Patterson Cellars Tasting Room on the Pike Street Hill Climb
Saturday, January 29 saw the grand opening of Patterson Cellars' new tasting room on the Pike Street Hill Climb, a cluster of restaurant and retail stores fronting on a set of steps connecting the Pike Place Market to the waterfront. Always up to check out some new wines and a new space, we dropped by with some friends after a morning matinee.
The Space
Patterson Cellars, a winery based in Woodinville, has moved a satellite tasting room into the space at the top of the hill climb formerly occupied by The Spanish Table, which has relocated across the street. The tasting room is split into two levels. The top level includes the bar, some standing tables and an assortment of gift shop items while the lower level has a larger open space with a few more standing tables. The overall design skews modern, fits well in an urban setting and quickly got us into the mood to taste some wine.
The Experience
Once we settled in, we were informed that their Chardonnay had just sold out (disappointing, as we have been focusing on trying to find more whites that we like), so we instead started off with a not-yet-released Tempranillo/Sangiovese rosé. Munchies provided were of the cheese, cracker and fruit variety, with some tasty meatballs that we fetched from the lower level.
The flight was served politely and efficiently, with little commentary offered. The Forbidden Red included a grape variety unfamiliar to us (Touriga), and when we asked about it we were informed that it is, indeed, "a varietal". Further inquisition on the source of grapes in the Syrah was met with a similarly vague response of "Columbia Valley". We'll chalk this up to a decent-size crowd that kept the tasting room staff's hands' full, and inexperience - both on the part of the server and our own unrefined querying skills.
The rosé was followed by the 5-grape 2008 Forbidden Red blend, their 2007 Syrah and finally their 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon. The highlights here were the Forbidden Red and the rosé.
Overall, the Patterson Cellars Tasting Room on the Pike Street Hill Climb is an attractive space in a great location that we will likely visit again - hopefully at a more mellow time when we can learn more about their wines.
* Update * Patterson Cellars' tasting room in downtown Seattle is now closed.
Market Cellar Winery
While we were in Patterson Cellars, we noticed a sign for another winery across the street, which we dutifully investigated. What we found was Market Cellar Winery, whose sign indicated that they were celebrating their grand re-opening. The new incarnation is a cooperative effort between Market Cellar Winery and Home Brew Supplies and Randy Finley of Mount Baker Vineyards and Winery. All the wines we tasted were from the Mount Baker label.
The Space
The tasting room is a small space with a half dozen tables, and is situated in front of an iron gate protecting the barrels themselves. Yes, this is a winery as well as a tasting room - rare in downtown Seattle. The space is well done with torched wood floors and a very cool south wall covered in old barrels cut up, finished and placed into a pattern recalling a picnic basket weave. The north wall features art created by Randy's wife, Patricia Clark-Finley.
The Experience
What a blast! We were greeted by Randy, who had already started our two friends who went ahead on the Mount Baker Oyster Blanc. He got the rest of us some glasses and continued on. We spent the next 2 hours or so there tasting and learning about the wines and listening to stories about everything from the wines to the remodel to his time working in the Space Needle elevators.
After the Oyster Blanc, we were treated to samples of the 2008 Proprietor's Limited Release of Cabernet Franc, Dolcetto and Malbec, with a 2007 Viognier Late Harvest to top it off. We were very pleased with all the reds and the Viognier. While the Oyster Blanc was not our cup of tea, our friends liked it quite a bit. We had already made up our minds that we were buying some bottles before we saw the price list, and with all priced under $21, these were a deal!
Our original plan of walking home after tasting was blown away here, but when you get great wines and great times like we had at Market Cellar Winery, who cares?! We were absolutely thrilled to have spent the afternoon with Randy tasting his wines and hearing his stories and are looking forward to our next trip back.
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