A Stealthy Seattle Picnic

No trip to Seattle ever seems to be complete without a trip to Pike Place Public Market. Boo and I got tied up a bit at the Nordstrom's Rack during the morning though - another Seattle "must-do" - so, we didn't arrive at the Market until well past our intended brunch time. Accordingly, we just carried right on to a picnic lunch at the neighbouring park. Problem with opening a bottle of wine to accompany our picnic purchases was that the park was as public a space in the Emerald City as you'll likely find - and the greenspace was being patrolled rather rigorously due to a demonstration that was taking place during our little respite.

We just had to be a little circumspect in how and when we poured our wine into our high-end wine glasses - a couple of Starbucks go cups that I grabbed that morning. I mean, come on, do you really expect Riedel crystal in a park? Besides, it is Seattle after all. I doubt anything could be more appropriate than Starbucks. The cups worked though and that was probably the most important factor. They might not have provided the best opportunity to enjoy the wine's bouquet, but they didn't attract any unwanted attention either.

782. 2009 Eroica Riesling (Washington State)

Every time I make it down to Washington State, I inevitably try to pick up a bottle or two of the current vintage of the Eroica Riesling. Launched in 1999 as a joint venture between one of Germany's Riesling wonder estates, Dr. Loosen, and Chateau Ste. Michelle, one of the foremost producers in Washington, this is one of the few Washington wines that I'm fairly familiar with. I tried it at the Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival many years back and immediately gravitated to its fresh and intense style.

The Eroica website refers to the wine as being "an intermingling of Old and New World," "bold and forward from its Washington roots, elegant and refined from German inspiration." The bright acidity is balanced by the slightly off-dry finish to the wine. Full of fruit on the palate, it was a nice match to the oysters on the half shell and tuna poke that we picked up at the market.

We didn't quite finish the bottle off during our picnic. There are some limits as to how long you can handle the incessant blare of a protest - even at a sunny, parkside setting. So, we had just enough left for a little happy hour cocktail back at the hotel while we contemplated the day's purchases at Nordstrom and before heading out for dinner.

This is the second vintage of Eroica that I'm adding to The List and I went into the wine a touch more thoroughly with the previous entry (#456), so I'll keep moving on at this time. Suffice it to say, I very much doubt that this will be the last Eroica to make it to this blog either.