Interest in wine festival in Seattle?

[stevebody]

Anyone from WA or OR interested in establishing a wine festival - judging, awards, etc. - here in Seattle, please contact me at stevebody@go.com. I have a lot of experience at organizing such events and have a couple of backers who might be interested if the prospectus looks good. NEED organizing committee. Serious and CAPABLE people only, plz.

[Bucko]

I'd love to see it but doubt that it will ever get off of the ground. The WA wine industry just does not seem interested in promoting itself from my experience. I've tried firing them up in "Best of WA" wine articles in the newspaper and web and get a pitiful response. The WA Wine Commission tries, but again, they seem to turn a deaf ear to the trade and press. An example is Taste WA. They allow one hour for trade and press to try wines before the public throng invades. I've tried to get them to extend the press portion to just two hours (ZAP in CA gives 3 hours). Nada, zilch. It is frustrating to beat your head on the wall after a while. It is hard to help those who have no interest in helping themselves. I guess when the wine glut finally catches up with WA they will change their tune???

Rant over. That said, I'd be happy to help out in any way that I can, including press in the Tacoma News Tribune, judging, whatever.

[stevebody]

Oops, clarity issues again: This WOULD NOT be a festival of WA wines. I'm thinking - as are the potential backers, of a festival that is open to any winery, anywhere that wishes to enter a wine in a category. My own interest in a festival of only WA wines is practically zero, so I just wouldn't be involved in that. Besides, between Taste and the Seattle Oenological Society's yearly WA awards, there's no real need for a WA judging.

Seattle is moving slowly but surely away from being geocentric about its wine habits. This would be further progress along that line.

Sorry for being vague. Advancing age, I guess.