What to gift your wine enthusiast friend this Christmas if you don’t want to give them trendy Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, a GSM or a Merlot?
Woodinville wineries offer a wide variety of wine, and if we put on our creative thinking caps, we can find unique and delightful wine bottle gifts this holiday season.
Sparkling Wines from Woodinville
Here in Woodinville, you can find festive sparkling wines from Elentone and from Lachini; Isenhower Cellars has a sparkling Roussanne; Patterson Cellars has a Blanc de Blancs sparkling Chardonnay; Cave B offers a Blanc de Blanc sparkling wine. There’s Sparkling Pinot Grigio at Wit Cellars and a sparkling wine at Rocky Pond Winery.
Unusual White Wines from Woodinville
Instead of gifting a Riesling, a Sauvignon Blanc or even a Pinot Gris/Grigio, give a bottle of Roussanne or Marsanne. Amaurice has a nice Marsanne, Warr-King Wines in the Warehouse District has an excellent Roussanne, and there’s a lovely Roussanne at DeLille Cellars. Speaking of DeLille, their Chaleur Blanc would be a nice pick as well. Check out the Melange Blanc at Patterson Cellars. Cave B Estate Winery in the Hollywood District has a Roussanne, a late harvest Semillon, a Chenin Blanc, a Cuvee Blanc, and an Unoaked Chardonnay that might be pleasing to someone you know.
Stop by Alexandria Nicole Cellars at the Hollywood Schoolhouse to pick up their award winning Shepherds Mark white wine blend or their late harvest Riesling.
Bookwalter Winery sells a 2017 White Bordeaux called “1st Edition.”
Lauren Ashton Cellars has interesting white blends, plus a Roussanne and a Semillon.
Savage Grace’s Pet-Nat sparkling Cot (Malbec) and an orange Gewurztraminer would be a treat under someone’s tree. I’m a wine club member there and I worship their incredible wines. I probably am not generous enough to gift away any of my precious Savage Grace wine club shipment!
Torii Mor, in the Apple Farm Village, sells a Pinot Blanc.
Intriguing Red and Dessert Wines from Woodinville
Isenhower Cellars has a festive Holiday Red and their Petit Verdot port might make a fabulous gift
In the Apple Farm Village, Zerba Cellars offers an Ice Riesling, a Late Harvest Syrah port style wine, and a late harvest red wine. They make a Zinfandel, a Nebbiolo and a Sangiovese that might make more nice gifts as well.
Speaking of Nebbiolo, Cascade Cliffs has an incredible one in their tasting room in the West Valley district. Up the road a bit north, Martedi sells Italian style wines that are absolutely incredible. Pop around back, nearby, to Stomani Cellars for life-changing Nebbiolo, Barbera, Dolcetto, Sangiovese and Malbec.
Shop at Sparkman Cellars for some intriguing red blends to gift. Shown above is their Wonderland Grenache (although there’s a lot of Grenache in Woodinville). Baba is their excellent Sangiovese blend; they offer a Ring of Fire Petite Sirah and a Gaga Touriga Nacional. You can buy their Underworld Petit Verdot or their Hallelujah Port as well.
There’s a Gamay Noir at the new Cedergreen Cellars tasting room in Artisan Hill.
You can buy Oregon Pinot Noir at Panther Creek, Torii Mor and Lachini Vineyards, if you have Pinot lovers in the family.
How about some cider or canned wine, just to be a little different? Goose Ridge, in the Hollywood District, sells both; plus an interesting GRV White Blend and an ice wine. You can also find canned wine downstairs at the Hollywood Schoolhouse in the Alexandria Nicole Cellars tasting room.
Maryhill Winery could be your one-stop Christmas wine shopping destination. They have so many unusual wine varietals! They make a Zinfandel that’s quite good, a Muscat, a Rosso Granato, a Barbera, and a Tavolo Rosso, among many other interesting wines.
Another one-stop-shop for you could be Smasne Cellars, with their wide variety of Washington wines: Albarino, Roussanne and Marsanne for the white wines; late harvest Rose and late harvest Syrah; a Zinfandel.
In the Warehouse District, Michael Florentino Cellars has interesting (and delicious) Spanish style and Italian style wines: A a Counoise, a Mezclado, a Sangiovese, a Barbera, a Primitivo, a Tinto Fino, and an Albarino. Nearby, Genoa Cellars has fabulous Sangiovese, a lovely Rose, and unusual white wine blends. While you’re close by, try Eye of the Needle for interesting white wine blends (Harvest White, for example) and their Chenin Blanc. Over at Wit Cellars, they offer a Petit Verdot dessert wine, a Sangiovese, a petit Verdot and a sparkling Pinot Grigio.
W.T. Vintners has a Chenin Blanc, a Pinot Noir, and an excellent Mourvedre.
Rocky Pond Winery has their Wenceslas holiday blend as well as their festive sparkling wine.
In the Gateway District, stop by Tsillan Cellars for a Barbera, a Piccolo Rosso, a Gewurztraminer or their late harvest dessert wine.
At The Junction, stop by Gard Vintners for their intriguing white wine blend Freyja; their Riesling skin contact wine; their Riesling ice wine; and their Vaucluse red blend. Drop by their neighbors Beaumont Cellars to shop for Nebbiolo and Malbec. Continue on down to Five Star Cellars for their Sangiovese and Malbec. Next door to them is Sol Stone Winery, where you can pick up an excellent Tempranillo. On the end of the block, at Armstrong Family Winery, shop for Malbec and Petit Verdot.
In Artisan Hill, you can get a port-style dessert wine from Adrice Wines and pick up an Albarino, a Malbec, a Montepulciano and a Petit Verdot while you are there. Nearby at Finn Hill Winery you can shop for Malbec and a Petit Verdot.
Down the hill, at Lobo Hills, you can shop for an Auxerrois, a Chenin Blanc, a Dry Riesling, and a Petit Verdot. Nearby, at Icon Cellars, shop for Petite Sirah, a Malbec and Roussanne. Drop into Pomum Cellars for Elentone sparkling wine, and their Tinto Tempranillo. Visit Callan Cellars for fabulous wines, but the more interesting things she sells (Picpoul, Cinsaut Rose and Grenache Blanc) are already sold out.
I also want to recommend Suite C’s Vino, The Winemakers Reserve and Village Wines, all here in Woodinville, where you can drink wine and shop for wine at the same time.
If I didn’t mention your favorite winery here, it’s probably because I ran out of time writing this post, or your favorite winery sells mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, GSM, Syrah, Bordeaux/Rhone red blends, Merlot, white blends, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling, etc. All lovely varietals and totally delicious, but for this post I really wanted to call out the more unusual wines that we don’t see so much in tasting rooms.
Happy holidays!
-Carrie
Woodinville Wine Blog
http://www.woodinvillewineblog.com/
