For my sister Mariel’s second-ever Woodinville wine tasting experience, we decided to treat her to an afternoon at Alexandria Nicole Cellars in the Hollywood District. Mariel prefers white wines, so we thought this would be a nice place to let her sample a variety of regional Washington whites.
Inside, we met the fabulous Mae Olivia, and our lives will never be the same (grin!) We found her charming, funny and a wonderful hostess. I really appreciated that she was totally relaxed about us rudely showing up with our camera without making an appointment first – we’re trying to get better about that, and were relieved that Mae was so gracious.
We asked if we could taste just the white wines for Mariel’s benefit, and Mae was happy to teach us about the white wine offerings from Alexandria Nicole Cellars.
We explained that this was Mariel’s second ever wine tasting in Woodinville, and how excited we were to show her one of our very favorite places. We all loved the Albarino that Mae poured for us.
We sampled the 2016 Crawford Viognier – the 2017 wasn’t released yet – and thoroughly enjoyed it. I think the only other Viognier Mariel has tasted was from Vin du Lac in Chelan, which is also excellent.
Jen always pauses longingly when she sees advertisements for the Tiny Houses you can rent in the Eastern Washington vineyards belonging to Alexandria Nicole Cellars. Reservations are only open to wine club members.
We tasted the 2016 Shepherds Mark, a Viognier blend from Horse Heaven Hills. I knew I needed to pick up at least one bottle, if not two, to serve guests in my backyard this spring.
Mae spent some time talking to Mariel about Washington’s wine regions, vineyards and AVAs.
Whenever another customer would come in, we’d quit pestering Mae and explore spacious tasting room. This little area of the tasting room offers wine-themed gifts with hilarious sayings on them, like “Ever feel like you’ve had too much wine? Me neither!” I can relate.
I love this one too – “You can judge with one sip, but it is better to be sure.” These are coaster tiles for your coffee table.
If you’re hungry while on a wine tasting adventure, Alexandria Nicole sells some tempting food offerings – meat and cheese plates and snacks.
Their wine library is well labeled, making it easy to shop and select a luscious bottle or two for your home cellar.
Alexandria Nicole Cellars makes a really good Tempranillo. I need to stock up on this for my upcoming summer sangria parties, barbecues and dinner parties!
Mae invited us down the “Cave” hallway to the club member room. We could for a moment pretend we were in France in a real wine cave!
This is the secondary tasting bar, for club members only. I apologize that I can’t remember the name of the charming and friendly wine steward who works down here – we always have so much fun chatting with her.
I love that Alexandria Nicole Cellars offers kegs of wine! They’re likely more for weddings, restaurants and big events, but it’s good to know if I really needed to buy one for a party at my house, I could.
Mae let us hang out in the Club room even though we’re not club members (yet!) Such an inviting and relaxing space.
Often when we stop by we see club members enjoying a wine pour here, chatting and stepping away from the outside world for a respite.
The 2018 Harvest party is a club-member only event that takes place later this summer, in August.
Mae next kindly took us on a tour of the outdoor patio, wine glasses in hand, and showed us the pretty little natural creek outside.
We imagine that lots of brides pose for their wedding portrait on the quaint footbridge.
We’re so enamored with this pleasant outdoor patio for club member use.
We stopped to admire the gorgeous patio fountain. I forgot to ask about it – I’d like to know more about its provenance.
Jen was glad to put down her heavy professional camera for a minute and relax with her tasting of white wine.
There’s an intriguing collection of vintage license plates to admire. Wouldn’t you love to see photos of the antique cars that used to bear them?
Since we were taking so many photos of her, Mariel insisted Jen and I pose for one on the patio as well. Fair enough!
Mariel was delighted with her visit to Alexandria Nicole Cellars, and is already planning to bring her boyfriend Carlos to this tasting room next time they’re vacationing in Seattle together!
-Carrie
RESOURCES:
Alexandria Nicole Cellars Website
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Alexandria Nicole Cellars on Instagram
Alexandria Nicole Cellars on Pinterest
Alexandria Nicole Cellars on Twitter
Alexandria Nicole Cellars on Yelp
