Trivia and Twin Peaks go hand-in-hand ever since the first person asked, “Who killed Laura Palmer?” For 25 non-consecutive years, long-time fan and Bookhouse Boy Josh Eisenstadt has hosted the Ultimate Twin Peaks Trivia Game at the previous fan festivals and now, the Real Twin Peaks event in Snoqualmie Valley, Washington. This year’s game was held on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025 at Wm Grassie Estates Wine tasting room at Snoqualmie Ridge.
WM GRASSIE ESTATES WINE TASTING ROOM AT SNOQUALMIE RIDGE
Kansas-native Bill Grassie moved to Washington state in the early 2000s for a job in the tech industry. In 2006, he relocated to Fall City after purchasing four acres of land. As an avid gardener, Bill began landscaping his new home.
“I had no intention of becoming a wine maker,” explained Grassie in an interview with Anchored Vines.
By 2007, he was planting a vineyard in rough, rocky soil in front of his home, and he enrolled in South Seattle’s Northwest Wine Academy to learn more about making wine. He dabbled with making small batches of wine at home in the years that followed and by 2011, he released his first vintage. Today, the winery offers a wide assortment of world class wines made in Woodinville, WA.
The Wm Grassie Tasting Room at Snoqualmie Ridge officially opened on Thursday, February 20, 2020 in a former Verizon Wireless store. It’s one of two tasting rooms in the region with the other located in Duvall.
This location is no stranger to the Real Twin Peaks event as they have offered drink specials in previous years. For 2025, they offered both a “damn, fine cup of coffee” from local coffee roaster Dark Horse Brew and Audrey’s Heart, a nod to Sherilyn Fenn’s character Audrey Horne.
Jessica Self, Executive Director of the North Bend Downtown Foundation, and Laurie Hay, Director of Sales and Marketing for Snoqualmie Inn by Hotel America, enjoyed Audrey’s Heart before this trivia game started. This blood orange sparkling wine was as bold and enchanting as Audrey herself and was available with or without a wicked twist.
Wm Grassie Wine Estates even created an advertisement for their specialty beverage.
As the trivia contest started, the tasting room was packed with participants gathered toward the front of the building.
ULTIMATE TWIN PEAKS TRIVIA CONTEST
The Real Twin Peaks 2024 event had three different trivia games with varying degrees of difficulty. This year, only one trivia game was offered during the event. The game was free to enter and there was no age limit. A 13-year old once won at a game previously hosted by Josh.
This year, participants were vying for the top three spots with a grand trophy offered to the first place winner. Since Josh has hosted the contest, there have been 25 first-place winners and two participants who have a triple win and are now retired as competitors.
In addition to the grand trophy, winners received the ultimate prize – bragging rights that you won Josh’s Ultimate Twin Peaks Trivia. This is no small feat as the questions challenged even the most passionate fan.
THE FIRST PLACE TROPHY FOR THE 2025 ULTIMATE TWIN PEAKS TRIVIA CONTEST
Real Twin Peaks event co-organizer and long-time fan Mary Hütter created the incredible first place trophy.
A nod to the “babe without the arms” from the Red Room scenes in Twin Peaks, this golden Venus de Milo statue had a wood burned plaque at its base. The second and third place participants also received wood burned badges signifying their wins.
DAVID LYNCH TESTED JOSH’S TRIVIA SKILLS
Josh Eisenstadt is a long-time fan who loves trivia. During the David Lynch Memorial moment held earlier in the day, he shared a story about David Lynch asking Josh trivia questions.
“I was sitting in Mr. Roque’s office [on the set of Mulholland Drive] and, at one point, I can’t remember how he got around to it, but David Lynch turned to me and started asking me trivia questions about Twin Peaks. It was quite an amazing experience.”
Josh then shared with the audience at Snoqualmie Valley Eagles the questions David Lynch asked Josh.
“The first one, I think a lot of you will get,” continued Josh. “What is the first line that Pete Martell says? [Audience yelled, “Gone fishing”]. I heard ‘Gone fishing’ as a correct answer.
The second question he asked is, ‘What does Mike say at the European ending of the pilot?’ The first thing he says when Cooper walks in … ‘Don’t turn on the overheads, the fluorescents don’t work. I think a transformer is bad.’ That [question] surprised me a little bit but that was a David Lynch story.'”
Flash forward about a decade later, Josh runs into David Lynch at an art show in Santa Monica, California. He immediately started asking Josh about Twin Peaks trivia again. Following David’s passing, someone close to David explained why he enjoyed asking Josh these questions.
“You know he did that? Because he saw you and he knew how much it meant to you. He knew how much you loved it when he did that. And he did that to you because of how much you loved it.”
Josh said that “was David in a nutshell” because he would see you and who you are and he would do “something to make your day a little brighter.”
JOSH’S TWIN PEAKS TRIVIA QUESTIONS
The most incredible part about Josh’s trivia is that it all comes from his expansive knowledge of the show. Without referencing the show, he drafted the questions and answers in a matter of moments.
One question asked, “Who is the only character on screen to refer to Doppelgänger Cooper as Mr. C?” The answer, “Otis” from Twin Peaks Part 1.
There was one person in attendance who was impressed with Josh’s knowledge. Unnoticed in the back of the tasting room, Twin Peaks show writer Harley Peyton watched the action unfold. Peyton played a vital role for the first two seasons of the show. It would not be the same without his contributions. Read the audio commentary with episode 1.006 director Caleb Deschanel from the Twin Peaks Season 1 DVD release for fascinating insight about his work on the show.
Fellow Twin Peaks Blog author Vinnie Guidera (@TwelveRainbowTrout on Instagram) met Peyton on Saturday when he briefly stopped by the North Bend Theatre for Cinema Unwrapped. I shook his hand, thanking him for his work. Some of the show’s most iconic dialogue regularly quoted today came from this gentleman’s pen!
Shortly after Peyton exited, a fire alarm interrupted the trivia game. The entire building was briefly evacuated while the Snoqualmie Fire Department responded to the scene. Thankfully no one was hurt and the contest continued.
ULTIMATE TWIN PEAKS TRIVIA CONTEST WINNERS
Following an intense competition, three people emerged victorious. Josh Eisenstadt is pictured with third place winner, Dan Gutierrez; second place winner, Kiara Walker; and first place winner, David Guarente.
David posed with his golden Venus de Milo statue next to the giant notepad used for tallying scores. Currently residing in Portland, OR-E-GON, this was David’s first time participating in a Twin Peaks trivia game. I asked him how he prepared.
“I took some random online Twin Peaks quizzes, explained David. “However, none of the online questions dug as deep, or were as challenging it seems, as many of the questions Josh asked. I haven’t rewatched the entire series since 2018, but I reviewed major events in each episode from the first two seasons by writing down those happenings into their proper order based on the episodes’ air dates. I also reviewed information from the ‘Star Pics’ collectors card deck’ and the ‘Twin Peaks Access Guide to the Town’.”
Guarente was 13 when Twin Peaks first aired. He missed seeing the pilot and first four episodes in April and early May 1990. He picked up the show with the airing of episode 1.005 on May 10 where Agent Cooper, Truman, Hawk and Dr. Hayward had tea with The Log Lady. Today, he most identifies with Coop as “he’s intelligent, well-dressed, clean-cut, intuitive, curious, and open to new ideas and experiences.”
To win the competition, David answered the following question, “‘In Twin Peaks: The Return, name five (out of the six) people who received or handled the old, forest green-colored room key to Room 315 at The Great Northern Hotel, during the course of that entire season/limited event series.”
He was the first one to answer it providing the names “Dougie”/Agent Cooper, Jade, Beverly Paige, Benjamin Horne, and Sheriff Frank Truman.
“I had to make a wager of points before everyone knew the question,” David said. “I handed those answers in on paper to Josh for the final tally. This was done within less than half a minute’s time, and before either of the other finalists had submitted their answers and wagers. I was also the only one of the final three finalists who answered correctly all five names.”
I asked him one more trivia question (to which there is no correct answer): Who is the real Donna Hayward – Lara Flynn Boyle or Moira Kelly?
“As much as I admire Moira Kelly’s performance in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, which has grown on me more over the years, I would have to say that Lara Flynn Boyle,” responded David. “Lara’s performance, especially in the original Twin Peaks pilot and other first season episodes, is more in line with my ideal prototype of Donna Hayward than anything.”
Congratulations to all three winners and to all attendees for participating in another fun activity during the Real Twin Peaks 2025 event.
Thank you to Bill Grassie and his team from Wm Grassie Estates Wine for hosting the trivia contest this year. Additional thank you to Mary Hütter for creating the prizes and Jessica Self for the additional photos, including a rare shot of me with my dual camera set up. Most importantly, thank you to Josh Eisenstadt whose knowledge abut and love for Twin Peaks knows no boundaries.
