<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3xdzaf_1GudNuLW00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3xdzaf_1GudNuLW00" width="1679" height="1234" ><figcaption>Photo by Heather Nasarow</figcaption></figure><p>Washington is already well known for its wine industry, which consists of expansive vineyards and nationally recognized producers. But the state’s most interesting pours aren’t always found where you’d expect. The dozen wineries below represent the lesser known sides of the areas of the wine scene, including small-batch producers nestled within suburban forests, unusual varieties found in downtown districts, personal tasting experiences on rural island farms, and much more.</p><h2>Cedar River Cellars, Renton</h2><p>This Renton winery sits on a quiet property surrounded by old-growth cedars, creating a park-like setting that feels considerably farther from the suburbs than it actually is. Founded in 2009, Cedar River grew from its owners’ more than 30 years of experience experimenting with beer, mead, cider, and wine. Today, the winery describes its approach as small-batch, allowing the winemaking team to pay close attention to each bottle. The tasting room is appropriately intimate, with curated flights served Friday through Sunday and other visits available by appointment. Cedar River also regularly incorporates its unique property into programming, from music on the grass to food pairings and special tastings.</p><h2>Browne Family Vineyards, Various Locations</h2><p>Browne Family Vineyards brings its Washington wines to the Puget Sound area via Old Bellevue and Tacoma’s Proctor District, offering two distinct settings at which guests can experience the winery’s collection. The Bellevue location has a wine-bar feel with seasonal light bites, while the Tacoma tasting room offers flights, spirits, and small plates in a cozy neighborhood setting. The winery also keeps its tasting rooms active with regular events such as musical bingo, trivia nights, sip-and-paint evenings, wine-and-pizza gatherings, and its annual Fox Island Festival, which includes wine, food, live music, cocktails, and lawn games. </p><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3vIgGz_1GudNuLW00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3vIgGz_1GudNuLW00" width="1500" height="998" ><figcaption>Mark Bosso's Endless Sound Cellars.&nbsp; Photo by Alice Malia Photography</figcaption></figure><h2>Endless Sound Cellars, Olympia</h2><p>Located inside Olympia’s 222 Market, an indoor collection of local food and retail businesses, the Endless Sound Cellars tasting room is small enough that visitors are likely to encounter the winemaker, Mark Bosso, during regular hours. The market also gives guests plenty of options for food before or after a tasting, including a bakery, oyster bar, Mexican restaurant, and ice-cream shop. Endless Sound also regularly turns its tasting room into a gathering space for board game nights, paint-and- sip evenings, silent book club meetings, and other events.</p><p><b>Bonus Sip:</b> Want to put your palate to the test? At Endless Sound's blind tastings, winemaker Bosso selects six wines of the same varietal and has guests study the way different climates, locations, and methods can impact a final bottle.</p><h2>Perennial Vintners, Bainbridge Island</h2><p>This Bainbridge Island winery specializes in delicate, fragrant wines suited to the Puget Sound American Viticultural Area, focusing on grape varieties that thrive in the region’s cooler climate. Perennial has become notably associated with Melon de Bourgogne, a French grape better known as the basis for Muscadet. The winery planted Washington’s first Melon de Bourgogne vineyard in 2004, taking a gamble on whether the grape would thrive in Puget Sound’s conditions. Suffice it to say that the experiment paid off. Perennial’s current offerings include a 2024 Melon de Bourgogne, which the winery identifies as the only Melon de Bourgogne currently produced in Washington.</p><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=27AoHF_1GudNuLW00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=27AoHF_1GudNuLW00" width="1500" height="1001" ><figcaption>Quiddity Wines'&nbsp;Greg Peiker.&nbsp; Courtesy of Quiddity Wines</figcaption></figure><h2>Quiddity Wines, Woodinville </h2><p>After years of working within the conventional corporate path, Greg Peiker left his career to pursue his longtime interest in wine, establishing Quiddity Wines in Woodinville's Warehouse Winery District. Peiker is a staunch advocate of avoiding what he terms “wine snob hullabaloo,” and focuses on creating wines he personally finds most enjoyable. Rather than concentrating on the Bordeaux varieties and blends that dominate much of Washington wine, Quiddity leans heavily into Rhône grapes. Current Quiddity wines include Roussanne, Viognier, Mourvèdre, Grenache, and Syrah, alongside less common offerings such as Tinta Cão and Carménère.</p><p><b>Bonus Sip:</b> Quiddity Wines doubles as an event space with giant chess, giant Scrabble, oversized Jenga, and other games available for visitors and private groups.</p><h2>Medicine Creek Winery, Olympia</h2><p>Medicine Creek Winery occupies a farm in the Nisqually Valley, where a converted barn houses the tasting room, wine-processing area, barrel room, and even a dance floor. The winery describes its tasting room as resembling an 1800s-era New Orleans establishment, with the space’s many quirks only adding to its charm. A wine tasting at Medicine Creek is akin to traveling back in time, and depending on when visitors drop by, they may even be able to watch winemaking in progress.</p><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4Pgk6r_1GudNuLW00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4Pgk6r_1GudNuLW00" width="1662" height="1247" ><figcaption>Courtesy of Spoiled Dog Winery</figcaption></figure><h2>Spoiled Dog Winery, Whidbey Island </h2><p>Located near the southern end of Whidbey Island, Spoiled Dog Winery makes a limited number of cases each year, with many of its wines rarely made available beyond the winery. The winery’s maritime island climate is particularly well suited to Pinot Noir, making the distinctive red wine one of the estate’s specialties. And, as suggested by the name, dogs are also part of the experience at this location, including the owners’ vineyard dogs, Murphy and Winey, whose duties include guarding grapes and begging for belly rubs. Leashed pups are welcome in the outdoor seating area, where visitors can enjoy their wine before taking a walk around the vineyard.</p><p><b>Bonus Sip:</b> Each fall, Spoiled Dog Winery calls on family, friends, wine-club members, and community volunteers to hand-pick grapes from its Pinot Noir vineyard.</p><h2>Mvinyo Winery, Woodinville</h2><p>Founded by Pan-African chef Nelly Some, Mvinyo Winery grew from Some’s desire to create wines that could pair with the food and flavors she grew up cooking. Although Mvinyo recently relocated its primary tasting room from Gig Harbor to a larger space in Woodinville’s Warehouse District, additional tasting rooms are also in the works for Tacoma and Issaquah. Some’s African-inspired wines are also available through the winery’s sister company, Nelly’s African Kitchen, through which Some hosts cooking classes, offers African food-and-wine tastings, and caters events throughout the Puget Sound region.</p><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4TCWXl_1GudNuLW00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4TCWXl_1GudNuLW00" width="1080" height="1920" ><figcaption>Photo by Darrin Garrett</figcaption></figure><h2>Telve di sopra Vineyard, Hansville</h2><p>At the northern tip of the Kitsap Peninsula, Telve di sopra Vineyard proves just how much a small patch of land can amount to. According to the winery, the 10-acre property sits just within the southern end of the Olympic Mountain rain shadow and receives about 10 fewer inches of rain annually than much of the surrounding area. The surrounding ridge creates daytime temperatures more than 10 degrees higher than elsewhere on the peninsula. According to its website, Telve di sopra’s Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines are planted at 4,300 vines per acre, making its vineyard one of the highest-density vineyards in North America. Similarly small but mighty, the winery’s production building contains just 2,200 square feet spread across four levels, with gravity-fed winemaking eliminating the need for pumps.</p><h2>VALO Wine, Tacoma</h2><p>The newest winery in Tacoma’s Proctor District, VALO is the result of a partnership between founder Michael Ruhland, a self-taught chef, and Matías Kúsulas, who was named the 2024 Washington Winemaker of the Year. Founded in 2018, the winery now has three tasting rooms, with Proctor joining its original Vancouver location and second location in Ellensburg. All locations offer selections from both the company’s namesake collection and its artist series, Massalto.</p><p><b>Bonus Sip:</b> VALO's tasting rooms host monthly wine dinners that pair VALO wines with multicourse meals curated by the winery’s founding chef, Michael Ruhland.</p><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4aq36t_1GudNuLW00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4aq36t_1GudNuLW00" width="605" height="640" ><figcaption>Marcus Sophia Winery's Leala Cramer.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure><h2>Marcus Sophia Winery, Graham</h2><p>Marcus Sophia Winery sits on a property overlooking the Orting Valley, with Mount Rainier views adding a distinctly Pacific Northwest backdrop to any visit. The winery is owned by Leala Cramer, a professional chef of 20 years, whose experience with local farmers led her to become interested in wine. Cramer later earned a Professional Enology Certification from Washington State University, bringing her formal winemaking training up to speed with her culinary background. According to the winery’s website, the company’s name combines her son Marcus’s name with Sophia, an ancient Greek word associated with “female wisdom,” which represents the balance Cramer aims for in her wines. Tastings at Marcus Sophia are offered exclusively by appointment, encouraging visitors to appreciate a uniquely personal experience focused solely on the wines and surrounding scenery.</p><h2>Eleven Winery, Bainbridge Island</h2><p>Founded on Bainbridge Island in 2003, Eleven Winery was started by winemaker Matt Albee and his wife after Albee completed a volunteer apprenticeship at a California winery. The operation began in the couple’s garage and has since expanded to two tasting rooms on Bainbridge Island and one in Bremerton. The winery focuses on approachable, food-friendly wines that range from crisp whites and dry rosés to full-bodied reds and port-style wines. The winery produced about 7,000 cases in 2025 and works with grapes from vineyards across Eastern Washington, including Elephant Mountain, Kiona, Red Mountain, and Horse Heaven Hills.</p><p><b>Bonus Sip:</b> Eleven Winery periodically hosts crushed glass art parties, where participants can create their own artwork from colored glass while enjoying a glass of wine.</p></div></body>

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Washington is already well known for its wine industry, which consists of expansive vineyards and nationally recognized producers. But the state’s most interesting pours aren’t always found where you’d expect. The dozen wineries below represent the lesser known sides of the areas of the wine scene, including small-batch producers nestled within suburban forests, unusual varieties found in downtown districts, personal tasting experiences on rural island farms, and much more.

These Northwest Wineries Are Worth a Detour

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Washington is already well known for its wine industry, which consists of expansive vineyards and nationally recognized producers. But the state’s most int

These Northwest Wineries Are Worth a Detour

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