2015 Taste of Tulalip Wine Blend: Salivating Palates Prompt Flash Flood Warning

CÔTE BONNEVILLE AND TOMMY THOMPSON’S MUST-HAVE TASTE OF TULALIP WINE BLEND

Tulalip Resort Casino’s wine guy, Tommy Thompson, and Taste of Tulalip’s honorary winemaker, Kerry Shiels, have announced their epoch-making collaboration for the 7th 
anniversary Taste of Tulalip Wine Blend. Creating a unique blend of wine that showcases the remarkable grapes of DuBrul Vineyard and exceptional winemaking of Côte Bonneville was the driving force, in partnership with the aesthetic expression of the Tulalip culture—conveying a sense of place, time and teamwork.
This celebratory wine is made from 100% DuBrul Vineyard fruit, blended specifically for the 2-day event by Shiels and the Tulalip wine team. It is composed of traditional Bordeaux grapes — 80% Cabernet from various terroir within the 45 acre DuBrul Vineyard, 10% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet Franc. It is matured in French oak (50% new) for 10 months and is approachable now, but will continue to improve with time.

The exclusive blend will be introduced during the Friday, November 13 Celebration Dinner. It will be available for purchase in the event wine shop during the festival weekend.

“The creation of the 7th anniversary Cabernet was a fun, relaxing opportunity for our team to submerge themselves in the complex world of winemaking with Kerry Shiels. It was nice to spend the entire day learning Kerry’s style and having the chance to add our touch to the final blending. In the end it came down to day of tasting, swirling, and more tasting along with a bit of artistry,” Thompson said.

After earning her Engineering degree, Shiels worked for two years in Torino, Italy, and then moved on to Case New Holland’s world headquarters in Chicago for 18 months before entering the world of wine. From there, Kerry worked the 2006 vintage at Joseph Phelps Vineyards, 2007 harvest at Australia’s Tahbilk, and then went on to work the 2007 vintage at Folio—Michael Mondavi’s Napa winery. During the 2008 harvest, Shiels served as the assistant white winemaker to Rich Arnold at Robert Mondavi Winery, followed by the antipodal 2010 harvest at Tapiz in Argentina, and then finally returning home to work full-time at Côte Bonneville.

Mike Gobin, honored artist for the 7th annual Taste of Tulalip, explained his inspiration for this year’s signature artwork, which is featured on the front of the commemorative wine bottle.

“My father’s Indian name means ‘Man soars with Eagles’ and my twin sister loved hummingbirds, and her Indian name means ‘Aunty to all’. They have both gone to be with our lord and the design depicts my father embracing my twin sister in heaven and is entitled ‘A father’s heavenly embrace’. The salmon represents our Tribal People….’People of the Salmon,’” he said.

The 7th annual Taste of Tulalip takes place November 13-14, 2015. All Access and Grand Taste 
tickets, will go on sale in August. For more information, please visit www.tasteoftulalip.com.

Photo credit: http://www.tasteoftulalip.com/Gallery

Written by Charles Koh

Founded EatSeattle, and has continued to use his expertise as editor-in-chief to guide the website’s growth over the last five years. Koh’s experience focuses on digital marketing and social media, and has been a part of several companies, some of which he created, specializing in both areas over the course of his career. Koh was previously with Google and Zagat where he helped expand and grow communities worldwide.

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