. The girl at the counter was very laid back and fun, which is true of most people you find behind a wine counter. I think it’s one reason Josh and I enjoy wine tasting so much – it’s a great way to have conversations with people in a fun, casual setting.

We had to get back to the city eventually because we had 8 p.m. reservations at Canlis, but we decided to swing by Red Hook Brewery. I just got water, but Josh got the beer sampler. I was already full from drinking wine all day, plus I was driving. And, I really didn’t want to be stuffed for Canlis.

I really debated cancelling our reservations to Canlis. We were both full and tired and not super motivated. But, we kicked ourselves in gear to go and I’m so glad we did! Although we had a ton of trouble actually FINDING the damn place, it is a beautiful, beautiful restaurant. Definitely special occasion, like this is where you get engaged or celebrate your 25th wedding anniversary or something – i.e. valeting your car is the only option.

When we got there, the place wasn’t full but the host (Brian Canlis, of the Canlis family) asked if we could wait a few minutes while they got our table ready. I thought that was odd, but whatever. As it turned out – great idea! We probably had one of the best tables in the whole place. I never did decide if they had initially given us a crappy table because we reserved our table on OpenTable and they weren’t sure what kind of riffraff we would be, or if that table just happened to open up right before we got there and they decided hey – might as well give these people the best we have available.

Canlis is very old school elegance. Supper clubby, almost, but in the best, most elegant way. There was a piano player and everything was very dim candlelight, classy linens, fireplaces, etc. The best part, however, is the view. The front of the restaurant basically juts out over the bay (?) in Seattle and it is all windows. Absolutely gorgeous.

They had a tasting menu, but neither of us ended up getting it. I think the debauchery of the day was taking its toll. I had seared scallops to start, with butternut squash, hearts of palm and chorizo. I think Josh had the crab cake. I considered the chicken terrine with black truffles and hazelnuts, but was so glad I asked further about it with our server as she explained it’s a cold dish that, to me, sounded really, really disgusting. I instead got the handmade wild mushroom ravioli with mascarpone and vin jaune. These were absolutely delicious and I am amazed, as I get older, that I am really starting to like mushrooms and their earthy flavor. I was a little shocked that, at $36, I only got three. That being said, I only ate 2-1/2 of mine. What was up with that? Anyway, I can’t complain too much because I know you are paying, in part, for that great view and excellent customer service. Josh had the King salmon with figs, chanterelles and pinot noir jus.

We skipped dessert and called it an early night. Somehow we found our way directly home, which in no way was the case for getting there. All in all, if I were to choose between Rover’s and Canlis, I’d probably pick Rover’s for the food, though Canlis wins in the atmosphere category.