WOODINVILLE, Wash. — Continuing our roundup of openings of new wineries and tasting rooms, here’s the latest report by resident photojournalist Richard Duval on activities in and around Woodinville Wine Country.
In addition to the column, Duval continues to slowly and carefully venture into Northwest wine communities to provide signature images to help document our ever-expanding industry. Watch for him with Washington State University face mask firmly in place.
New to Woodinville
Cedergreen Cellars has moved from its Kirkland origin to a new home in the Woodinville Warehouse District’s Artisan Hill section. Kevin and Julie Cedergreen energetically embrace New World techniques to craft food-friendly wines that reflect Kevin’s winemaking experience in Washington and New Zealand. This summer, the Cedergreen 2017 Gamay Noir earned a gold medal at the Cascadia International Wine Competition.
Staying in the Artisan Hill section, boutique winery Damsel Cellars has moved about 40 feet to an expanded space that gives owner/winemaker Mari Womack a bigger space to produce and pour. She’s long made her reputation specializing in Syrah and Rhône blends sourced from a variety of Washington vineyards.
Next door and newly installed is Glacier View Cellars, owned by business partners Stephanie Jones and Shawn Horton. Per the wine labels, the room décor reflects winemaker Jones’s passion for extensive and challenging hikes throughout the Cascades. (A relief map covers an entire wall.) She notes with pride that she crafts “vegetarian wines” – free of any animal by-products.
Across the road and new to the Warehouse District is Synne Cellars, owned by food industry veteran Issac Schmid, a 10-year winemaker who finally settled on a home for his label. Synne is taken from a Scandinavian word meaning “gift of the Sun.” Schmid brings his years as sommelier to bear on his approach to Washington wines.
A collective vault into Maltby
A few miles north of Woodinville is The Vault – a collective of three buildings that now house five longtime wineries – JM Cellars, Guardian Cellars, Gorman Winery, sister wineries Covington Cellars/ Two Vintners – and a youngster in Laterus Winery. Built to their specifications in Maltby, all the wineries shifted production from Woodinville and opened tasting rooms in their new digs.
Winemaker/owner John Bigelow will maintain JM Cellars’ bucolic Bramble Bump tasting room and garden on the hill overlooking Chateau Ste. Michelle, however its popularity outgrew its space. Hence the move to Maltby and a bigger tasting room that incorporates production space and the crush pad for additional seating in these social distance days.
It’s a similar story for the other wineries. Jerry Riener’s Guardian Cellars remains in Hollywood Hills, a few feet from the music-decked tasting room at Gorman Winery. Each winemaker found the larger space and newer digs more conducive to growth than their smaller spaces in the Warehouse District, hence the move to Maltby.
Morgan Lee continues to operate Covington Cellars and Two Vintners in the Artisan Hill neighborhood of Woodinville, but he will handle production and events in the new larger space at The Vault.
Tyler Farnsworth continues as the JM Cellars assistant winemaker, which serves him well with his own boutique winery Laterus Winery – the new kid on the block. A loyal Washington State University alum, he honed his craft at the Prosser research station and a stint at DiStefano Winery in Woodinville.
That’s a wrap on Woodinville for now. The next VineLines Dispatch will update Seattle’s urban landscape and the booming Vancouver USA wine scene. Cheers!
- Send your wine industry news items to rduval@vinelines.com and help keep our readers (and us) up to date on the latest happenings in the Great Northwest Wine community.
Leave a Reply