13 Things the Mina Group Wine Director Thinks About Washington Wines

The man in charge of the wine at Michael Mina's restaurants is in town from San Francisco (actually, probably heading down to Portland at this point). He was the big draw at some fancy wine dinner at RN74 last night. Parr sat down with Eater Seattle to talk about, what else, wine. Specifically, is he snobby about our grapes? You know, like most everyone else from California.

· He loves the lively sommelier scene.
· WA has great Riesling, Semillon and Grüner Veltliner.
· His favorite artisanal producers include: Grammercy Cellars, Waters, Cadence, Figgins.
· Passionate, small producers have put WA on the map for some of the greatest wines in the world.
· He loves the culture of food and wine Seattle breeds.
· Favorite restaurants include: Matt's in the Market and Revel.
· WA wines you're most likely to find in his personal collection: Quilceda Creek and Leonetti.
· His mentor, Larry Stone, is from Seattle, having previously worked at the old Four Seasons Olympic Hotel.
· Syrah is the hot grape in WA.
· Californians like WA wines, but for the most part, they want to drink CA wines.
· The farm-to-table mentality of Seattle makes it the most unique food and wine city in the Pacific Northwest.
· Having a wine region next to a major city is a big bonus, because sommeliers have easy access to wines.
· WA wines have a little more structure and acidity than CA wines.

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