In honor of the Auction of Washington Wines Picnic & Barrel Auction happening in days I’m finally finishing this post.

We had the luxury last year to attend the Auction of Washington Wines picnic and barrel auction hosted at Chateau Ste Michelle. All we had to do was win tickets by re-tweeting a tweet a month or two before – seriously that was all we had to do to join this amazing event.

VIP entrance opened at 4pm and we ambled in to a wine lovers paradise. Dozens of ridiculously talented winemakers were on hand pouring their own wine and talking with guests.

The highlight was a barrel tasting of pre-release wines a year or so before they will delight the public. And the list of wineries pouring samples was stellar – Reynvaan, Andrew Will, Efeste, Result of a Crush, Avennia, Sleight of Hand, and many more…

There were 20+ wineries participating in the barrel auction – where guests bid to win a case of the wine they were sampling. We tested a few and we’re quite impressed at the offerings, especially as these were young wines needing some age in the barrel and the bottle.

As we worked our way around – and in and out of the tent (needed to try all of the awesome food from Tulalip Casino’s outstanding restaurants) – we were able to test most of the wines before the 3-4 bottles of each were polished off by all of the guests. Samples from Reynvaan, Andrew Will, Avennia and Sleight of Hand were among our favorites. Until…

Off to the side of the tent near the end of the line sandwiched in next to Result of a Crush was a winemaker patiently standing and at the ready for any guests who approached. The wine maker wasn’t glad handing or luring in guests to his table.

I’d admittedly never heard of Double Canyon and wasn’t sure about stepping to the table. I watched as a couple guests stepped up to try his wine, then watched them smile and chat for a few minutes and saunter on. The wine maker was letting his wine speak for itself amongst an impressive array of high quality contenders and not boasting with showmanship to draw attention. His quiet confidence intrigued me and I stepped forward…

The first sip bore the fruits of a craftsman dedicated to surfacing classic elements of Cabernet Sauvignon and I dove in to becoming fast friends (a few glasses of wine helps speed up this process for anyone…). Jason (finally learned his name) and I chatted about his wine, met his vineyard manager Will and continued to taste and learn more about their wine and their history. Of all of the winemakers I met that evening – Jason and Will were like drinking with your buddies.

As we became fast friends we bid on the Double Canyon barrel auction and ended up drinking more samples than I can remember before eventually taking home a signed barrel top from Jason Ledbetter and Will Beightol…

Can’t wait to pick up the wine we “won.”

Full review of the wine to come soon, but I’ll let you know that whenever we see it on stores shelves (in limited quantities) we snap it up and it is often gone before it can even take up residence in our “cellar.”