The Wine Knows

If you lived in the Pacific Northwest in the '70s, then you might fondly recall the famous Rainier Beer commercials. They were sometimes poignant, often funny and generally captured the nature and humor of our region.

As I was writing wine reviews last night, I had not a glass of Cab but a seasonal ale.

Granted, it was from BridgePort in Portland, which was started by the Ponzi family, but I digress.

A couple of weeks ago, Washington formed a beer commission, an organization meant to market and promote the state's microbrew industry. The commission will represent breweries that produce less than 100,000 barrels annually.

The latest issue of Seattle magazine notes that just 1% of beer consumed in Washington is made in Washington. That means for every bottle of Red Hook opened, 99 bottles of Bud, Miller, Coors, etc., are drunk.