Location: the wilds of the Woodinville, Washington. The results were bloody as Chris received a bad cut but got taped up, resumed the dual and won the preliminary round.
Urban legend? No! The Willows Lodge hosts a yearly Iron Vintners Challenge in June which brings local winemakers together from the wine making region in Woodinville Washington, 20 minutes east of Seattle. The purpose of the Challenge is to raise money for a noble cause - Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center - and to show off the culinary skills of the winemakers. In the 2011 competition, Chris Upchurch of DeLille Cellars cut his finger and they had to temporally stop the competition. A bandage and glove covered the cut and Chris went back to work and won the first round with his chorizo clam with onions, and bell peppers. Before Chris went to the hospital to get stitches he could not resist the wonderful dinner prepared at Barking Frog at the Willows Lodge. Executive Chef Bobby Moore serves up food that is to die for!
Chris Upchurch was fine and returned the following week for the final contest to determine the best cook. However, in an upset Chris Gorman of Gorman Winery won the contest with his butter sous vide center cut beef tenderloin. Chris Gorman, being somewhat a perfectionist, spent eight months preparing for this contest.
Chris Gorman uses grapes primarily from the famous Red Mountain AVA in Eastern Washington to craft his fine wine. We enjoyed Zachary’s Ladder which has a rich but not overpowering nose of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot. This has received high praise from the likes of Wine Spectator. His other wines were equally impressive. Dinner time was approaching and since Chris does not offer food we were on our way out the door when we noticed some guitars on the wall. Chris explained that he played guitar for the group Crawdaddies in the early 1990’s in Bellingham. So a rock star, winemaker, and champion cook - very impressive.
We then took a quick five minute walk and checked in at the Willows Lodge. We proceeded across the parking lot and took the scenic way through an old hollowed tree to Barking Frog to dine. However, we noticed this big truck (22 foot long); it was the Barking Frog Mobile Kitchen, aka the “Road Toad.” We spoke briefly with Josh Delgado, chef de cuisine at Barking Frog and Neil Duncanson, chef of the Road Toad. We saw this giant kitchen on wheels while they were getting it ready for an outdoor event at Chateau Ste. Michelle.
Since they were not serving food now from the truck we asked Josh for some appetizer recommendations at the Barking Frog. 
He insisted that we try the Penn Cove Mussels & Chorizo and the Grand Marnier Prawns. My wife and I always enjoy the famous local Penn Cove Mussels and after trying these we quickly claimed that these are the best ever! Why? The taste of the smoked onions with the killer taste of Spanish Chorizo made this a dish to remember. The prawns were a close second, butter fried with very light batter. This was perfectly paired with Pearl Sauvignon Blanc from local winemakers at Sparkman cellars (grapes sourced from Yakima, Washington).
The highlight for dinner was the marinated halibut. The fish was sprinkled with tasty morels and asparagus all of which was mouthwatering. The restaurant is under the direction of Executive Chef Bobby Moore, a legend in the area. He started working at the Barking Frog in 2001 and quickly worked his way to Executive Chef in 2004. Bobby started early in this trade, at the age of 15 working as a dishwasher and by 18 tossing pizza dough. He has not stopped creating wonderful food.
After dinner we are fortified to check out over 100 wine tasting rooms within a short distance from the Willows Lodge. We had a contest to find out many wineries there are within a five minute walk from the Willows Lodge. We took the pleasant walk past the Sammamish Slough and the historic building at Hollywood School house and counted 22 wine tasting rooms – just near that intersection. However, were told there are 30, so maybe we got distracted looking at the views of sun shining on the green meadow of the Sammamish Valley.
Now to sample all of the 30 wine tasting rooms? Not! We sampled but a few, starting with Brian Carter Cellars which brings the Bordeaux-Style blend which is crafted in Woodinville from grapes sourced from select vineyards in Eastern Washington. The mastermind of this wine is Brian Carter. He started sampling wine in Oregon while he studding microbiology and his interest in wine blossomed. Brian then went to UC Davis for his degree in Enology. His craft lead to awards for wineries in Washington as he was twice voted "Winemaker of the Year” by Washington Magazine. We sample the best of his Bordeaux-Style and enjoyed the rich and smooth tastes. We finished with their nontraditional wine, a Rose blend, Abracadabra. Enjoying this fine summer wine with my wife, a Jewish educator, said in Hebrew that means: “I create what I speak.” Mike Stevens co-owner took note of that and said Brian will be very interested to know that.
We concluded our visit at DeLille Cellars and were fortunate to sample their soon to be released wines. We are sure these will get the high ratings that some of their wines have received over the years from the Wine Spectator.
Time has run out on this visit and we know we will return for the yearly events in June hosted by the Willows Lodge; the Iron Vintner Challenge.
About our guest contributor:
Michael Fagin is a freelance travel writer who has traveled across Canada and visited all the major Canadian wine regions. Mr. Fagin is currently touring the Pacific Northwest enjoying the wine country, dining, and hiking the region. While he is not writing Mr. Fagin is a weather forecaster for West Coast Weather, LLC forecasting weather for the West Coast of the US as well as on an international basis. Mr. Fagin has a weekly hiking and weather segment every Tuesday morning on KUOW FM Seattle.
