Woodinville Wine Country: A Hundred Wineries, No Vineyards

Here is the paradox that makes Woodinville one of the strangest and most beloved wine regions in America. This small suburb east of Seattle is home to more than one hundred wineries and tasting rooms, yet you will barely see a grapevine. Nearly all the fruit is grown more than one hundred miles east, across the Cascade Mountains, in the warm arid vineyards of the Columbia Valley, then trucked over the passes to be made into wine here, close to the customers.

It all started with Chateau Sainte Michelle. Once the big estate proved that a winery could draw Seattle crowds, others followed. Columbia Winery arrived in the late nineteen eighties, and over the following years a wave of respected labels, including DeLille Cellars, DiStefano, Betz Family, and Novelty Hill, planted their flags.

The warehouse garagistes came next, and the town filled with tasting rooms organized loosely into distinct districts, from the polished Hollywood district near the chateau to the scrappy warehouse quarter. Today, a visitor a short drive from downtown Seattle can taste wines sourced from some of the finest vineyards in the state, all within a walkable few square miles. Woodinville grows almost no grapes, and yet it has become the front door to Washington wine.