Moving to Seattle area: Recommendations for wine shops, tasting rooms, wineries to visit?

[James_Sanders]

Chris may be an old crank, but he ends with very good advice:

But to answer your question, as a Seattle area denizen, I recommend you order all of your wine from Vinopolis, Sec, and Avalon in Portland, and make a couple of visits to the Willamette Valley each year to visit world class wineries.

[Brandon_R]

Chris may be an old crank, but he ends with very good advice:

But to answer your question, as a Seattle area denizen, I recommend you order all of your wine from Vinopolis, Sec, and Avalon in Portland, and make a couple of visits to the Willamette Valley each year to visit world class wineries.

No doubt, as I simply LOVE Sec and Vinopolis…but they’re in Portland, OR. Not Seattle, which is what the OP was asking for.

[ChrisJames]

Thanks Ron!

I’m a bit all over the board with my taste in wine, but tend to gravitate towards Rhone varietals, but within that realm enjoy everything from Saxum and CdP to cote rotie and croze. Also very much enjoy high minerality whites like sancerre and Chablis.

Hi Ian,

So, in an effort to rehabilitate myself with the board (and to push Sec Wines as a great online shop), here is an offering that Eric of Sec just sent out that might be right up your alley:



2018 Buona Notte, Syrah, Brutto Nobile, The Rocks district, Walla Walla $34.89 / $179.94($29.99) Six-pack

Hold on, hold on!!! This is not your typical 15% alcohol stewed fruit bomb WA Syrah. Longtime readers of this newsletter know I love traditional northern Rhone Syrahs and tend to eschew the heavy-handed Syrahs of eastern OR and WA. So with some skepticism, I sampled this Syrah and was blown away by its purity, balance, complexity and resemblance to an excellent Saint Joseph Rouge. Brutto Nobile or the “Ugly Noble” is Syrah from the Rocks District which lies just below the Washington border in the Walla Walla AVA. This AVA is filled with river stones that go 50 to 100 deep. The vines translate that terroir into aromas of violets, incense, tapenade, herbs de Provence and yes, wet stones. The mid-weight palate is silky-smooth with exceptional balance (12.4% alc.) and plenty of complexity highlighted by an array of spices, blueberries and a stoney gout de terroir.

Sec Wines Portland wine shop - Welcome

Contact Information phone: 503-805-5871 eric@secwines.com

[ChrisJames]

We “fondly” refer to Woodinville as the Wine Mall.

You say that like it is a bad thing. Oh, that I had a wine mall such as Woodinville nearby. My family knows Woodinville as Dad daycare when my wife/daughter go shopping.

I am not personally a fan of WA wines - perhaps I’d have a different take if it was OR or Italian wines (though I have never bothered to slum around the McMinnville tasting rooms either). Let me just say that it is a misnomer to call it “WA wine country.” It is a series of perhaps hundreds of tasting rooms arrayed in strip malls and warehouses. The area is a traffic nightmare on the weekends due to so many people going to “taste” wine (AKA: get shitfaced). They (someone) actually sell a “taste ten” cup that people wear on a neck string that allows them to taste at ten wineries for one fee. Participants are readily available stumbling along the sidewalks. Apparently, some of the tasting rooms are very nicely decorated and the wine is marked up accordingly. It just strikes me as silly to call a marketing hub “wine country” when it is really just a massive collection of bars.

[M_Mager]

I would recommend you not move back to the Seattle area at all. Having lived here for 56 years, it greatly pains me just how ruined the Puget Sound area has become even in the last 20 years (the tech boom era). Over-population has fundamentally erased the incredible beauty and open space that this area once had. But I supposed that is true for San Francisco and many other parts of the country as well. And yes, plenty of people still think its just fabulous. Different standards, I guess.

With all respect here, but if you haven’t lived anywhere else for 56!! Years… how do you know Seattle isn’t better than most other cities in the US?

You say you would not recommend moving back to Seattle… where would you recommend the OP move to? like what’s a better city to move to at the moment? just curious.

I don’t think Seattle’s problem is over population. It’s still in the teens in terms of US cities in terms of population size no? What it’s problem is, is rather incompetent lower level governments without any vision or backbone. The infrastructure has not kept up with the growth. investments that should have been made years ago were not.

In theory increasing population / with good paying job opportunities should = more tax/property tax revenue and should = better infrastructure put in place to sustain the growth. but nope. i can’t think of much the city/county gov’t has done to look a little forward rather than just react… except maybe finally building a light rail system.

Anyhow, thread jack.

Ian (OP), are you more asking about places to buy/drink wine locally? or places to buy/drink local wines?

Yep, my post is full on curmudgeon, anti-growth, anti-progress without solution offered. I have traveled to other cities and perhaps as a city, Seattle is better than others. You will note that I said the Puget Sound area. Seattle didn’t stay in Seattle. It use to be a very small city, Bellevue was a two-story town, Redmond was a village, Issaquah was a hamlet, and North Bend was a tiny spot in the middle of the woods. Now the Seattle sprawl of identical sub-divisions and traffic gridlock goes out to North Bend and beyond in every direction. In the area I live, there used to be 500 people and 10,000 cows. Now there are 10,000 people and 500 cows. The vision of my local leaders is to build at least another 800 homes (tax revenue!) even though the local school districts are beyond capacity. Beautiful, isolated hiking spots are now mobbed with more people than the trails can support and are spread with trash and human waste. It only took a couple of decades. Yeah, I am sticking to there being a population problem. And I think the concept of sustainable growth is an oxymoron in a world of finite resources.

My apologies to the OP. My comments have been wholly unhelpful to his questions. What I should have said is that the depending on how long you’ve been gone, you may find the area very different than knew it.

Gee, there’s something new. Someone complaining about change in Seattle and the PacNW.

I came out West more than 30 years ago. And, you know what, there were people making similar complaints back then. The only difference is that at that time it was the “Californians” that were the bogeyman - now it’s the “Amazonians”. Emmett Watson’s been pushing up daisies for almost twenty years. Time to let it go. The only constant is change. Cities/regions that don’t adapt and change end up dying. Make sure you tell the kids to get off your lawn, too…

Michael

[ChrisJames]

Gee, there’s something new. Someone complaining about change in Seattle and the PacNW.

I came out West more than 30 years ago. And, you know what, there were people making similar complaints back then. The only difference is that at that time it was the “Californians” that were the bogeyman - now it’s the “Amazonians”. Emmett Watson’s been pushing up daisies for almost twenty years. Time to let it go. The only constant is change. Cities/regions that don’t adapt and change end up dying. Make sure you tell the kids to get off your lawn, too…

Michael

Thirty years? You’re a new comer. Now get the hell off my lawn.

[Ron_Slye]

Agreed with Brandon re: Esquin – lots to look at but prices aren’t the best. Also, if it’s a good vibe that you’re after, can’t beat the patio at Bottlehouse in Madrona on a nice evening.

Yes – bottle shop is great. And Cadence as also mentioned above is great. I have been a recent convert to Pike & Western. They have some good and interesting wines. The nice thing about Seattle (notwithstanding Chris) is that there are still lots of nice neighborhood stores and wine bars. Bar Ferdinand is another nice one in the Capitol Hill area – all European wine though.

On the changes to Seattle, I am a “newcomer” as well – late 90s. I remember liking moving here from New York as it was one of the few places where NYers were not the bad people – it was the Californians. I will say that I feel about NYC what Chris feels about Seattle. It has become crowded, expensive, and commercial. Older people felt that about the NY that I grew up in. I feel that way about Cape Town right now, where I lived for a year in the 90s. The past always feels more comfortable – as it is when we lived and enjoyed. But lots of these bad changes have lots of positive attributes as well. But enough.

Back to Woodinville. Notwithstanding the summer weekend crowds, there are some really good wines out there to taste. The nice thing about living here is you can go during other times of the year – and other days of the week.

But yes, it is not wine country – though there are some grapes out there. That is really Yakima area, and Walla Walla.

I will also add that Okanagan nearby in Canada has some interesting things to try.

Again – welcome to the area (or I should say back to the region). I hope we cross paths in real life some day!

[IanY]

Even though this thread took quite the detour I’m relieved to see the destination is still in sight. Very much appreciate all the recommendations! I have a lot of reading, researching, and drinking to do! Chris, thank you for the PDX recs as well, will definitely be hitting up Oregon.

Bar Ferdinand — love that place!

[IanY]

Join Full Pull to receive their email offerings. Just from reading Paul Zitarelli"s offerings you can learn a lot about Washington wine and wineries though he has expanded his offerings to include Oregon and the rest of the world. Not paying shipping makes the offers more enticing as well. Newport or Hazen for high school?

Newport, class of 98. Go Knights!

[Marshall_Manning]

I came out West more than 30 years ago. And, you know what, there were people making similar complaints back then. The only difference is that at that time it was the “Californians” that were the bogeyman - now it’s the “Amazonians”. Emmett Watson’s been pushing up daisies for almost twenty years. Time to let it go. The only constant is change. Cities/regions that don’t adapt and change end up dying. Make sure you tell the kids to get off your lawn, too…

Michael

“I’m not from here
But people tell me
It’s not like it used to be
They say I should have been here
Back about ten years
Before it got ruined by folks like me…”

James McMurtry, “I’m Not From Here”

[Yao_C]

Chris may be an old crank, but he ends with very good advice:

But to answer your question, as a Seattle area denizen, I recommend you order all of your wine from Vinopolis, Sec, and Avalon in Portland, and make a couple of visits to the Willamette Valley each year to visit world class wineries.

No doubt, as I simply LOVE Sec and Vinopolis…but they’re in Portland, OR. Not Seattle, which is what the OP was asking for.

The drive is pretty pleasant and I can’t imagine it’d be a hardship to visit a couple of times a year

[Yao_C]

I live about 15 miles from Woodinville. It is absolutely the silliest excuse for a “wine region” in the entire world. The majority of visitors there are just “bar hopping.” All the vineyards are on the other side of the state. We “fondly” refer to Woodinville as the Wine Mall. You’ll go there once. I doubt you’ll go twice.

Woodinville has at least one redeeming feature: The Herbfarm. Great food and reasonably priced old wine…

[Brandon_R]

Chris may be an old crank, but he ends with very good advice:

But to answer your question, as a Seattle area denizen, I recommend you order all of your wine from Vinopolis, Sec, and Avalon in Portland, and make a couple of visits to the Willamette Valley each year to visit world class wineries.

No doubt, as I simply LOVE Sec and Vinopolis…but they’re in Portland, OR. Not Seattle, which is what the OP was asking for.

The drive is pretty pleasant and I can’t imagine it’d be a hardship to visit a couple of times a year

Again…not arguing your point…

[R_M_Kriete]

Not sure what to make of the disdain for Woodinville. While it is obviously not “wine country”, for someone like me, who lives a good thousand miles from any winery, the opportunity to taste new vintage wines at 100 different tasting rooms…well it sure beats tasting orange juice!

[Mark_Y]

No doubt, as I simply LOVE Sec and Vinopolis…but they’re in Portland, OR. Not Seattle, which is what the OP was asking for.

The drive is pretty pleasant and I can’t imagine it’d be a hardship to visit a couple of times a year

Again…not arguing your point…

Hey looking for restaurant ideas for Paris.

• well here are great spots in Vienna…

• but but but Vienna is a fun city too!

[JLee]

I would recommend you not move back to the Seattle area at all. Having lived here for 56 years, it greatly pains me just how ruined the Puget Sound area has become even in the last 20 years (the tech boom era). Over-population has fundamentally erased the incredible beauty and open space that this area once had. But I supposed that is true for San Francisco and many other parts of the country as well. And yes, plenty of people still think its just fabulous. Different standards, I guess.

With all respect here, but if you haven’t lived anywhere else for 56!! Years… how do you know Seattle isn’t better than most other cities in the US?

You say you would not recommend moving back to Seattle… where would you recommend the OP move to? like what’s a better city to move to at the moment? just curious.

I don’t think Seattle’s problem is over population. It’s still in the teens in terms of US cities in terms of population size no? What it’s problem is, is rather incompetent lower level governments without any vision or backbone. The infrastructure has not kept up with the growth. investments that should have been made years ago were not.

In theory increasing population / with good paying job opportunities should = more tax/property tax revenue and should = better infrastructure put in place to sustain the growth. but nope. i can’t think of much the city/county gov’t has done to look a little forward rather than just react… except maybe finally building a light rail system.

Anyhow, thread jack.

Ian (OP), are you more asking about places to buy/drink wine locally? or places to buy/drink local wines?

Yep, my post is full on curmudgeon, anti-growth, anti-progress without solution offered. I have traveled to other cities and perhaps as a city, Seattle is better than others. You will note that I said the Puget Sound area. Seattle didn’t stay in Seattle. It use to be a very small city, Bellevue was a two-story town, Redmond was a village, Issaquah was a hamlet, and North Bend was a tiny spot in the middle of the woods. Now the Seattle sprawl of identical sub-divisions and traffic gridlock goes out to North Bend and beyond in every direction. In the area I live, there used to be 500 people and 10,000 cows. Now there are 10,000 people and 500 cows. The vision of my local leaders is to build at least another 800 homes (tax revenue!) even though the local school districts are beyond capacity. Beautiful, isolated hiking spots are now mobbed with more people than the trails can support and are spread with trash and human waste. It only took a couple of decades. Yeah, I am sticking to there being a population problem. And I think the concept of sustainable growth is an oxymoron in a world of finite resources.

My apologies to the OP. My comments have been wholly unhelpful to his questions. What I should have said is that the depending on how long you’ve been gone, you may find the area very different than knew it.

I’m outside within three hours of Seattle at least 50+ days of the year and I’ve never seen an overcrowding or trash problem on any trail, including some of the most popular in the area. I couldn’t Google any school overcrowding issue either. Theres some traffic but I’ve never seen gridlock at north bend unless there’s an accident or a severe weather issue and I take i-90 on the regular most winter weekends.

[ChrisJames]

The drive is pretty pleasant and I can’t imagine it’d be a hardship to visit a couple of times a year

Again…not arguing your point…

Hey looking for restaurant ideas for Paris.

• well here are great spots in Vienna…

• but but but Vienna is a fun city too!

Very droll. I didn’t consider that the OP wanted to wander a wine shop like on old book store since I buy all my wine online. I should have clarified. Since he is moving to the Seattle area, here is what one person who lives in the area does. From a selection and economic perspective, I find that ordering wine from Oregon is the best choice, shipping vs. WA state sales tax included in the calculation. And considering that most retailers will hold wine for a number of months, a semi-annual trip down makes it even better.

[ChrisJames]

[quote=JLee post_id=3066535 time=1598985116 user_id=20281

I’m outside within three hours of Seattle at least 50+ days of the year and I’ve never seen an overcrowding or trash problem on any trail, including some of the most popular in the area. I couldn’t Google any school overcrowding issue either. Theres some traffic but I’ve never seen gridlock at north bend unless there’s an accident or a severe weather issue and I take i-90 on the regular most winter weekends.
[/quote]

That is great that you still find things so charming. My daughter is a student at one local school district and my wife is a teacher in another. But what they experience must not be real if you can’t find it on Google. True, gridlock currently doesn’t extend much beyond Issaquah. Give it a few years. Snoqualmie and North Bend are both sprawling bedroom communities. I-90 is designed to bypass them. In city traffic gets very heavy. Try Hyw 202 or 18 at rush hour. And I won’t bother sharing anticdotal stories of trail issues from me, my wife, my brother, or neighbors, etc, since you won’t be convinced anyway.

So, either

1. You are extremely lucky in your experience.
2. You and I have widely different perceptions and standards.
3. I am lying and have made up a bunch of tales.

Choose whatever works best for you. I suspect you already have.

[Cindy_N]

I have no affiliation with Medium Plus aside from the fact that I follow Nick Davis’s Instagram account. I believe he runs a warehouse at 7511 Greenwood Ave N #306, Seattle, WA 98103, so you may want to browse his website and pickup at the warehouse. His website has been invaluable to me as he and his team has compiled a great encyclopedia of all things wine. I wouldn’t expect anything less from a Master Somm.

Store - Medium Plus

[Mark_Y]

Very droll. I didn’t consider that the OP wanted to wander a wine shop like on old book store since I buy all my wine online. I should have clarified. Since he is moving to the Seattle area, here is what one person who lives in the area does. From a selection and economic perspective, I find that ordering wine from Oregon is the best choice, shipping vs. WA state sales tax included in the calculation. And considering that most retailers will hold wine for a number of months, a semi-annual trip down makes it even better.

Chris i don’t disagree… I think there are some wines that Sec/Vinopolis has a much better deal on, and Willamette is a beautiful place to visit!

However if you build a relationship with some local wine shops, you can get limited access to certain wines that are much harder to fine on Vinopolis/Sec… Also, the ability to jump in and buy a btl due to last minute need has some value, so OP may want to know some options as well.