Wine from Tacoma

 While Washington State is prime wine country, little wine is made on the western side of the state.  I am assuming this is mostly because the nice hot weather the east side of the mountains gets is much better suited for wine but there could be multiple other reasons as well.  Any wineries that are over here are usually sourcing their wine from vineyards in the east and then fermenting and aging them over here.  Such is the case of 21 Cellars here in Tacoma.

A friend of mine had purchased a wine tasting for two from the cellars and invited me along for the fun.  Now this winery styles itself as a boutique winery (I always thought that was code for expensive and I think I was right) and uses only wild yeasts for fermentation and ages all the wine in French oak.  Sounds fancy, huh? 

The wines were okay, but a little bit too much of the fruit bomb and oak was happening for my taste.  My friend, however, really liked the Tempranillo and the Malbec.  So, it's all a matter of personal preference really.  The prices were so high as to really turn me off.  I guess if you are really into shopping local, then this really is the wine for you.  But you can easily, easily buy wines far less than half the price of these that are just as tasty or even superior. 

Again, what is it that makes people buy this?  It's nice that someone local is trying to do this but I feel like it's his hobby and we're all paying for it.  They are small batches so maybe that is what this is all about: the exclusivity of it all.

The fun part about the tasting was that while on Thursday and Saturdays they are at the North End winery, on Fridays they do tastings in downtown Tacoma inside Anthem Coffee and Tea which is right next to the History Museum and also pretty busy so it feels festive to be in this big, bustling space, sampling wine. 

But don't listen to me, your tastes could be totally different, so get a tasting at 21 Cellars for yourself!