RECAP: Sip the Sea
Sunday, February 15th, 2026 — Sea Horsey Bottle Shop, Lincoln City, Oregon
This collaboration, dreamed up by Winter Waters and brought to life by Michelle and Shawn at Sea Horsey Bottle Shop, paired small-production Pacific Northwest wines with the coastal cooking of Gabe Kieffer of PicNic Eats. Gabe’s global travels and wide-ranging culinary influences came through in subtle ways, but it was his deep respect for Oregon seafood and foraged coastal ingredients that grounded the evening.
It was a perfect sunny day in Lincoln City, and the tasting room slowly filled with excited guests. As everyone settled in, a 2023 Joie De Vivre from Lagniappe Wines was poured alongside one of the most creative bites we’ve seen: a Butter Clam and Cockle Cannoli. The sesame, ginger, and tamari shell was filled with a bright butter clam and cockle salad, sweet, savory, and completely unexpected and mind blowing!!
Shawn and Michelle welcomed everyone and shared more about their mission to champion truly small-scale Pacific Northwest producers. Because many of the wineries they feature are so limited in production, they often drive out to the vineyards themselves to pick up bottles. That hands-on approach gives them a personal connection to every wine they pour, and it was so great to hear such personal connections to the wine makers represented.
Alanna, co-founder of Winter Waters, spoke about the organization’s focus on celebrating Oregon’s responsibly caught seafood and introduced her brother, Gabe, to share more about sourcing for the dinner. He described the challenges of working with small commercial fisheries, especially tracking down butter and cockle clams from Tillamook Bay. With such a small industry, he stayed in close contact with local divers for weeks to secure enough for the event, a personal experience on the many challenges facing our food systems that we mention throughout Winter Waters. He also thanked Chelsea Rose Seafood out of Newport, Oregon (who you can buy seafood from directly off their boat) for supplying the tuna, black cod, and rockfish featured throughout the meal.
The first seafood course was a Black Cod Noodle Salad with miso, pickled cucumber, and wakame, paired with a lively 2022 Mortadella. The dish felt like a deconstructed salad roll, topped with perfectly confited and lightly charred black cod and just enough miso to tie it all together.
Next came half a dozen Netarts Bay Torkes Oysters from Haystack Shellfish Company, formerly Nevør Shellfish Farm. They were served with a ginger lemon kombucha (made by Gabe himself) mignonette that added a bright, effervescent lift to the briny oysters.
The Albacore Tiradito was inspired by Gabe’s recent travels to Peru and the influence of Nikkei cuisine, where Japanese technique meets Peruvian flavor. The beet-cured albacore was dressed with a gingery chili, lime, and kombu sauce that brought both heat and freshness. Paired with the 2024 Maypop White Blend, the combination felt like this collaboration has happened countless times in the past. It was hard to believe this was the very first!
Michelle then introduced the collaboration red, Suzor x Sea Horsey “Find Me In The Waves” ‘24, a light, delicate red built for easy drinking. It was served with Rockfish Escabeche featuring fermented tomato, fennel, and dulse, a nod to traditional preservation techniques that felt both rustic and refined.
Dessert was a standout: Lemon Olive Oil Cake with blood orange marmalade and lemon agrumato seaweed Swiss meringue buttercream, created by Caydee Porter of Valley Flour. Paired with Satyr Fire Miruvör Türyandę White Port, it was a bright, satisfying finish.
A huge thank you to Explore Lincoln City for their invaluable support of our events in Lincoln City. As the official destination management organization for the area, they play a vital role in connecting visitors and locals alike with the natural beauty, culture, and experiences that make this part of the Oregon Coast so special. Their partnership helped enhance community engagement and visibility for Winter Waters programming, and we are truly thankful for their commitment to promoting Lincoln City as a vibrant place to gather, explore, and celebrate. Thank you to the team at Explore Lincoln City for supporting our efforts and helping us bring meaningful moments to life on the coast.