Happy New Year winos.
Come celebrate winter in the Lake Chelan Valley. Winterfest has been extended to two weekends for 2012. As always, there will be ice sculptures, live music, snowmobile races, and the best in the Valley’s fine wines. The Blending Room will be open longer hours and extra days for wine tastings and special events.

Winterfest Hours for The Blending Room:

Friday, January 6th: 12 – 7
Saturday, January 7th: 12 – 7
Sunday, January 8th: 12 – 6

Friday, January 14th: 12 – 7
Saturday, January 15th: 12 – 7
Sunday, January 16th: 12 – 6
Monday, January 17th: 12 – 5

We will be having special events both weekends including bonfires in the yard Friday and Saturday evenings after dark. There will be hot cayenne cocoa, fondue, and, of course, red wines to warm up with inside The Blending Room.

And to get ready for the festivities, take a look-see at this video from last year’s event:

J.H.

The last chance to give My Derby Wife wines away for the holidays is fast approaching. Luckily there are lots of places to find these fine reds and whites.
Out now are the 2009 My Derby Wife Merlot and the 2009 My Derby Wife Chardonnay. Both are available in the greater Seattle area, Olympia, Port Angeles, Wenatchee, and Manson. For immediate shipping, email us now at winegirl@winegirlwines.com. We can pack up your wine with gift wrapping and get it on its way to derby fans far away. And shipping is only $0.01 until the end of the year. Also, contact us directly for quantity discounts or just to say hey.

Here are the stores that currently carry our My Derby Wife wines in Washington. Click on the map for more information about the shop near to you.

Happy Holidays,

J.H.

For a list of all the retail stores that carry our Kamari and Fira wines, look here.

Orchard Wood Ovens will be cooking up their lovely wood fired pizza pies and The Blending Room will be pouring the newly released 2010 Fira Chardonnay and very newly released 2009 My Derby Wife Gewurztraminer along with old Kamari Black Label Reserve favorites. We’re nearly sold out of 2008 Kamari wines, so come in for what may be the last weekend of this great vintage. 2009 reserve releases will follow hot on the heels.

J.H.

Meet the rollergirls each representing their featured wines:

2007 Killer Bee-otch Merlot

2008 Scarlet Leather Merlot

2008 Sheeza Brickhouse Cabernet Franc

2008 Cosmic Rains Cabernet Sauvignon

2008 Sara Problem Malbec

2008 Deadly Aim Red Wine Blend

2009 Foxy Throwdown Gewurztraminer

2009 Selma Soul Chardonnay

Read more on Wine World’s weblog.

Oh and if you so please and you have a pair of skates. Bring em. There’s plenty of room!

-Killer Bee-otch 36 sides to a honeycomb

Retired (to make wine) Grave Danger of Seattle’s Rat City Rollegirls

This is a rough and tumble wine we’ve been holding onto for a while now. Bottled in June of last year, this bottle has been in the cellar until the time was right for it’s unveiling. Now you can try our ’08 My Derby Wife Cabernet Franc at The Blending Room. It’s 100% Columbia Valley Cabernet Franc with that peppery spice and a medium body. This Derby Wife is only available from our online store or at The Blending Room in Manson. Contact us directly for quantity purchases or special deliveries.

Rat City Rollergirls‘ have a bout this evening at Key Arena. It’s the Home Team Standings bout with DLF challenging Grave Danger and the Sockit Wenches going up against the Throttle Rockets. The doors open at 4:30 and you better find your seat by 5:30. Tickets are still available as of this writing but the last bout sold out, so don’t wait to get over to Seattle Center.

Have fun and good luck to Grave Danger.

J.H.

One of the newest places to find our wines is in Renton, WA at the Red House. They feature fine food and a large selection of beers and wines from local makers and from around the world. They say the atmosphere is “sophisticated and casual” and I would agree. I recently poured our Firás and Kamaris at their weekly Wednesday wine tasting event. Trucking over from Manson was a journey, but worth the trip. The Red House is a cozy place. People were very friendly and in good spirits throughout the night sharing stories and laughs with old and new friends. The wines were well received and the food provided for the event seemed to compliment nicely. The 2010 Firá Cabernet Sauvignon and 2010 Kamari Black Label Reserve Red Wine Blend were the hits of the evening.

The Red House now carries WineGirl Wines’ 2009 Firá Gewurztraminer, 2008 Firá Cab Sav, and 2008 My Derby Wife Merlot. If you need more reason to check them out, look at their full menu online. After the event wound down, I had a chance to enjoy their Red House Paella and it was a delicious and hearty meal. I’d order it again next time and pair it with our Firá Cabernet Sauvignon for a savory sensory experience.

A growing list of where to find our wines is here.

J.H.

A very good question we at WineGirl Wines are often asked is, “Where can I find your wines?” A full list of retail places with our wines can be found on this page. Every so often I provide a spotlight on one of these places. Soon I’ll be telling you all about Chantanee Thai Restaurant. Today, though, I’ll just give a little update on who’s carrying what.

Chantanee Thai Restaurant and the Naga Lounge are featuring our Kamari Black Label Reserve Red Wine Blend on their menus. Chantanee and Naga are located in Bellevue, Wash.

Marketime is showing off our ‘My Derby Wife’ 2007 Merlot. It’s easy to spot on the shelves with the roller derby lady in black and white on the label. They’re also carrying our 2008 Firá Chardonnay in the chilled wine section. Marketime is in Fremont, Seattle. Check out my previous ‘Where’s Wino?’ about Marketime.

Malt & Vine has our ’07 Kamari Black Label Reserve available on their shelves. They also have our ’08 Firá Chardonnay. Malt & Vine is in Redmond, Washington. Take a look at the ‘Where’s Wino?’ Malt & Vine edition.

QFC in Issaquah and South Mercer Island have the last remaining bottles of our 2007 Kamari Cabernet Franc in Western Washington. We don’t even have any for sale through our website. For this delicious Washington Cab Franc you’ll have to make the drive.

Cellar 46 has sold out of our 2007 Kamari Malbec, but they still have our Firá Chardonnay on the shelves. Cellar 46 is located in North Mercer Island, WA. Expect a ‘Where’s Wino?’ feature on Cellar 46 sometime soon.

The Vogue displays our fine ’07 Kamari Cabernet Franc and Kamari Malbec. Supplies of both are low, low, low. The Vogue is in beautiful Chelan, WA just down the road from our new tasting room.

As always, all our wines are available for sale online through our shopping cart. We’ll pack it up with love and mail it off to you.

And soon, our wines will be available for tasting and purchase at our very own public location, The Blending Room, in Lake Chelan, WA.

J.H.

UPDATE:

Vines of the Valley in Manson, Washington is now carrying our 2008 Firá Chardonnay and our 2007 My Derby Wife Merlot. When you visit Lake Chelan, check out this new wine lounge and beer bar that’s part of the good ol’ Village Market & Deli.

Lake Chelan Cheese in Manson is now carrying WineGirl Wines‘ 2008 Firá Chardonnay. They’ve opened their doors to the public offering fine domestic and imported cheeses as well as beer and wine by the glass.

Last weekend March 5th, 6th, and 7th, WineGirl Wines represented themselves in the Wine Garden of the NW Women’s Show! This event turned the Qwest Field Event Center into a mad house of pink and women’s gear!

Over 28,000 people poured into this event tasting new treats, learning of new objects like the bra barrette, sniffing olfactory pleasures from the House of Matriarch, not to mention free admission to the wine garden where 30 wineries poured their passion in to 3 oz plastic cups. Holy Cow!

3 oz

Smiling servers:

Let the Games Begin

Helper Dave

1) Who everyone was there for: Washington State Fire Fighters. All proceeds from wine sales and sale of the 2010 Fire Fighter Calendar went to WSCFF Burn Foundation.

2010 Fire Fighters Calendar

2) When I wish I had a camera in my brain: Professional convention go-er/Steam Punk chick had a long chat with me, all the while I tried NOT to stare at her two sets of yellowed vampire fangs, yes on purpose. Crazy!

3) New lessons were learned: Please forgive me, Professor Stearns for not listening in your marketing class during the demographics session. Apparently: “95% women, 25-65+, 85% work outside the home, 90% live within a 50 mile radius of Seattle” does not encompass your typical wine appreciator.

4) New friends were made:

• Christi from House of Matriarch stopped by. What a doll and inspiration! She was reading my tasting notes for My Derby Wife Merlot “…full tannin structure and cherry blossom bouquet… when she almost spits the wine out! What? I ask. She laughs and explains that cherry blossom is not a reproducible scent! How funny, and she would know as a professional nose!
• Kathy Charlton of Olympic Cellars. A true kindred spirit and role model. She was a veteran of the NW Women’s Show and had brought along her fun wines from the Working Girl series.
• And of course, fellow Lake Chelan winery owner of Hard Row to How had to stop by to check out the competition. Don Phelps is such a genuine man. I am so lucky to have his passion for wine in my own backyard. But I couldn’t help but giggle when he told me about the pasties he was going to bring back to his tasting room!

5) Newest Team Wino Member:

6) What almost made me cry: When the Matriarch returned at the end of the LONG event and gave me a sample of her Ultimate Bath pillow. I just wanted to draw the hot water right there and slip right in with the stunning bath pillow caressing my tired skin. Thank you!

The end.

The night was a raging success, besides (as BomBarb pointed out) that George Carlin might advise us to never attend a “First Annual” anything.

We had a ceremony uniting best friends or as rollergirls call ‘em: Derby Wives. Go here to learn about the Derby Wife tradition. The ceremony was officiated by Megatron and our girl-of-flying-petals was The Mexican Fury.

I want to wish all the best and a long and happy life to the following Derby Wife unions:

• In a rare move, a retired skater married a referee! The Stiletto-Beg Union! (Jo Jo Stiletto and Mae Kim Beg).
• The Kafkanovelopolites are no longer living in sin, the Danger-Wench union is official. (Raven Mad, Shovey Chase and Sara Problem).
  
• And a union freshmeat, The Plated-Shorty-Sheedy Union!
• Finally, announcing the Killer Bee-otch union to Scarlet Leather and attended by Sheeza Brickhouse!

Congratulations to all and I look forward to next years’ Derby Wife Day!

A very special thanks to Tash-ya Round’s fabulous chocolate-covered strawberries from her Elegant Gourmet Catering biz. YUM!

Are you planning a Derby Wife celebration? It wouldn’t be complete without the 2007 Wahluke Slope My Derby Wife Merlot inspired by the Rat City Rollergirls. Pick some up here and now!

-WineGirl aka Killer

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As WineGirl, it has always been my dream to lead my passion in way a that gives back to my community. As owner of WineGirl Wines, I can now proudly say that I have been able to realize this dream. In January of 2009, WineGirl Wines donated a case of 2007 Red Mountain Firá Merlot to the C4C Auction, which was followed by our August of 2009 Release Party sponsorship of The Treehouse for foster children. Then a donation to the Wine for Haiti Fundraiser followed by this year’s donation to Challenge for Charity of 2007 Wahluke Slope My Derby Wife Merlot made it our third and fourth official donations to build community.

This is small in comparison to the amazing ways others have given back to our community, but it is a committed start to a lifelong dream. It would be such a blessing if I could continue to help, so that the children of these charities may lead their passions and realize their dreams. Thanks to all of you for helping make this dream come true for me and helping to grow this small act of charity with WineGirl Wines!

Ciao,

WineGirl