The Estates Wine Room: Seattle’s New Pioneers

The Estates Wine Room in downtown’s oldest neighborhood, Pioneer Square, brings wine, culture and enlightened tastings to the city

THE ESTATES WINE ROOM, which opened in December of 2015, is enviably situated in the heart of Pioneer Square in Seattle and prides itself on presenting wines through a new and noticeably different urban tasting experience.

The choice of location also reflects the brands represented in the Wine Room: Double Canyon in Horse Heaven Hills (Wash.), Seven Hills Winery in Walla Walla Valley (Wash.), and Archery Summit in Willamette Valley (Ore.). Under one roof, guests can experience side by side what makes these producers—representing three of the top growing regions in the Pacific Northwest—so distinct.

“We see Pioneer Square as the true, historic heart of Seattle—a neighborhood with character and a deep sense of place,” says Taylor Knight, director of marketing for owner Crimson Wine Group’s Northwest Brands division. “That echoes the essence of these brands, which all seek to express the unique character and history of their respective estates’ terroir.”

Take a Seat

In addition to offering multi-brand tasting of estate-only wines smack dab in the city, The Estates Wine Room is on the forefront of the trend to provide seated tastings for all guests.

“It sends a completely different message,” says Casey McClellan, winemaker and general manager for Seven Hills Winery. “It’s an elevated experience—you can really contemplate the wine.”
But don’t mistake this seated experience for fussy; the vibe is relaxed and conversational, in spite of the opportunity for focused wine education.

“I’m happy to give guests as much information as they want to know,” says tasting room associate Haley Fay. “But I also know when guests just want to enjoy the wines quietly.” This is a departure from tasting bars when on a busy day, crowds often compete for elbow room at the counter and noise prohibits education about the wines beyond the tasting notes. And, with close proximity to Century Link and Safeco Fields, the ambiance offers a welcome alternative to wine drinkers trying to avoid big screen TV’s before sporting events.

The Estates Wine Room would like to think of the experience as if each winemaker were there sitting down at the table with tasters, conveying a story as if they were touring the vineyards. In fact, despite the inner-city setting, a lenticular wall with photographs of Double Canyon Vineyard runs the length of the tasting room—it’s as if the actual vines are right there.

“It almost brings a holographic image of the vineyard into the room,” says tasting room manager, Donna Moyer. “We actually have people walk in off street to look at it.”

While savoring the wines with side-by-side tastings, by the glass or bottle, guests can pair selections with beautifully curated small bites, artisan cheese and charcuterie boards sourced from fellow artisan neighbors, including popular gems London Plane, Rain Shadow Meats, and Salumi to name a few. Outdoor seating was added last August, which can provide some of the hottest seats in the house, combining a focused wine experience with Notting Hill-worthy people watching.

Old Is New Again

Not only has The Estates Wine Room contributed to the revitalization of Pioneer Square’s architecturally-rich area by breathing life back into the 107-year-old brick and stone building, but it’s ahead of the curve with the concept of an urban tasting experience. “We really wanted it to be right in the city—an urban experience,” says Moyer. “I look at it as the democratization of wine tasting. Not everybody can travel to Walla Walla or to the Willamette Valley, but they can walk down the street.”

“Attracting people to Horse Heaven Hills and getting them out to the middle of nowhere is really tough even after they’ve tasted the wine,” says Double Canyon’s general manager and winegrower, Will Beightol. “This location in the heart of Pioneer Square is really our front door and we want to create a passion for the brand where we can touch the most people.”

The Terroir Trio

With the focus on showcasing the distinctly different terroir behind each of the three estate-grown brands, several soil samples are displayed prominently in carafes in The Estates Wine Room. Two from Archery Summit include red, iron-rich Jory soil from Arcus Estate in the Dundee Hills AVA, and Willakenzie, a marine-sediment soil unique in the Willamette from Ribbon Ridge AVA. These soils, combined with the growing conditions in the Willamette Valley, and impeccable crafting from Archery Summit’s winemaker and general manager, Chris Mazepink, have the brand recognized as one of the best Pinot Noir producers in the world.

The soil sample from Seven Hills Vineyard, touted one of the ten great vineyards in the world, is Ellisforde series, the wind-blown loess Washington is known for, with mineral-rich glacial soils of the Walla Walla AVA. Veteran winemaker and general manager, Casey McClellan, who founded Seven Hills Winery in 1988 along with his wife, Vicky, is able to craft some of the most sought-after Merlot in the state from the Old Blocks of the vineyard.

A soil sample from Double Canyon Vineyard is wind-blown loess from the Horse Heaven Hills AVA. The vines are densely planted in this soil to achieve fewer, more concentrated clusters, ideal for Will Beightol’s pursuit of best-in-class Cabernet Sauvignon in Washington State. His pursuit just got better with a new production facility in the works. The facility, at close to 50,000 square feet, “is designed specifically for making a Washington Cabernet,” he says, and should be up and running for the 2017 harvest.

Creating Community

Just as The Estates Wine Room offers the opportunity to taste three brands, or pick and choose among them, in one location, their wine club also offers flexibility.

“As a pilot program, initially we gave people the option of joining an individual winery club or The Estates Wine Club, a set allocation which includes all three,” says Moyer. “But we made the club flexible—you can take the allocation we’ve curated or you can go online and make your own selections, which has been a huge draw for people.” Members can also include A. Bergére Champagne into the mix (of which Crimson Wine Group is the sole importer) and is available in the tasting room.

At present, approximately 60 to 70 percent of members live or work in the general vicinity according to Moyer, which is a testament to The Estate Wine Room’s imprint on the area. “They come in regularly, some once a week,” she says. “So from that perspective it’s wine commerce but it’s also wine community, and that’s what we’re trying to build here.”

In addition to complimentary tastings for themselves and three guests at any of the properties, members receive discounts on both wine and food, and have access to the back lounge at The Estates Wine Room. “We’ll typically have a special pour for club members. Today, for example, I’m offering them the Whole Cluster Cuvée from Archery Summit,” says associate Haley Fay, while swapping out Bordeaux-style glasses with Pinot Noir stemware—an attention to detail you can expect here. Members also enjoy red-carpet treatment, with access to the exclusive A-List Lounge at Archery Summit, and invitations to release parties and special events.
With the excitement that’s been generated thus far with the concept of The Estates Wine Room, coupled with the newfound energy in Pioneer Square, the question is who will join in the urban-tasting movement?

“We’d love to see more tasting rooms open up in this area,” says Moyer. “There’s a future here.”

Written by Kirsten Telander

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The Estates Wine Room
307 Occidental Ave S, Seattle WA
Open Sun-Wed 12-6pm and Thur-Sat 12-7pm
PH: 206-623-5835
www.estateswineroom.com