SEATTLE — Taste Washington returns to Lumen Field Saturday for two days of wine tasting as part of its 31 days of celebrating Washington wine through events, dinner series, and seminars.
And unlike other events, like last weekend’s ComicCon, where post pandemic recovery is still underway, Taste is already there.
“We’re pacing almost 100% in line with the 2019 attendance,” said SE Productions owner Sam Minkoff.
This year beings a new production company behind the scenes, and Minkoff says attendees can expect a bigger show.
“We’re bringing in two semis worth of lighting and truss and all sorts of production gear to really transform the space” said Minkoff.
With more than 250 wineries and 600 different grape varietals, organizers are hoping to give people a taste of a major money-maker for the Washington state economy.
The wine industry has become an $8 billion a year industry, and the state is adding around four wineries each month.
“It’s sometimes easy to fail to realize we live in wine country because all our vineyards are growing over across the mountain range, but this is absolutely wine country and people are starting to understand that and get behind it,” said Chris Stone, who runs marketing for the Washington State Wine Commission.
From staple wineries like Chateau Ste. Michelle to the women run like Elsom Cellars, Taste is a chance for winemakers to connect with both novices and connoisseurs alike.
“People who are coming from this event that’s just a couple miles from here and then they find out that there's a working winery right down the street… that they never would have found any other way,” said Rebecca Weber of Elsom Cellars.
While Taste Washington is of course all about the fun and experience, Stone says security is top of mind with added access to water stations and alcohol enforcers walking throughout Lumen Field making sure people stay safe while drinking.