Tag Archives: Der Blokken Brewery

Manette wine walk planned

Brynn writes:

If you haven’t already, you better get your tickets for the upcoming Manette Neighborhood Wine Walk before they sell out.

Manette Saloon/Side Bar owner Rebecca Dove Taylor started these to bring people down to Manette to enjoy good wine and the local businesses. She’s had success — the first one sold out pretty fast and I’m pretty sure the other ones were just as well attended.

The other restaurants participating include Der Blokken Brewery and the Boat Shed. Tickets are $10 and cover cost of tasting wines and appetizers at each restaurant. If you make it to all three, don’t forget to get your passport stamped because you can bring it back for 10 percent off your purchase at each location on your next visit.

The event is Thursday, Sept. 29 from 6 to 9 p.m. Even though the wine walk isn’t for another 22 days, we recommend calling the Manette Saloon/Side Bar to reserve tickets now: 360-792-0801.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Get your tickets: Kitsap Wine Festival

Brynn writes:

This year marks the third year of the Kitsap Wine Festival, held in downtown Bremerton at the Harborside Fountain Park. Like the last two years, this year’s event will feature 30-some wineries stationed around the fountains offering their wines. Local restaurants also will be peppered around the park providing bites to hungry attendees.

The event is Saturday, Aug. 20 from 2 to 5:30 p.m.

Something new to this year’s festival is beer. Local breweries, Silver City, Der Blokken and Hale’s Ales will all be represented at the festival, giving beer lovers something to try. Organizers also added a Summer Sipper Tasting Bar that will allow people to do side-by-side tastings of Rose, Riesling and Sparkling Wine. (My opinion? This is a great idea and the perfect way to compare wines so you know what you like, don’t like and why). The number of restaurants has also grown and the wine shop is back, so if you find a wine you love you can buy a bottle to take home.

A total of 35 wineries will be pouring — including many that were at last year’s event. In our review from last year, we felt Chinook Wines and Kiona Vineyards and Winery were the top two wineries of the 17 we visited. Both are back this year.

Other wineries scheduled to be pouring that made our ranked list from 2010 include Davenport Cellars and McCrea Cellars. (Forgeron Cellars also made our list, but they don’t appear to be attending).

Tickets are still available and cost $50 from now until Aug. 19. The price goes up to $60 if you buy them the day of the event. I know the event has sold out in the past, so you may want to buy your tickets now if you’re interested. You can purchase them at brownpapertickets.com, or by clicking here.

Visit the Kitsap Wine Festival website to see the full list of wineries and restaurants that are scheduled to be at the Saturday event. Proceeds go to support the Harrison Medical Center Foundation.

If you’re looking to refresh your memory with highlights from last year’s event, check out our review here.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Manette Wine Walk a success

I missed Thursday’s Manette Wine Walk — unfortunately work kept me in the office and off the streets of Manette. But Mary made the journey and said it was a blast. Here’s her recount of the night:

Mary writes:

It was a sell out. Rebecca Dove-Taylor, owner of The Manette Saloon and Side Bar, was thrilled with the attendance to the first Manette Wine Walk last night. One hundred thirty seven passports were sold in the first hour, and the response was so great that one restaurant ran ou of wine in the first hour.

Dove-Taylor planned the event to bring the community together for a night of wine appreciation and to bring attention to Manette restaurants. The weather cooperated, which may have contributed to the sell-out crowd — what a charming sight seeing so many people strolling up and down Eleventh Street.

For $10, participants tasted wine and sampled food at the Manette Saloon, Boatshed, Der Bloken and for some, La Fermata.

Participants started at The Manette to purchase their passports, where they sampled wines from Olympic Cellars Winery out of Port Angeles (known for their “Working Girl Wines”). Go Girl Red (a blend of Merlot and Lemberger) and Handyman Red (Cab, Merlot and Cab Franc) were paired with hummus, pita chips, fresh vegetables and stuffed mushrooms.

When I asked why she had picked this particular winery, she said, “I’m a ‘Working Girl’ and I just love their wines.”

The absolutely packed Boatshed served up Chateau Ste. Michelle’s ’09 Chardonnay and ’08 Cab. The food samples were eye appealing and there was something for every palate. Olives, hummus, blackberries, strawberries, fresh mozzarella balls, Gouda, salami and prosciutto.

Der Blokken Brewery was serving up Charles Smith’s Velvet Devil Merlot. This was gone by the time I made it up the hill. But they were serving Smith’s Eve Chardonnay as a substitute.

Dove-Taylor has invited the newest Manette restaurant Orion to the next Wine Walk the end of June as plans for a quarterly event move forward.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Celebrate Washington Wine in Manette

Brynn writes:

Did you know March is Washington Wine Month?

Neither did I.

But Rebecca Dove-Taylor did, and she’s planning a celebration that everyone’s invited to attend. As the owner of The Manette Saloon and Side Bar, Dove-Taylor contacted three other Manette businesses asking them if they’d be interested in participating in a Manette Wine Walk.

She’s planned the event to recognize Washington wine month, but more importantly to bring the community together for a night of wine appreciation and of course some good old fashioned fun.

The idea came from Poulsbo, where the Historic Downtown Poulsbo Association has held two wine walks between five of its downtown restaurants.

After attending Poulsbo’s event and seeing its success, Dove-Taylor decided it was time to do something similar in Manette. So she got on the phone and started calling her neighboring restaurateurs.

It didn’t take much convincing, Dove-Taylor said. La Fermata, The Boat Shed and Der Blokken Brewery all eagerly agreed to participate.

The event is planned for Thursday, March 31 from 6 to 9 p.m. Every stop is within walking distance along Eleventh Street in Manette.

Participants should start at The Manette to purchase their passports, which grant entry for the evening. From there you can start trying wines and food at the saloon and next door at the Side Bar before moving on to the other venues to get your passports stamped and to try the different wines.

For $10, participants get tastings at each destination and food samples. Those who visit every stop and get their passports stamped along the way also get an extra 10 percent off food items purchased that night from the participating restaurants, Dove-Taylor said.

“Ten dollars for a tasting and some food is awesome,” she said.

The wines poured will be from Washington, but Dove-Taylor wasn’t sure what wines everyone planned to select. At her establishments, Dove-Taylor wants to feature a local winemaker and has plans to pour one of their wines and have their other wines available for purchase.

She has high hopes the Manette Wine Walk will become a quarterly event.

“We’re just trying to pull the community together,” she said.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post