The Estates Wine Room

A sipping/buying room for Pioneer Square

Opened on December 11, The Estates Wine Room focuses on Crimson Wine Group's Northwest wines: Double Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon from Horse Heaven Hills, and Archery Summit Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley. It's a way for people to experience the wine and take it home without traveling to the points of origin. Bottom line, it's about the enjoyment and education of wine.

In keeping with its Pioneer Square location, one long wall is brick with small tables and chairs in front. As you enter the door, the counter is to the left. An interesting "wall" across from the brick has a photo of the vineyard behind the counter that expresses itself at the ends of panels nearly to the end of the room. This is the Double Canyon vineyard. If you go to the back of the room and look forward, the same photo concept shows the Archery Summit vineyard. At the very back is a small (8-10 seated) private room. Located on Occidental plaza, it has that neighborhood's exterior look: huge windows in front overlooking the bricked pedestrian area. They plan an outdoor seated tasting area in 2016.

Daily tastings are by glass, flights, or bottle. Keep in mind that this is not a simple tasting room; there are no free tastes. They will produce a small amount of food: charcuterie and cheese platters. Partnering with local restaurants, like nearby Bar Sajor and London Plane, there will be other small plates offered.

Archery Summit's Pinot takes full advantage of the area's soil history: lava flows from 15 million years ago that deposited iron oxide into the soil, the tectonic uplift creating steep hills, and the Missoula ice dam that burst 13,000 years ago, sending a wave of water across the area depositing sediment excellent for grape growing. The area is about halfway between the equator and the north pole, allowing for long days of sunshine and moderate temperatures. Two Pinot Noirs are made by Archery, Red Hills Estate and Arcus Estate. Red Hills uses 14% whole clusters, bringing out baking spices like clove. It is red-fruit focused. Arcus vineyards are about ½ mile away in a natural "bowl" giving different exposures and holding heat. It expresses the minerals from the site in the fruit, and the wine is both red- and black-fruit focused. The two wines differ from exposure and technique. As general manager/winemaker Chris Mazepink explains, "We make 15,000 cases of Pinot Noir a year. Each plant is touched 14 times by human hands. We farm for quality, not quantity."

Chris Mazepink, Crimson Wine Group CEO Patrick DeLong, Will Beightol

Double Canyon creates two Cabernet Sauvignons: Horse Heaven Hills, and Double Canyon Vineyard. Until now, they've not had an outlet for the wine (no tasting room). The Horse Heaven Hills (HHH) Cab is a bigger production wine, (4500 cases and growing) found in stores and sold wholesale. In 2007-2008, 65% of the vineyard was planted in Cab Sav, the rest in Syrah and Bordeaux varietals. Will Beightol is the general manager/vineyard manager, Stehanie Powell the enolygist, and Craig Williams (owner) an advisor. Craig was with Joseph Phelps wines for 25 years. HHH's 2013 vintage is a hotter vintage, yet the coolest of the last three. The Double Canyon 2012 vintage is not overly hot and had a great October finish. It is a smaller production wine. "Our business philosophy is to make the best Cabernet in Washington," says Will.

The Estates Wine Room, Pioneer Square

Crimson Wine Group specializes in handcrafted, estate-grown wines from the highest quality winegrowing regions in America. It is based in the Napa Valley. They own and manage 895 acres of vineyard land across five distinct regions: Pine Ridge Vineyards (Napa, CA), Seghesio Family Vineyards (Healdsburg, CA), Archery Summit (Dayton, OR), Chamisal Vineyards (San Luis Obispo, CA), and Double Canyon (Prosser, WA.). www.crimsonwinegroup.com

Connie Adams/January 2016

The Estates Wine Room
307 Occidental Ave S
Seattle, WA 98104

For hours and information:
www.estateswineroom.com