Mondavi will be at Taste of Tulalip

TULALIP — Last year’s Taste of Tulalip event featured only Washington state wines, but as this year’s Taste of Tulalip approaches Nov. 12-13, Marc Mondavi wants wine enthusiasts to know that the Napa region of California will also be represented.

Mondavi is a third-generation member of one of Napa Valley’s winemaking families, who will not only serve as the keynote speaker at the Taste of Tulalip’s Celebration Dinner, starting at 7 p.m. Nov. 12, but also present a wine blending seminar from 3-5 p.m. Nov. 13.

“Everybody will get to make their own blends, bottle them and take them home,” said Mondavi, who hopes to demystify wine for those who attend his seminar. “It’s truly an art to grow grapes and make wine, but in today’s environment, there are tens of thousands of wine labels on the market, so it can be a difficult choice for people.”

While Mondavi hopes to impart the passion that he and his family feel for winemaking, which he believes should come through in every bottle, he also looks forward to encouraging wine enthusiasts to trust their own tastes as they make their own blends.

“There are rules of thumb for making blends, but they’re just that,” Mondavi said. “Everybody has a different taste profile. If you don’t like chocolate, that doesn’t mean it’s bad, just that it doesn’t fit your taste profile. Some people don’t like cab and others don’t like merlot, but there’s no right or wrong. The best blend is whatever you think it is. We just try to help you create one that’s dimensional, flavorful and aromatic.”

The addition of California wines is new to this year’s Taste of Tulalip and may not necessarily return for next year’s event.

Mondavi’s lecture will cover the history of the Charles Krug winery, Napa Valley’s first, that will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2011. Attendees will be able to relive this history through tastings that span three decades of the family’s flagship wine, and the reserve Bordeaux blends they make will be from the same grape varietals as the 2009 Charles Krug Family Reserve Generations wine. The cost for the seminar is $40 per person.

Contact Marysville Globe Reporter Kirk Boxleitner at kboxleitner@marysvilleglobe.com or 360-659-1300 Ext. 5052.

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