A Weekend in Seattle Part II: The Wineries of Woodinville
Friday, June 30th, 2006On a Saturday in June, two of my friends from college who now live in Kirkland took me winetasting in nearby Woodinville. I had actually been to the area many years ago–the famous Chateau Ste. Michelle winery is there as well as my preferred winery, Columbia Winery.
Whether Woodinville has grown or just me I am not sure, but there are now over 20 wineries now in the area. I know because my friend Aaron gave me a copy of their “Passport” to Woodinville Wine Country, which included information on the different wineries. They had loved the Passport tour they did in April (the wineries stamped the pages), and had decided I would enjoy it too.
Our first stop was Silver Lake Winery, the largest of the small wineries. They actually pour for three labels there–Silver Lake, Glen Fiona, and Hoodsport.
We started at the Glen Fiona bar–Suzanne and Aaron had already had some of the Glen Fiona and bought one bottle without even tasting it. The pourer was an older gentleman who shared his expertise about the wines and about winetasting in general. When I went to rinse out my glass with water between tastings, he said, “You really wanna do that”? He then explained how the water could actually ruin the flavor of the next wine. He also told me to hold the wine on the tongue for up to 60 seconds to release more flavor.
The Glen Fiona wines were all excellent, even the one that tasted like orange blossoms. The Silver Lake wines were not as impressive. The Hoodsport wines were pretty good considering they were half the price of the other wines. But I was on a budget and I figured as long as I can get Washington State wine at Trader Joe’s for four bucks, why should pay $10 or $20 for it?
One would think that as the wineries got smaller, my resolve not to buy would have strengthened. I mean, most of the wine tasting rooms were suites in a large industrial center. How is that conducive to wine tasting? But maybe the steady flow of wine (even with some dumping) had loosened my brain, or the wineries had done a good job of creating a genteel atmosphere inside. Because at the fourth winery, Red Sky, the wallet opened up. Maybe it was the original artwork on the walls, or the lush red paint on the walls behind the artwork, or the name Red Sky that evokes some exotic Native American place for me. Or maybe it was just good wine. Even Aaron got into a buying frenzy, buying two original artworks from a worker’s young daughter for 25 cents each. I bought a 2002 Merlot.
At the next stop, Edmonds Winery, I took one sip and charged again–a 2003 Cabernet. We then took a break at the nearby farmer’s market to get some popcorn to try to absorb all of that wine. Then we hit the last two wineries on our tour, De Voigne Cellars and Mark Ryan Cellars.
De Voigne Cellars actually had two different labels, one from each brother in the family. Although it was more expensive, I found myself partial to the De Voigne 2004 Sangiovese. But I couldn’t bring myself to spend $25 on wine. He had little bottles but said they weren’t for sale (only marketing). As we were walking away though, I kept thinking about how nice the winemaker was as he was talking to us, and I felt this need to buy from him. So I went back and bought it. Then Suzanne said you can get a bottle signed by the winemaker. So I went back yet a third time and asked him to sign it, which he did although I’m sure at that point he thought I was some nutty lush.
We finished off the day at Mark Ryan, a stark and minimalist place that nonetheless had great wine. I couldn’t bring myself to buy any more, but Suzanne bought their fifth bottle of the day there.
I still get a little woozy thinking about all the wine I tried, but three weeks later I opened the Edmonds Cabernet and it was truly fantastic.
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