Thank you to everyone who checked their labels and renewed their membership! And a special thanks to those of you who included something extra for our work in the community. And thanks to those who wrote some atta boys, i.e., “Thanks for all you do in the community! “ Now that we are in 2016, it seems like a good time to review the 2015 goals that we set. It’s certainly a mixed bag of success and failure! We did keep up the stairway work until November; both rain and the fact that SDOT had recently cleaned the Spruce St. stairs forced us to cancel. We will start up again in March. The Living Wall on the Lake Dell retaining wall became an impossibility as not enough space had been left at the base of the wall to install plants. We will consider other options, but they are significantly more expensive. No threats to Bus #27 were perceived, but the best way to keep this bus is to ride it, so it’s up to all of us! Great difficulties finding a date for the annual ArtWalk interfered with plans to have a concert on the pier, but that is still in our plans for this year. Membership increased slowly; we did not have a membership drive and we need to discuss that for this year. There is strength in numbers and we need to increase our numbers. NextDoor Leschi is now another venue for posting our events; thanks to Jeff Floor for keeping this up. Improving relationships with Parks was a mixed bag according to John Barber, who has the most interaction with that department as our Parks Chair. In the November Leschi News, he detailed what worked and what didn’t. We need to keep a dialogue going with Parks. We will create new goals for 2016; please forward any ideas you might have to leschinews@comcast.net. If you want to become more involved, check out the volunteer activities on our website at leschinews.com and do consider running for office in May. Our current officers are term-limited and we need new folks to step forward and assume these responsibilities. We’ll post the positions and the tasks in the March issue and you can always email us at leschinews@comcast.net or call 206-726-0923 if you want to talk to someone about the tasks involved for each position. Be the change you want to see in the world. ~Gandhi ~Diane Morris & Diane Snell

Regularly scheduled work parties Leschi Natural Area Work Parties 1st Saturday of each month Leschi Natural Area, 36th & Terrace. 9-3pm. Tools and lunch provided. Just show up and someone will orient you. Leschi Area Stairway Cleanup 3rd Saturday of month is a stairway clean-up headed up by the Leschi Community Council Board. Leschi has 31 public stairways that connect streets on steep hills. In some cases, neighbors keep them free of litter and overhanging branches. In other areas, help is needed. Bring brooms, pruners, & flat-bottom shovels are good for cleaning moss off stairs. 10-12 noon. Check the Event Calendar to find the next stairway cleanup event. Occasional work parties Frink Park: contact Darrell Howe (dhowe@artcycled.com) or Darcy Thompson (darcy@artcycled.com) String of Pearls: contact John Barber (barber-osa@comcast.net) Powell Barnett: possible work party being planned on Earth Day. Watch the website for details. Events Flo Ware Event: Held in spring or early summer. Help on day of event with set-up or take down. ArtWalk Event: September. Help is always needed in set-up and take-down. Other small tasks: delivering bottled water to artists’ tables, helping artists find their tables, etc. Student Opportunities We can sign the community service hour forms for any of the students that participate in the work parties or events. Poster design for events. Attend a community meeting and report on it for the Leschi News. Take photographs of work parties and events for our newsletter and website. Report on news from Washington Middle or Garfield High Schools. ~Diane Snell

Leschi Elementary’s school garden is ready for spring planting! On Sunday February 15th, we had a wonderful group of parent volunteers and two Leschi Community Council (LCC) members come together to prepare the garden for student education. Work included building a beautiful spiral herb garden, mixing in donated compost (from Cedar Grove) into soil, digging up existing lilac tree to create more room for planting, putting plastic cloches back up, transplanting herbs and cleaning up existing compost bin. The highlight of the work party was installing our “irrigation system” ollas. Here’s a picture of these beautiful urns. What a successful day! Thank you to all the parents and LCC for being there. Outdoor Education will start back up the first week of March. With this warm winter upon us, spring feels like it’s already here. The other wonderful news is that Leschi Elementary has been awarded a $2000 grant from Whole Kids Foundation; $1500 of this will be used to fund a garden educator. The educator has already been “hired” and will start the first week of March and continue through August. Thank you, LCC, for being our community partner on the grant. Other collaborations include Green Plate Special and IslandWood. Both nonprofits will be providing volunteer outdoor educators to help teach garden and forestry to students of Leschi. Since we are gearing up for planting, we could always use starts to help us get going. If you have any strawberries, herbs, kale and any other good spring season starts, please contact parent volunteer garden coordinator Kim Blakemore at kblakemo@uw.edu . We could always use volunteers interested in assisting our educators. Contact Kim if interested. Thank you to our parents, school staff and teachers and to our surrounding community for making outdoor education possible at Leschi Elementary. ~Kim Blakemore

Local Women in the News Wendy Ceccherelli and Pam Smith-Mentz, Leschi and Madrona residents respectively, are part of the Washington Masters Team traveling to Adelaide, Australia, for an international Dragon Boat Race beginning April 1. Twenty-five members of WAM, age 50 and over, will compete in races, which can range to 2000 meters (races of this length are not held in this country). Pam says, “I started paddling 12 years ago. My husband and I moved to Seattle, purchasing our first home in the PNW in Madrona, shortly before we were introduced to dragon boating. We were not familiar with dragon boating before seeing them on Lake Washington. We were walking along the waterfront one evening as some paddlers were headed out with Club SAKE at Leschi Marina. We inquired about the large canoe-like boats and were invited to give it a try. We did and loved it -- being out on the lake with the mountains as the backdrop was a perfect place to get in a workout right in the neighborhood and meet new people. I’m hooked on being out on the lake. I hadn’t paddled with an all-women’s team until this crew. I really love it! I’ve established friendships throughout the region and I am amazed at the commitment of this team.” And Wendy: “I was introduced to dragon boating in about 2004, when I helped organize the first two years of participation by the City of Tampa in a local dragon boat festival. After I moved back to Seattle, I met then-President of Seattle SAKE Dragon Boat Club (and also then-President of the Leschi Community Council) Matthew Goossen, who invited me out with the Leschi Club. I have been paddling ever since, and followed our coach Lesley Blyth, who envisioned a more competitive regional team that eventually morphed into WAM, from its earliest inception about four years ago.” Congratulations on your accomplishments and we will follow your progress “down under”! ~Diane Snell

“Dreamy blues/mood indigo.” ~Duke Ellington, 1931 Breathe deeply as you enter the first gallery of “Mood Indigo, Textiles from Around the World,” then look carefully at the dried plants hanging on the walls. Now, enter a high enclosure of fabric dyed in many shades of blue and experience a constantly changing soundscape that evokes the sounds of color and the color of sound. The collaborative contemporary installation Mobile Section, 2015, by textile artist Rowland Ricketts and sound artist Norbert Herber provides a perfect introduction to this highly original exhibition. It gives us the material qualities of the immaterial, color, created only by the refraction of light. The first exhibition of textiles at the Seattle Art Museum since 1980, “Mood Indigo” features almost 100 different textiles and garments, many of them never before exhibited. While Pamela McClusky, Seattle Art Museum’s wonderful curator of Art of Africa and Oceania took the lead in the theme of the exhibition, she collaborated with the curators of Native American Art, Chinese Art, and Japanese Art, as well as, importantly, Nicholas Dorman, Conservator, and Paul Martinez, Installer, who solved the incredible challenges of installing flat textiles in a dynamic way. Together they excavated the collections with an eye for indigo blue, a radical project. Indigo does not actually exist in the world. It must be produced from a molecule in one of about 20 plants (of which there are 600 varieties). Rowland Ricketts explained the process in detail. When the plants reach waist high, they are harvested, dried, stomped on, mixed with water, left 100 days in compost, turned, sliced, watered and bagged. The resulting paste ferments in a vat with wood ash, lime and wheat bran (everyone around the world has a different formula, often a family secret). During the oxidation/reduction process as it is stirred daily, the color appears, like magic. Vats themselves apparently have attributes and respond to the person stirring it. The color comes alive in different ways according your own mood! (Basinjom mask and gown, Ejagham, cloth, wood, feathers, porcupine quills, mirrors, herbs, raffia, cowrie shells, rattle, eggshell, knife, and genet cat skin, 34 1/4 x 17 11/16 x 19 11/16 in., Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company. Photo: Paul Macapia. Kimono, late 19th - early 20th century) Focusing on indigo textiles erases borders of geography and categories. Textiles here emerge from the margins established by European academic traditions that privileged painting and sculpture, and from the depths of storage at the Seattle Art Museum. The indigo textiles in this exhibition encompass all classes of society and all parts of our life. They cover us when we sleep and work, they ornament us for special events, they define rituals and ceremonies, they wrap us when we die. Indigo blue clothing signifies status and royalty, but it also covers the backs of peasants, prisoners (in the 1940s), and “blue collar” workers. The textiles contain secrets and symbols. The indigo blue suggests many emotions, sad, reflexive, humble or joyful. The exhibition ranges from ancient African fragments to a towering Basinjom (spirit) mask and gown, from an imperial Chinese robe to a Japanese fireman’s outfit. It includes a Guatemalan cape, a Peruvian feather quilt, a contemporary American textile created from denim jeans, a Tlingit basket, a Javanese head shawl, a Laotian shawl and a Korean Bojagis. Japanese kimonos fill an entire gallery like fluttering butterflies. Colonial powers traded indigo in massive amounts, particularly from Bengal. Three huge Belgian tapestries made during the height of this trade anchor one gallery, each representing a different continent, Asia, America and Africa. The allegorical royal figures seated at the center of the tapestries are dressed in blue fabrics, and they are surrounded by a wealth of symbols. Meticulously restored, the tapestries have never before been displayed by the Museum (they were a 1962 gift from the Hearst Foundation). Fascinating as they are to view, I felt that they recapitulated the oppressions of colonialism as they towered over clusters of tapestries from each continent. The egalitarianism of the exhibition was disrupted by their scale and their academic imagery; the three royal figures were all women draped in fabric that exposed their breasts. The Belgian tapestries magnify the global scope of the exhibition, but the real joy of “Mood Indigo” is the range of cultures that it encompasses and the many different directions that focusing on Indigo blue can take us. Curator Pamela McClusky even pointed out that in May we will have a blue moon (when there are two moons in one month). “The deeper blue becomes the more urgently it summons man toward the infinite, the more it arouses in him a longing for purity, and, ultimately, for the supersensual.” ~Wassily Kandinsky Mood Indigo: Textiles From Around The World April 9 – October 9, 2016 Seattle Asian Art Museum Journey to Dunhuang: Buddhist Art of the Silk Road Caves While you are at the Asian Art Museum, visit the exhibition of photography and painting based on the Buddhist art in the thousands of caves of Dunhuang, a World Heritage site in Western China. Now in a desolate desert landscape, it formerly lay at the crossroads of several civilizations on the “Silk Road.” The exhibition intersperses historical photographs from the 1940s by James and Lucy Lo, and replicas that they commissioned in the 1950s of some of the ancient paintings. It provides an insight into an important phase of Buddhist art that lasted from the fourth century to the fourteenth century. Some of these painters may have travelled from Ajanta in India, where you see similar caves with early carvings of giant Buddhas and stories of the life of Buddha painted on walls and ceilings. Journey to Dunhuang: Buddhist Art of the Silk Road Caves March 5 – June 12, 2016 Seattle Asian Art Museum By Susan N. Platt, www.artandpoliticsnow.com

We just received information that the Yesler Bridge will close May 23 for structural and seismic renovation. Repairs could take up to 16 months. Bus #27 will need to detour around the bridge for the duration. Westbound - to Downtown Seattle: Regular route to WB Yesler Way & 6 Ave Left on SB 6 Av S Right on WB S Main St Right on NB 4 Av S Continue on NB Prefontaine Pl S Continue on 3rd Ave Continue on regular route The return trip has the #27 turning left from 3rd onto James heading eastward to 6th Ave S, where it will turn right and connect with Yesler where the freeway off-ramp connects. This should add to commute time, especially on the westbound downtown trip. ~Diane Snell

These were the words uttered by Professor Henry McGee describing the demographic changes in Seattle at a recent meeting of the Seattle Neighborhood Coalition. He said two words describe Seattle: wealthy and white. He has studied both Portland and Seattle and found that black communities are a bellweather. He cited the Central District as an example; it was once a segregated black community, but as younger well-to-do groups lost their fear of blacks and wanted convenience (proximity to work and to urban amenities), they looked for housing that met their needs regardless of segregation status. The Black community was moving southward for a number of reasons: the younger generation wanted more house for the money and what they felt were better schools. The older generation followed as the community changed and they no longer felt a part of it. The new center of the black community is in Renton, Kent and Tukwila. Professor McGee’s talk came after the HALA (Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda) presentation, but seemed to belong before it. McGee spoke of the lower incomes being forced out of the city and the HALA approach seemed designed to alleviate that….slowly. Geoffrey Wentlandt represented the Office of Planning & Development. He listed the identified problems: 4,000 persons go without any shelter at all; 45,000 pay over half their income for shelter, and the average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment has increased 29% over the last 5 years. HALA’s overall goal is to build 50,000 new units of housing: 20,000 for lower incomes and 30,000 market rate units. Developers will be allowed to build an extra floor if they include 5-7% affordable units or pay into a fund, which serves to finance a lower income building. There was some push-back from the audience as including affordable units would be faster than waiting for the fund to pay for an additional building. While Wentlandt did not go over all the strategies, he did focus on the supports that would be offered to current renters or seekers of units: Preservation Tax Exemption: incentives to preserve existing affordable housing. Strengthening Tenant Protections: Ban any increase of rent for apartment with any substandard issues and require 60 days notice if there is a planned increase of over 10%. Expand source of income discrimination protections (such as Section 8 vouchers, child support income, SSI). Concerns were expressed during the Q & A period: no focus on families with children, no focus on neighborhoods, some concern about make-up of the HALA group and one person said there should be a goal that enables those who work in the city, to live in the city. This struck home with me; I feel strongly that our teachers, firefighters, police staff, baristas, grocery clerks, etc. should be living in the neighborhoods where they work. I also felt the percentages for affordable units were very low; at the rate of 5-7% for affordable housing, we’ll be facing the same issues in another 10 years, as we are now with homelessness. That percentage is just too low! ~Diane Snell

Loss of a Neighborhood Icon: DeeDee Rainbow (December 2013) We learned that long time Madrona resident, DeeDee Rainbow, died just shortly before the newsletter deadline. A native of Seattle, DeeDee moved around the country after marriage until her husband, Peter Raible, was called to be the minister of the University Unitarian Church. DeeDee was an art teacher at Meany Middle School for 29 years, and she was a walking work of art in her colorful robes, glittered hair and wand. She was a fan of jazz, and Paul deBarros in his wonderful obituary in the Seattle Times quoted jazz radio emcee Jim Wilkie: "When I was emceeing a concert, and I saw that flash of color, I knew it was an official event." We were fortunate to attend her 80th birthday, and the multitude of friends that gathered at her Madrona home were as colorful as her outfit; stimulating conversations and remembrances were heard no matter which room you found yourself in. We will miss this rainbow of light who was a welcome antidote to our frequent gray skies. A celebration of her life, including a New Orleans-style funeral march will be held at University Unitarian Church, 6556 35th Ave NE, January 4 at 1pm. The Fading of a Rainbow (January 2014) DeeDee Rainbow’s ashes were laid to rest in the memorial garden at University Unitarian Church on January 4, 2014, following a memorial service unlike any I have ever attended. We had been urged to wear something colorful, a challenge for me in the winter when my wardrobe seems to mimic the drab outside world. A rack of DeeDee’s colorful robes was provided for those color impaired, if they promised to take the garment away with them. The sanctuary was packed and latecomers (including Clarence Acox and me) were seated in the fellowship hall with sound piped in and a limited distant view of the speakers. Those who offered tributes at the church were all family members. It was interesting to hear DeeDee’s sister speak as she made it clear that DeeDee’s fascination with color and need to interact was not a late development, but began at an early age. She mentioned a family trip to the museum where once inside the building, they realized DeeDee was no longer with them, so they retraced their steps and found DeeDee (somewhere around age 4) on the front steps greeting folks as they entered and bestowing good wishes with her little wand. The father turned to the mother and asked “Where did she come from?” One of the grandsons spoke of the walks from the family home to the Hi-Spot for a scone, a trip that took about 4 hours instead of the ten minutes it should take, as they would meet and greet along the way. Musical tributes included Over the Rainbow, Rainbow Lady and Mama. The one hymn we all sang was the truly befitting Let it be a Dance. Immediately following the service, the crowd gathered on the sidewalk outside to follow the New Orleans Jazz Band around the block, waving colorful umbrellas as they marched. Once back at the church, the crowd gathered in the Fellowship Hall for a champagne toast given by the folks from California, who had marched with DeeDee in the parade that marked the beginning of each year’s Monterey Jazz festival. But that was not the end; after the reception, there was another gathering at the Wedgwood Ale House with jazz and tributes from others who knew DeeDee. All in all, it was quite a tribute to a colorful woman who taught us to enjoy this life to the fullest; she would say “This is not a dress rehearsal.” ~Diane Snell

Leschi’s marina has long been a favorite berthing place for sailboats, which gracefully ply the waters of Lake Washington on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Those slips are threatened under the Park’s plan to bring in a private operator to repair and run the north and south marinas. The smaller berths bring in less in the way of rental fees; it is to the advantage of the company to have more large slips and reduce the number of small slips, and this was the plan that Foss submitted to Parks in their bid several years ago to become the operating entity. A delegation of concerned residents from the Lakewood area and Leschi neighborhood met with Councilmembers Sawant and Harrell this summer to define the problem and ask for assistance in freeing up the $4 million that former Mayor McGinn promised for repairs (subsequently approved by the City Council). This money sits with Parks, and the only visible sign of a “repair” is that plywood has been laid over the worst rotting areas…a safety fix, but not exactly a repair. Lakewood representatives brought data to show that based on their moorage fees, they could manage the marina without an outside operator. Following those meetings (and an unsuccessful attempt to talk with CM Godden, current chair of Parks Committee), John Barber drafted a letter requesting release of the funds for the most needed repairs; this letter was signed by Leschi CC’s co-chairs and sent to CM Godden with copies to the Mayor, and CMs Sawant and Harrell. We have received no response to this request. A call to CM Godden’s office just before press time brought forth the information that the $4 million is being saved by Parks to help pay for repairs when they select a private operator on bids they expect to receive when the RFP is released at the end of the month. So, it could easily be the end of the year before an operator is even selected. And it does not sound as though they are entertaining suggestions that the marinas be publicly managed and maintained. It appears that private/public partnerships are the chosen path even when the private part is not needed. This does not bode well for the small boat owners. ~John Barber

How I view the proposal for clearing a view through the trees at the upper, 31st Avenue, end of Colman Park, writing as a trained Urban Forester and as an active P-Patch gardener in Colman Park close to where trees would be removed or pruned, and as a former volunteer in Colman Park: Urban forest restoration recommends the installation and protection of large coniferous trees on steep slope land, especially where prone to landslides. The history of sites like Colman Park generally includes damage to soil structure by clearcutting, landslides. A view of the Lake and mountains from above Colman Park is not unique. There are similar views at seven locations along 31st Avenue South that are within a quarter mile -- S College, S Dose, S Plum, S Irving, and S Norman. Just look down these street corridors and you have really nice prospects of the Lake and the distant mountains. The view from the top of Colman Park is not what one imagines. There is no view of Mt. Rainier. There are many tall trees on the lower slope that obscure the view, and there are several tall trees including conifers, madrones, and deciduous just below the project area. It is unimaginable that we have forest restoration in reverse, by modifying or removing these trees. Because of the lack of uniqueness of the view there, the value really is for the homeowners, not much for the general public. The general trend of what happens to public views after they are created is that people begin to park during late night areas; then the adjacent residents push for no-parking areas, thus making the “public viewpoint” much less public. It’s really the health of the forest that should be the primary goal, and forest health means planting large conifers. ~John Barber, Chair, Parks & Open Space for Leschi CC

Happy New Year! Cheers to one and all, and here’s to wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2016. Now that holiday madness has subsided, let’s catch up on some items that you may have missed. Here are a few winter wine favorites. 2012 Cadence Red Camerata Cara Mia Vineyard Red Mountain ($56) “Vibrant, focused and aristocratic, centering on generous plum, currant, blackberry and floral aromas and flavors that play out against well-modulated, crisp tannins. Shows presence and excellent length. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2017 through 2025. 225 cases made.” –Wine Spectator, 95 points. 2012 Colene Clemens Margo Pinot Noir Chehalem Mountains ($34) Winemaker Steve Goff was the assistant at Beaux Frères for many vintages; now he makes wine for Colene Clemens, one of the hottest new Oregon wineries. “Lithe and expressive, shading black cherry fruit with glints of mint, loamy earth and walnut. Fine tannins underline a long, dancing finish. Best from 2016 through 2022. Top 100: 2015, Rank: 45.” –Wine Spectator, 93 points. 2006 La Fleur de Bouard Lalande de Pomerol Bordeaux ($34) “At present, this estate is the reference point for high quality wines from Lalande de Pomerol. A blend of 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Sensationally rich, with abundant quantities of blue and black fruits, spring flowers, graphite, licorice and hints of espresso roast as well as toasty oak, it is supple enough to be drunk now, or cellared for a decade.” - Robert M. Parker, Jr., 91 points. 2014 Daou Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon San Luis Obispo Central Coast California ($20) “I think even a step up over the killer 2013, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon is loaded with notions of black raspberry, cassis, spice and licorice. More textured, voluptuous, layered and concentrated than all of the previous vintages. Located at one of the highest spots in the appellation, it’s worth noting this tiny microclimate of this estate and it has more in common with Napa Valley than Paso Robles. Drink 2017-2020. ” –Wine Advocate, 91-93 points. 2011 Château Laffitte-Teston Rouge Vieilles Vignes Madiran ($17) This is a burly, bloody, rustic full-bodied—a “winter wine.” Needs fully braised meats, stews or casseroles. Made from the grape variety of the appellation, Tannat. The vines are about 70 years old and are harvested by hand, for low yields that make this wine its flagship wine. A fine wine, harmonious, where one crosses small black fruit, plum, vanilla and roasted notes. On the palate it is robust, concentrated and fleshy, with a remarkable finish. 2012 Domaine de la Rablaís Rouge Touraine Chenonceaux ($16) “Our family vineyard has been handed down from generation to generation since 1790 and is located in the heart of the Loire Valley. Attacks with a fresh note and ends with a red fruits-flavored nose. It is fresh and light, low in tannin and with a peppery mouth. 50% Cabernet Franc and 50% CÔT (Malbec).” –Winery notes. 2013 Fattoria Selvapiana Vendemmia Chianti Rufina ($15) “Elegant and fragrant, this opens with aromas of pressed rose, crushed violet, wild berry and a whiff of baking spice. The vibrant, focused palate delivers juicy red cherry, raspberry, white pepper, cinnamon and dried herb. It’s well balanced, with supple tannins and bright acidity. Drink through 2018.” -Wine Enthusiast, 93 points. CHEERS! ENJOY! Kenneth Benner, a Seattle area native, is a trained chef and has worked in such restaurants as Barbacoa, B.O.K.A. Kitchen + Bar, and Dahlia Lounge. Ken is the wine buyer at Leschi Market. He has a passion for learning, a meticulous palate, and a tenacity for searching out the best for his customers while offering some of the most highly coveted wines in the area. His wine column is intended to inspire and explore new choices in wine, learn about wine with his readers, and share his knowledge and experiences in the wine world. Check out the latest at www.LeschiMarket.com or request to be added to email updates or send questions, comments, or suggestions to ken@leschimarket.com and follow the wine department directly on twitter at twitter.com/leschimarket .

March is Washington Wine Month. Let’s focus on what our great state has to offer. Here are 7 Washington wines that you should probably be drinking, this month and beyond. 2014 Trust Riesling Yakima Valley / Ancient Lakes ($14.99) Steve Brooks is one of the most trusted winemakers coming out of Walla Walla. Pun fully intended. The Ancient Lakes’ Evergreen Vineyard comprises 16%, while the balance of this vintage comes from Yakima Valley. Extremely well balanced and clean, with mineral notes and a dry finish. If you have sworn off Rieslings for being too sweet, think again, and Trust us. 2013 Ryan Patrick Rock Island Red Wahluke Slope ($14.99) Rich, ripe and concentrated are characteristics in the grapes coming from one of the warmest and driest growing regions, the Wahluke Slope, just north of Yakima Valley. The Rock Island is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon, with barely 30% a blend of Merlot, Malbec and Syrah. This wine has been a fan favorite from day 1 at Leschi Market, nearly 2 years ago now. It is an easy drinking, powerful red wine that is incomparable in quality for the price. Wilridge Winery Rachel Red ($15.99) One of Leschi and Madrona’s favorite neighborhood wineries partnering to support another Seattle institution. Wilridge Winery’s Rachel Red, named after the famous brass pig greeting everyone beneath the iconic neon Pike Place Market sign, benefits the Pike Place Market Foundation. The Foundation provides a senior center, medical clinic, shelter, preschool, daycare, and assisted living to low-income neighbors who work and live around the Market. This blend is Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah and makes for a great table wine with an even better purpose and message. 2013 Lobo Hills Cabernet Sauvignon ($20) Staying on the ultra-local kick, it doesn’t get much more local than Tony Dollar’s Lobo Hills Winery. He’s a neighbor to all, just living and working down the lakeside in Seward Park. His production is small while his wines are growing ever more wildly popular. This 100% Cabernet Sauvignon offers tea and sage up front, leading towards big juicy plum, cassis and anise in the finish. Rich, balanced and full of life and flavor. A Washington Cabernet for $20 that cannot be missed. 2013 Cadence Coda Red Mountain ($23.39) This current version of Cadence’s Coda is 38% Cabernet Franc, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, and 14% Petit Verdot. Spicy yet soft. Big yet elegant. This red blend from Red Mountain has it all. An incredible wine at an even better price, where most wines from this region are coming out at least double the price. Recent accolades include 5 out of 5 stars from the Leschi Tasting Panel as well as 93-points Wine & Spirits. 2013 Walla Walla Vintners Bello Rosso ($30) A really fun blend from one of the very first wineries in our state’s history. An ode to a Super-Tuscan style at equal parts Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon. Cranberry and raspberry on the nose mixed with herbs and pepper. Silky smooth texture leading to a dry finish. While I think all of the Walla Walla Vintners wines are well-crafted, solid offerings, there is just something different about the Bello Rosso that stands out above the rest. 2009 McCrea Syrah Boushey Vineyard ($34.99) Syrah from one of the most highly regarded vineyards in the state, in the heart of Yakima. Boushey fruit has unmistakable notes of black cherry, coffee, earth and mushroom. Combine unique fruit, with the prowess of a great winery, and this is the result. The complexity and cohesiveness between fruit, oak and acid makes this one of the best examples of Syrah out there. You really should be drinking this wine. I guess the point of all this is, it’s Washington Wine Month. Try one of the above, or something else, but give Washington wine an extra look this month, you might just find something you like! CHEERS! ENJOY! Kenneth Benner, a Seattle area native, is a trained chef and has worked in such restaurants as Barbacoa, B.O.K.A. Kitchen + Bar, and Dahlia Lounge. Ken is the wine buyer at Leschi Market. He has a passion for learning, a meticulous palate, and a tenacity for searching out the best for his customers while offering some of the most highly coveted wines in the area. His wine column is intended to inspire and explore new choices in wine, learn about wine with his readers, and share his knowledge and experiences in the wine world. Check out the latest at www.LeschiMarket.com or request to be added to email updates or send questions, comments, or suggestions to ken@leschimarket.com and follow the wine department directly on twitter at twitter.com/leschimarket .