RETURN TO SEATTLE
Our restless West Coast Editor can’t get enough of a good thing…
Billing itself as “Washington State’s Founding Winery,” Chateau Ste. Michelle is located in bucolic Woodinville, a smooth 40 minute drive from downtown Seattle. It is part of a large consortium, but the winery’s staff does a very good job of maintaining an intimate vibe.
They also do concerts. Concerts and great wine. Seriously, what’s better than that? When my better half and I arrive on this particular summer evening, the team directs folks to the several parking lots, then for a walk through the many gardens and past the turnstiles. We saw a wonderful double bill of Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello. It may have seemed ironic seeing these formerly young angry men in such a luxurious setting, but everyone had a great and fully satisfying experience. And, you know, people, like wine, age. (Lowe opened with a sterling setlist of his clever songs. Costello did a setlist 70% comprised of selections from his early, best albums. Apparently, as his tour snaked across the country, he dropped these gems for more oblique songs — I’m glad we caught him before that.)
With a generous array of open lawn seating, some fans can opt (and pay extra) for reserved seating. But with the intimacy of this venue, even the furthest lawn seating areas feel closer than the most expensive VIP section. And just added this year is the two-tier structure at the back: expensive elevated cabanas are the equivalent of sky boxes at large arenas (great for high rollers wanting to entertain as opposed to being immersed in the event).
The natural incline of the lawn puts the stage toward the bottom of a slope, yielding great sight lines wherever one sits. The sound level and quality are ideal. Plenty of libations and culinary choices are on offer, and we had a great evening drinking the winery’s famed Syrah.
Chateau Ste. Michelle is great for a visit regardless of whether a concert is on the schedule. The founders of the winery wanted to prove that good wines could come from other than California and France. Chateau Ste. Michelle was constructed on the 1912 estate originally owned by Seattle lumber baron Frederick Stimson, and the winery’s production roots date back to the Repeal of Prohibition. It is one of the few premium wineries in the world with two state-of-the-art wineries, one for red and one for white.
For our next trip to the Pacific Northwest we have The Gorge high on our list. That outdoor venue is several hours from Seattle, but the location is a glorious concert setting.
This particular weekend we stayed at the Kimpton Palladian — I wrote about a previous sojourn to Seattle here. We took their Sub Pop Suite, a collaboration with the city’s famous independent record label, celebrates Sub Pop’s 35th anniversary with iconic framed posters of the likes of Nirvana, Soundgarden and Mudhoney. Mudhoney has even put its name on a tasty Riesling (crisp and fortunately not too sweet, before you ask). A bottle was chilled and waiting in the suite.
Sub Pop always had a clever aesthetic, whether auditory or visual. Hence, its Suite at the Palladian Hotel features a turntable with a selection of vinyl Sub Pop albums to spin, plus the posters. It is of course ironic that such an iconoclastic, fiercely alternative record label is now the aesthetic for a luxury suite in a hotel that’s part of a mainstream chain. But — ask yourself — why not?
Kimpton has been consistently successful gentrifying older properties with an eclectic touch. The suite was completely comfortable, with a long conference table for our inevitable card games. The bedroom, at the corner of the building, had thick windows to quiet the street hum outside and a great bed. The grunge aesthetic was not ingrained into the design of the Sup Pop Suite incidentally and, upon reflection, thankfully.
Seattle has no dearth of fine dining — in case you were wringing your hands and sweat-beading your brow in anxiety over that — confirmed by our visit to Goldfinch Tavern. On the harbor, in the Four Seasons Hotel, the restaurant had an impressive wine list and the expected array of handcrafted cocktails. I happily settled into a Velvet Oaxaca, a blend of mezcal, raspberry syrup, lemon, St. Germain, cucumber, aquafaba and rhubarb bitters.
A plate of briny, fresh Pacific Northwest oysters set the stage for a tremendous seafood meal. The seared jumbo scallops (paired with bacon fries, melted leek and truffle butter sauce) were cooked perfectly with just a touch of crispness on the outside, maintaining the lush tenderness inside. Equally tasty was the squid ink spaghetti with calamari, mussels, cured lemon and pickled Fresno chilies.
The wait staff was informative, discreet, and efficient.
Watching the sun set over Elliott Bay made for a perfect finish to our weekend. And did I mention the Velvet Oaxaca? Didn’t hurt.
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