Woodinville Tasting Rooms: The Passion of the Pourer

A good barista greets customers with a warm smile and memorizes the orders of regular customers. But how many baristas can wax poetic about the soil the coffee beans were grown in, or the effect of rainfall on the coffee crop of any given year?

The people pouring wine in Woodinville's dozens of tasting rooms can talk at length with customers about rainfall, soil types, and everything else that affects the taste of wine. A recent visit to several tasting rooms found the pourers passionate about wine and enthusiastic to share their knowledge with customers.

When you step inside Airfield Estates, you’re greeted and guided down the runway to the bar. Jim Loosemore has been pouring at the aviation-themed tasting room since it opened in April 2010. But that isn’t where his story with the company began; like so many others in this industry, his begins with a glass of wine.

Jim had his first taste of Airfield at a restaurant in Kennewick, about six months after the winery began production, and enjoyed it so much that he stopped by the winery on his way back to Seattle the following day where he met and befriended the winemaker, Mike Miller.  Jim continued to show his support by joining Airfield Estate’s wine club and introducing as many friends and neighbors as possible to the wine. When the winery decided to open a tasting room in Woodinville, Jim got involved. Why?

“A passion for fine wine and nice people,” he said.

You won’t find any airplanes in the Goose Ridge tasting room right next door, but you will find over-stuffed chairs, a fireplace that clearly competes with the chairs for title of Most Inviting Place to Sit and a table with stacks and stacks of chocolate. You’ll also find another passionate pourer who defines an ideal tasting experience as one in which you’ve left having learned something, even when you didn’t know you wanted to know what you now know, you know?

Julie Hillman’s career in wine began on the wholesale side in wine distribution at what she describes as an exciting time.

“You could really talk with restauranteurs about food pairing and you could really educate the public when you were pouring at wine shops,” Julie said.

After 11 years in wholesale and a change in the culture of that side of the business, Julie took her knowledge and love of wine to the retail side where she could once again talk to the people drinking the wine and share what she knows.

“Nobody ever asks for it, but I always offer it because I can’t imagine why people would want to come in and taste wine and not want to learn something,” she. “If they come in with a basic understanding of wine and I give them some piece of information that helps them put it together a little better for themselves in their mind, in their palate, then my work is done.”

For some pourers, the passion may be more a question of genetics. Erica Sciarretta traces her affinity for wine back to her roots.

“Growing up in an Italian family, wine’s kind of a part of life,” she said.

Erica had been considering a switch from the restaurant industry to the wine industry when, while attending the Passport to Woodinville weekend,  she ran into her former high school aerobics teacher, Jill Mayer, who had become general manager of . A classic case of perfect timing, Erica made the career switch and now enjoys pouring wine for regulars and newcomers alike at Dusted Valley.

Sitting somewhere on the spectrum of places-to-meet-and-drink-with-friends between coffeehouse and bar, the tasting room is resoundingly about having fun. These pourers have seen it all, Friday night revelers, bachelorette parties, anniversary celebrations, people killing time between meetings, Girls Night Out gangs… and when you are there to have fun, so are they. But they also have wine connoisseurs, sommeliers, hotel concierges, restaurant owners, wine store owners and even other winemakers coming in to taste so it’s probably a good thing they know as much as they do and can talk about it with such ease. Still, according to Jim, “This isn’t like work; this is more like a hobby, more fun than work.” 

Events for March 11 - 17

• Challenger Ridge Vineyard and Cellars, 14344 Woodinville Redmond Road NE, has happy hour with Dick’s Burgers and $6 glass pours from 5 – 7 p.m.

• , 14208 Woodinville-Redmond Rd NE, has a Reidel glass representative and executive winemaker Chris Upchurch on hand to discuss the benefits of the choosing the right glass for your wine. The cost is $75 per person which includes a set of 4 Reidel glasses for you to take home. Tasting beings at 6:30 p.m., see website to purchase tickets.

Saturday, March 12

• , 19501 144th Avenue NW, Suite D300, is pairing a different cheese with each wine on Saturday, 1 – 5 p.m.

• , 14111 NE 145th Street, hosts their Spring Barrel Tasting from noon – 4 p.m. Tickets cost $10 and will be available in the wine shop.

• , 18580 142nd Ave NE, begins their Winemaker Dinner at 6:30 p.m. with a tour or cooking demo followed by a six-course meal with wine pairings and a barrel room tasting with the winemaker. Tickets are $99.

• , 19501 144th Ave NE, Suite D700, has a pasta bar in the tasting room from 1 – 5 p.m.

• , 16116 140th Pl NE, features wine education class Thirst for Knowledge beginning at 12:30 p.m. The class costs $18 and includes light hors d’oeuvres and samples of Matthews wine.

• , 19501 144th Ave. Ne, Suite D-500, celebrates the release of their Dewpoint Riesling with small bites and chocolate from Intrigue Chocolates from noon – 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

• , 19495 144th Ave NE, Suite A100, is releasing 2 Spires this weekend, come by for a taste Saturday noon – 5 p.m. and Sunday noon – 4 p.m. They’re waiving tasting fees and serving up corned beef sliders in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.

Wednesday, March 16

• , 14111 NE 145th Street, is pairing gourmet cheese with their wine from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. No reservations required, cost is $15 per person (non-club)/$10 per person (VRC member)

Thursday, Mar 17

• , 16116 140th Pl NE, is cutting the tasting fee in half for anyone wearing green from 1 – 6 p.m.

• , 14525 148th Avenue NE, #111, is celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with an evening of wine tasting and special treats from 5 – 8 p.m.

• , 15029 Woodinville-Redmond Rd, will reward you for wearing green on St. Patty’s with something special as well as serve up soda bread and Irish cheese to pair with the Leprechaun wine, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.

• Woodinville Warehouse District St Patrick’s Day Pot o’ Gold Wine Tour, visit any 6 of the participating Warehouse District wineries (identified by a pot of gold in a window) during your wine tasting between 5 – 8 p.m. and collect a coin from each one to enter to win the surprise gift pack that includes a private tasting. Normal tasting fees apply.

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