Sips in the City: Seattle’s Urban Wineries

Woodinville may boast more than 90 wineries a short distance from the city, but did you know that Seattle has more than 20 urban wineries right here? It’s true. With production facilities and tasting rooms within the metropolis you can try a variety of wine styles while even using public transit.

Deconstructed barrels are repurposed at Kerloo Cellars’ tasting room in SoDo.

The collective of wineries known as Seattle Urban Wineries often throws open the doors for joint events, such as the recent SoDo Block Party. Celebrating a group of wineries jointly located at SoDo Urban Works on First Ave. So., the Saturday event was packed as visitors and tasters flocked to tastings by Full Pull Wines, Kerloo Cellars, and Waters Winery, among others.

A concrete fermentation vessel in an urban winery’s production facility

Not far away you can jet into Georgetown to try wines at Laurelhurst Cellars or Charles Smith Wines. Feel like staying over in West Seattle? You’re covered there too with four urban wineries including the Northwest Wine Academy, a division of South Seattle Community College. Here students can earn certificates in food and wine pairing, wine sales and marketing, or wine production. With a full tasting room on site you can try several vintages made right in house.

Nearly open: The upstairs tasting room at Almquist Family Vintners

Even north Seattle has more than a half dozen wineries, including the award-winning Almquist Family Vintners. A joint family effort by cousins Mike and Ben Almquist, the winery prides itself on its first-rate facilities, replete with a full bottling line and barrel storage. Producing more than 45 varietals in a gorgeous space adjacent to the Fremont Cut at 198 Nickerson St., Almquist Family Vintners also offers up event space utilizing the entrancing now-vacant space once occupied by the restaurant Hommage. (Don’t worry – a new restaurant called Branded is in the works and I fully intend to give it a whirl.)

I chatted with Ben as he took me around the facilities and he explained they often work with other wine makers to produce, age, and bottle wines in their facility. Anything from a single barrel to commercial production can be done without leaving the city. They even have a full distillery in operation and a wine garden, open daily, with room for more than a hundred guests.

Ben Almquist showcasing the bar in the lovely greenhouse at 198 Nickerson St.

Full bottling line at Almquist Family Vintners

While there may only be about 25 urban wineries in Seattle today, Ben projects that number will be closer to 100 in just three to four years. After all, he explained, with wines being all about a sense of place and style, why would you move the production to Woodinville when the bulk of the wine drinking population is right here in Seattle?

Barrel storage and aging at the Almquist Family Vintners facilities

To learn more about locations, tasting room hours, and special events, I encourage you to visit Seattle Urban Wineries. Let us know which urban winery becomes your next favorite. Salud!

Amy L. Dickson is a communications professional, freelance writer, and contributor to Rain or Shine Guides. She’s currently training at the NW Wine Academy for her Level 1 sommelier certification. Follow her at @amyldickson75.

Seattle Brewery Tour: Downtown

Downtown Seattle. It's a love hate relationship we have with you. On one hand you are the epicenter of our city. You house Pike Place Market, our favorite place in the city. On the other hand you also smell kinda bad and lack the fun atmosphere so many other neighborhoods have in Seattle.

Luckily, if you are in downtown and are overcome with the smell of urine or just need to get away from that man on the corner trying to convince you the end of times are indeed upon us there are a few breweries you can duck into for sanctuary. 

Photo from Pike Brewing Instagram

Pike Brewery Company

The big hitter downtown. The George Clooney of the downtown breweries. They have been around awhile and know what they are doing. They have it down, they rarely create something that isn't good (cough cough.. Batman...cough cough). They have a big location, good for groups, a large food menu, and offer brewery tours. 

Our Favorite: The Space Needle IPA, but if it goes off the menu the Scottish Kilt Lifter is a year-round goodie.

Old Stove Brewery Co.

Another brewery in Pike Place Market? What??!! Yep. It just opened this year and is set to expand into the new MarketFront building next year. They have communal tables in a true beer hall fashion, large windows that open to bring in fresh air and don't forget about the beer. It's pretty good too. We attended the Grand Opening and did a full write up here. 

Our Favorite: Galaxy Smash Pale Ale (you had us at citrus aromas).

Good color palette plus good beer equals happy bloggers.

Cloudburst Brewing

We saved the best for last, like the red skittle or the pink starburst. This brewery was born at a time of turmoil in Seattle, when Elysian sold out to The Man (aka InBev), and we were all crushed, but from the ashes rose something beautiful, from the ashes rose Cloudburst Brewing. There is not a bad beer on the menu. Everything is different in a delightful way. Exploring this menu is like exploring a beautiful utopia where you encounter something better at every turn. It's really that great, we are not hyperbole-ing here people. 

Our Favorite: It is so hard to pick one but if we MUST...Happy Little Clouds... or maybe the Clickbait IPA... but then there is the....crap. ok. stopping before this gets embarrassing

Need to find breweries in Ballard? Check out our first post in this series.

Rain or Shine's Favorite Seattle Restaurants

Warning: This is a completely biased list of the places we think are the best in Seattle. We are girls who don't need all the bells and whistles. If you have good service and awesome food and are located in a strip mall on Aurora, we will be your best customers. We do not consider ourselves foodies. We simply love eating. It doesn't have to look pretty, it just has to taste good.

We are not the experts, but we eat a lot (and when I say a lot I mean a lot), so that gives us some credibility just based on the shear number of places we go. We are full believers in four meals a day and we think the best reason to have a significant other is that you get to try more items on a menu. 

Here is a no-frills, no-politics, not-based-on-anything-but-our-personal-preferences list of our favorite restaurants in Seattle. 

Il Corvo Pasta

Sarah's Top Picks

Just to set the tone. This is Sarah's favorite meme.

1. Il Corvo - Pasta is my jam, and Il Corvo does it best. Owner, Mike Easton, learned how to make pasta when he was studying in Florence, Italy, so you know his handmade pasta is legit! The shop is located in Pioneer Square and only opened for lunch (11am - 3pm). It's tiny and there is always a long line, but it is well worth the wait. The menu is small (usually only 3-4 pasta dishes to choose from a day), and it changes daily. You need to follow the shop on social media or check the website to get the daily offerings but guaranteed you can't go wrong with any of them.

2. Restaurant Roux - Ask me out to brunch, and I'll suggest this place. It's southern comfort food at its best with all the delicious standards. Shrimp and grit. Check. Chicken and waffles. Check and check. And, of course, the southern classic...fried green tomatoes (on a Po Boy, but it still counts). The other thing that keeps me coming back is the cocktail list that is fine tuned to perfection. Brunch is Saturday and Sunday only from 9am - 2pm, but the restaurant also serves dinner daily starting at 5pm.

3. Judy Fu's Snappy Dragon - There is a reason this place has won best Chinese food in Seattle for 7 years. One word: Dumplings. Okay, actually there are a lot of reasons other than dumplings, but the dumplings are what I love. The dumpling dough is handmade by Judy Fu herself in the back of the restaurant. In fact, you can get all of the noodle dishes with homemade noodles that are rolled and cut on the spot. We suggest you go that route. It's 100% worth the trip to the Maple Leaf neighborhood. 

Chicken and waffles/Shrimp and grits at Restaurant Roux

The literal pink door

Kristina's Top Picks

1. The Pink Door - This is one of the first restaurants I ate at in Seattle and it has been a place I have celebrated a lot of life milestones. The reason I keep going back? Well, Italian, that doesn't need much explanation, everyone loves Italian and a lot of places in town make great Italian dishes, but i haven't found a place in town that can match the atmosphere (they have cabaret and aerialists, it's a hard act to beat!) along with the phenomenal menu items. Sitting outside on their deck overlooking Puget Sound, eating summer risotto with a glass of crisp white wine basically defines my happy place. 

2. CJ's Eatery - Alright, we warned you, it wasn't all going to be glitz and glamour on this list. Cj's is a diner in Belltown that I just can't stay away from, but don't expect any truffle oil or aioli on the menu. What you can expect is delicious breakfast comfort food. What do I recommend? 6 words: Chicken Fried Chicken with Chorizo Gravy. It is only served on the weekends and it draws a crowd. There is really no need to try anything else (unless you don't eat meat..then this would be a bad idea). 

3. Etta's - I wasn't born in the PNW, but I drank the Kool-Aid and am a full believer in the magic that is the Upper Left USA. One of the BEST parts of living here is the fresh and flavorful food that comes out of the area. I think Etta's is the place to sample the best of the PNW, especially salmon. The restaurant has great people, a well-rounded menu and drink list and most importantly, you can end the meal with their famous coconut creme pie. 

The rose mimosa and chorizo gravy at CJ's

Flatstick Pub

Local beer? Check. Mini golf? Check. Dog-friendly with cool art? Check and Check. Flatstick Pub just expanded to Pioneer Square, and we could not be more delighted. This Eastside spot has finally crossed the pond and now all of us Seattle folks can enjoy the fun. Their curated taplist of only the best Washington beers and ciders in addition to the mini golf and (newly invented bar game) duffleboard courses make this a great place to have get togethers with friends (although your friends either have to be 21+ or of the canine variety, sorry kids).

In addition to the entertainment and beer, they also have approximately 1 million TVs to watch the local sporting events (Go Local Sports Team!), and they commissioned our favorite artist, Henry, to decorate the place. Not to mention the large cubbie-hole type seating that gives you privacy and space to gather a group. The vibes are great, the beer is cold, and the people are friendly. What more could you ask for in a night out?

Henry art and colorful balls

Oh wait, there's more! (this is starting to feel like an infomercial, but we are being sincere. Cross our hearts.)

It is only $7 to play mini golf and $3 for duffleboard. That makes this the cheapest fun thing to do in all of Seattle-land. You can't even buy a deck of cards for $3 anymore. And duffleboard is basically the best game to be invented since its cousin, shuffleboard. 

Insider Tip: Yappy Hour ($1 off your beer) is M-F from 6-7PM and all day Sunday. Bring in your pooch for a discount! 

This light-up Space Needle takes your ball at the end of mini-golf. Um...cool.