The book character themed names of the wines add an interesting touch to the experience. Nice ambience. Be sure to check out the patio in the summer.
Overview: Good wine tasting room. It seems to be among the more popular ones in the Woodinville wine tasting area. They cater to both casual and serious wine drinkers. They serve snacks as well. They have indoor and outdoor seating, overlooking a parking lot and street.
Context: We went around 4 PM on a summer Saturday.
Tastings: They have three tiers of 2 oz. wine tastings - $12 basic tier (3 wines), $20 luxury tier (4-5 wines), $20 premium tier (2 wines, special single vineyard of $100+ wines).
The glasses are tapered at the top and made all of the wines smell perfumey. Wafting is probably the best way to smell the wines. The basic tier is either all white and rosé, all red, or a mix. The wines were quite nice, with balanced acidity and body. We were told that all of the wines were produced by a guy who is leaving to start his own vineyard. Starting next year, wine profiles may be different, but I am optimistic about quality. The luxury tier was comparable to the basic tier in terms of quality (in my opinion). The main difference seemed to be that the luxury tier wines were mostly from single or few vineyards while the basic tier usually had fruit from various vineyards. The premium tier consisted of primarily (95%+) cabernet sauvignon wines that were picked from single vineyards from grapes that were grown closest to the wine (meaning ripest grapes). At $10 per pour, these wines may seem expensive, but for the two wines we tried you could definitely taste the differences in terroir. Just completely different profiles for very similar compositions. I highly recommend this tasting for wine lovers.
Value: These prices were comparable to other wine rooms in the area - ~$4 per pour, or $20 for 4-5 wines. Wine rooms usually waive a tasting with the purchase of a certain amount of bottles. 3 bottles to waive a basic tasting or $50+ purchase of wine to waive a luxury tasting. The value isn't as great on these deals as at other places (which is usually the purchase of a single or two wines of any price waives a tasting).
Service: Water was initially stingy, but once we started asking for water more aggressively, they came by and gave us more more frequently. :) Our server was fairly knowledgeable about the winery and some of the wines, but you can find spec sheets online for the basic wines and they will provide paper copies for the luxury and premium wines upon request. All of the workers were constantly moving and busy, but they seemed to enjoy the work. We were kindly told that outside food was not allowed, but they sell their own nuts and small snacks as well.
Overall: We ended up buying 3 bottles of wine. Most wines were dry or semi-dry styles and acidity was balanced very well. We would go again, despite the busy-ness because all of the wines were delicious. Service was good overall, but I think they should invest in a water tank. 4.5/5 would go again.
