I have tasted in Woodinville once before and we hit some great wineries. On this somewhat sunny afternoon, @seattlewinegal and I decided to hit a few tasting rooms together. Our first stop was Woodinville Wine Cellars, who was having their spring release party. I needed to stop in here to pick up my wine, as I'm a wine club member. As part of the spring release party, there were several cheeses to try along with the wine releases. There are few things I love more in this world than wine and cheese. Yum. The release I picked up here included two excellent wines: an '07 Cab Franc from Conner Lee and Chandler Reach vineyards, as well as an '07 Chandler Reach Syrah, which is Woodinville Wine Cellars first ever single vineyard Syrah. Both were excellent wines, and I look forward to opening my wine club shipment bottles in the future. We had a chance to chat a bit with the wine maker, Sean Boyd, who was very excited about both releases this spring. Another wine of theirs that I stock up on at each visit is their Sauv Blanc, it's just a great Columbia Valley white that goes great with any occasion. I have a great time at each visit to the tasting room here, I am so glad I joined this wine club last fall.
After leaving Woodinville Wine Cellars we headed over to the warehouse district. I have never tasted in the warehouse district before, and it's amazing just how many wineries are in this small area! It was great to see the signs all lined up side by side as we turned the corner into the area. Our first stop was Barrage Cellars, which is a favorite of @seattlewinegal. I was excited to meet winemaker Kevin Correll and his wife Rebecca. It was hilarious to see Rebecca trying some pilates right as we walked through the door. Both were so inviting and full of such enthusiasm. The tasting room filled immediately after we arrived, I couldn't believe the crowd! I had been able to try their Trifecta Merlot at a recent event and was very excited to try additional varietals. Look for a full blog post on their '07 Outcast Cab Franc coming soon. They were kind enough to send a bottle with me to review!
We headed out of Barrage (it was hard to leave, they are just so fun!) and wandered over to Smasne (not a far walk, one of the great things about the warehouse district!). I was able to try several Smasne wines, which were all fantastic. I left with bottles of the '06 Malbec, '06 Konner Ray Red, and the '07 Rosella Rose. Had a chance to chat with Bart Fawbush of Bartholomew Winery, who was pouring in the tasting room. His new tasting room in Seattle is set to open in May 2010, can't wait to visit!
Our afternoon went faster than we hoped and most tasting rooms close at 5pm so we headed out of the warehouse district and over to Russell's to get some food and wine. As always, Rob Williamson (GM at Russell's) took such AMAZING care of us. This is now one of my favorite restaurants in the area, and worth the drive to Bothell to check it out. Seriously. Amazing. Everything that came out of the kitchen was fantastic and the company was just as wonderful. Met up with Max and Jen Jensen of Sojen Cellars, who are such great people! They brought a few bottles of their wine (some of which I had tried previously), and I was able to learn more about their winery, name (stemmed from a nickname of Jen), and location (they are in Everett). Looking forward to visiting their tasting room sometime in the near future.
It was a nice Saturday afternoon and evening in Woodinville, looking forward to many more to come!
Woodinville Wine Cellars
Barrage Cellars
@barragecellars
Smasne Cellars
Sojen Cellars
@sojencellars
@sojengirl
Russell's
@russellsdining
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