In mid-November, a friend invited us to join him for a special tasting event at Pomum Cellars here in Woodinville’s Warehouse District.
Bob and I took him up on the offer, eager to escape a boring rainy day Sunday afternoon. Always up for an adventure! We stopped to admire Pomum’s barrels.
Inside, I was greeted by Chris Sherry, who is the winemaker at Elentone.
He handed me a glass of the 2013 Elentone Sparkling Brut, which is grown in my favorite summer vacation spot, the Lake Chelan AVA! I was surprised and delighted to find a sparkling wine being offered at this Woodinville tasting room – that doesn’t often happen.
The tasting began with a 2015 Riesling that I am determined to stock for all the white wine drinkers at my upcoming holiday parties.
I was invited to snoop around in the back room and admire the amphoras. Pomum Cellars uses them to ferment their Tempranillo.
I also stopped to pay my respects to these barrels, busily doing their job imparting flavor and character to their wines.
It’s unusual to see amphoras in use in Woodinville, so I thought I’d better take another photo for posterity!
Modern stainless steel fermenter tanks are also in use here.
Rejoining my friends back in the tasting room, I met winemaker Javier Alfonso’s delightful father, here on a visit from his home in a small town in Spain. He poured the incredibly delicious Tinto Tempranillo for us while regaling us with stories of wine caves back home. (We all left the tasting determined to find a way to dig wine caves in our backyards; alas, a foolhardy idea I suspect). He was quite knowledgeable about Spanish wines and his son’s endeavors to bring Spanish vines to Washington to grow and produce Spanish style wine.
Javier Alfonso also makes Spanish wines under the sister brand Idilico. You can read some articles about him here and here.
My friends loaded up their wine club boxes, and we departed to make room for more people to enjoy the tasting.
Stop by Pomum Cellars next time you’re in the Warehouse District – I recommend their Shya Red and their Tempranillo! They’re located at 18512 142nd Ave., Woodinville, WA 98072.
-Carrie
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