Mike Metheny, a former aerospace engineer, along with business partner Lisa Swei, a technology expert, fall into that delightful echelon of people with magnetic personalities. Their balanced upbeat-nature is contagious not only to winery guests, but seems to flow through their carefully French-oaked reds and stainless steel-aged whites. With a bevy of awards and genial hosts, this popular winery is enlarging their footprint in Woodinville with a second tasting room that opened in May 2022.
The new tasting location sits with a cluster of other tasting rooms, offering ample parking next to the Hampton Inn, several short blocks east of the Artisan Hill warehouse district where the winery’s production facility has been in operation since 2013. Having an extra tasting room so close to the warehouse winery is beneficial to both visitors and the winemakers.
“People love coming to the winery to taste and be in a working environment, but the new space is dedicated to tastings in a relaxed and welcoming space. It is warm, inviting and bright, and has lots of easy parking,” says Mike.
“We feel it provides a more pleasurable tasting experience without the cold/hot conditions of the winery, or the whirr of our 30-year-old space heater going off above their heads. The new space is temperature controlled for all-season tasting, as well as specifically designed for wheelchair customers,” adds Lisa.
Mike points out that from a production standpoint, he will get his floor drain and winery back on weekends during extremely busy harvest times. “Lisa and I have always had to come in super early or work late during harvest around tasting room hours on weekends. We can now bring in fruit on weekends if Mother Nature wants it that way and will make us more relaxed during harvest, which makes better wine.”
The winery’s mascot, the Three of Cups tarot card, symbolizes conviviality, abundance and joyful social contact— so too do Mike and Lisa’s limited-batch wines that deliver high marks on those same promises to bring people and good times together with expressive, high-quality wines.
Visit & Taste: $15 tasting fee, refundable with any wine purchase; the new location is at 19255 Woodinville-Snohomish Rd, Woodinville, (425) 770-4601, open Thur-Sun. Or visit the warehouse winery at 18808 142nd Ave NE #4A, Woodinville; check the web for hours, www.threeofcups.com
Below are three releases we recently reviewed:
Three of Cups 2017 Le Bateleur Cabernet Sauvignon
94 pts.
Firm-footed tannins and crunchy acidity support this lively polished red sourced from Heart of the Hill Vineyard on Red Mountain. Expressions of warm-spiced red plum, cherry paste and Earl Gray tea are accented with cedar and iron notes that play through the finish. $35
Three of Cups 2018 Le Jugement GSM Red Wine
93 pts.
Loaded with sleek personality, this toasty red blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre displays abundant dark berry and dried currant flavors. Layered with bits of tar, orange peel and white pepper accents weave through the firm, focused finish. $21
Three of Cups 2021 Rosé of Cinsaut
93 pts.
Fruity aromas of white cherry, dried strawberry and lemon essence give way to watermelon, red currant and limestone flavors on the dry finish lined with white pepper accents. Zesty, with a backbone of clean acidity that offers energetic drive. $18