Looking for the best Woodinville wineries? You’ve come to the right place.
I’ve visited just about every wine region in the Pacific Northwest and have written guides to the best Washington and Oregon wineries. Since I have a near reverence for wine, I’m constantly researching places to try and sipping my way through different wine region.
Washington is home to some of the best wine in the world, and people living or exploring Seattle have a great wine tasting area nearby: Woodinville. This wine-loving town is about a 30-minute drive from Seattle and has more than 100 wineries and tasting rooms.
I’ve explored most of the wine districts in Woodinville, so I’ll break down the areas and give you a local’s perspective on the best Woodinville wineries to visit. I’ll also share my private Woodinville wineries map so you can create your own wine tasting itinerary.
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A Local’s Guide to the Best Woodinville Wineries
The Woodinville, WA Wine Districts
Most Woodinville wineries do not grow their grapes in Woodinville. That’s because the cooler, wetter Seattle-area climate isn’t ideal for growing. Most grapes are grown in eastern Washington, so a lot of the wineries in Woodinville are outposts of their parent winery out east or buy their grapes from vineyards.
The wineries are organized into technically 4 districts, but the “Downtown District” only has food and no wine so it does not exist in my mind :P. The 3 districts with wineries include the Hollywood, Warehouse, and West Valley districts. Most of the wineries can be found in the Hollywood and Warehouse districts, and some wineries even have outposts in both areas.
The Woodinville Wine Country official site has a great map of Woodinville wineries outlining all the areas. This is handy if you want to get a full lay of the land, but my Woodinville winery map below will outline the best wineries to seek out.
My recommendation is to focus on one area per day so you can hit up more wineries!
Getting to Woodinville
Real talk: getting to Woodinville from Seattle can be a real slog. It’s only 30 minutes away, but it’s a long trip to take using public transit. When you’re drinking, figuring out how to safely get around can be enough to pull your hair out! To avoid this, here are my recommendations if you don’t have a designated driver.
Option 1: Ride share in and out the same day
If you have 1-4 people, just take an Uber or Lyft if you want to do a full day of tastings. It will be about $45 each way during non-peak hours and you can choose one district and walk between wineries. Or, if you want to check out multiple districts and you’re traveling May – Sept, you can hop on Woodinville’s Cellar Hopper bus, which runs regularly in a loop through all the districts.
Option 2: Hire a designated driver
If you have 5-12 people, plus access to enough cars to fit everyone, I highly recommend using Main Street Drivers. Think of them as the Airbnb of designated drivers. For $35/hour ($40/hour on weekends) plus a 20% gratuity, you can hire someone to drive you to Woodinville and between wineries using your car.
This is generally more affordable than renting a party bus because you’re not paying for a company that has to maintain its own vehicles. Especially if you don’t have enough people to fill said party bus, this could be an economical and fun option.
How it works: Simply tell Main Street Drivers when you want to be picked up, how long your trip will be, and if they need to pick up other passengers (which is included in the price!). One of their insured and background checked drivers will meet you at your first pickup location wearing a suit.
During your trip, your driver will drop you off at the winery and park your car. When you’re done, you just text them and they pick you up. They wait with your car the whole time and, if you don’t feel like planning, they’ll recommend the best tasting rooms in Woodinville to visit.
Disclaimer: Main Street Drivers offered me complimentary services to explore Woodinville. However, they didn’t choose the wineries I visit. That’s all me. 🙂 All opinions are my own and only brands I think are worth the investment end up here. Thanks for supporting the brands that make The Emerald Palate possible!
Option 3: Stay overnight and ride share
If you want to make a mini staycation and maximize your visit to the best wineries in Woodinville, consider booking a night at one of the area hotels. You can drop your car off at the hotel in the morning, take a Lyft or Uber a shorter distance to the wineries and back, and not have to worry about finding a designated driver.
If you do this, I recommend checking out the Heathman Hotel in Kirkland. It’s a beautiful hotel in downtown Kirkland about a 15-minute drive from the wineries. You can drop your car off at the valet around 10:30 am and then head to Woodinville for when the tasting rooms open at 11 am.
Then you can make your way back and have dinner right in the lobby at their fabulous Hearth restaurant. The restaurant is beautifully designed and has a year-round outdoor patio. They make a lot of their dishes in a hearth, such as their irresistible flatbreads. Definitely get the cheese and garlic flatbread and trout roasted in a corn husk if they’re on the menu when you go!
Disclaimer: The Heathman Hotel provided me a one night stay and dinner at Hearth in hopes I’d include it in this guide. I enjoyed my stay and meal and so decided to add them, however inclusion wasn’t guaranteed. Thanks for supporting the brands that make The Emerald Palate possible!
Option 4: Take a wine tour
If you don’t want to worry about driving, you can book one of these Seattle wine tours to Woodinville.
Saving Money Wine Tasting in Woodinville
Woodinville Wine Country, the area’s tourism board, offers deals and discounts at area wineries. Check their website before your visit to see whether they’re offering discounts to the best Woodinville wineries listed below.
For example, if you’re visiting on a weekday, definitely get their Woodinville wine passes. It includes wine tastings and discounts at four wineries for $40. This is a steal since a lot of tasting rooms charge $20 per person to taste.
There are different passes to choose from, but I recommend the rosé pass because it gets you each winery’s typical tasting flight plus an extra rosé. 🙂 You also have 30 days to use it, so you can make multiple trips to Woodinville!
Disclaimer: Woodinville Wine Country provided me with a free rosé wine pass. I thought it was a good value and it included a few of wineries that I consider the best in Woodinville, so I’m including it in this guide. Thanks for supporting the brands that make The Emerald Palate possible!
My Woodinville Winery Map
Alright, onto the good stuff: WINE. I constantly update my Woodinville winery map. It includes both what I consider the best Woodinville wineries and restaurants plus places I read about and want to try. Use it to explore more of the tasting rooms in Woodinville.
The Best Woodinville Wineries
Out of all the tastings rooms on my Woodinville winery map, these are what I consider the best Woodinville wineries. Make sure you don’t miss these ones!
JM Cellars
Hollywood District | website | tasting fee: $15, waived with $45 purchase | Go for: a beautiful forest oasis
Family-owned JM Cellars is one of my favorite wineries in Woodinville. They’re perfectly located right next to one of the best fine dining restaurants tucked a bit up the street from wine behemoths, Chateau Ste. Michelle and Novelty Hill Januik. It requires scaling a relatively steep driveway that has valets to help you park, but the drive is worth it because it makes for a secluded forest vibe.
You’ll find some of the best Washington state wine here. The main wine tasting building is like a posh log cabin. You walk through wall-to-wall windowed doors to get to the bar where they line up around 5 wines to taste. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable.
One of my “snob” tests is whether or not they get pissy when my boyfriend and I split tastings. This place didn’t bat an eye when we asked, and actually commended us for safe tasting practices. Talk about grace!
Next door is a barn-like hall for weddings, and the grounds boast a fire pit, stringed lights over a patio, a bocce ball court, and an easy trail down to a small pond and abandoned, shed-like building that’s nestled in a sea of ferns. We always say, “This would be great for our wedding,” when we come here because it has so much ambiance. Spending a sunny day here would be a dream.
What to taste: If it’s available, try the Cinsault Red wine. The 2015 smells smoky, but actually has a nice raspberry jam after taste. It’s like a pinot, but heavier. Cinsault is a grape varietal that’s difficult to find in Washington, so give this one a try!
Adam’s Bench
Hollywood District | website | tasting fee: $20, waived with purchase | Go for: no frills, serious red wine cred
Adam’s Bench is a husband-and-wife owned, small batch winery that literally sits on the couple’s property. They focus on reds only, which means they do them well. And doing reds well means bottles are pricier than some of the other wineries on this list at about $40 – $70. But oh are they worth it.
When you enter there’s a small, modest tasting room that includes some seating and one vintage bench. The owner came over and told us that the bench was from an elementary school in Indiana, where students who were waiting in line to go to the principal’s office had to sit and wait their fate.
It’s quaint stories like this, the fact that the owner is telling his own tales, and the off-the-beaten-path nature of this place that makes it so special. They’re only open Saturdays for tasting, so plan accordingly.
What to taste: If it’s available, try the Stillwater Creek Cabernet Sauvignon. The owner explained how he loves this varietal of cab grapes for their piney flavor. But because their yield isn’t large, many wineries don’t want to grow them.
aMaurice Cellars
Hollywood District | website | tasting fee: $12, waived with purchase | Go for: beautiful, estate-grown wines
Okay, aMaurice is essentially in a strip mall. But it’s a strip mall full of other wineries, so you can go boom, boom, boom through a few all at once.
It has a beautiful and bright white interior with a garage door that lets in a lot of light. And the walls are lined with pictures of their wine labels, which are drawn by the owner or local artists. Basically if aMaurice wanted to decorate my house, I’d let them.
But we’re here to talk about the wine. And the wine is heavenly. All the ones I’ve tasted are really balanced and smooth. There was one, a viognier blend, that smelled like cheese but tasted acidic and bright. Another had that jammy, but not too sweet finish I always love. All in all, aMaurice is the best winery in Woodinville, in my opinion.
aMaurice is also in Walla Walla, so if you head to eastern Washington make sure to check them out where they grow their grapes!
What to taste: Get the estate-grown “Fred” if it’s available. The 2013 vintage I tasted recently had a really awesome jammy finish. It’s also one of their artist labels, so you’ll likely want to save and frame it when the bottle is finished!
Kerloo Cellars
Warehouse District | website | tasting fee: ~$15 | Go for: bold reds
Kerloo used to be located in Seattle’s SODO neighborhood, but moved to Woodinville in February 2022. I’m happy you can still visit their tasting room, as they make some seriously good wines. They describe them as “palate-challenging” because they aspire to bottle wines most people aren’t accustomed to drinking.
What to taste: If available, try the Majestic GSM (~$26). It’s young, light, and bright with a jammy blueberry after taste.
Market Vineyards
Hollywood District | website | tasting fee: $15, waived with purchase | Go for: nice structured reds
Boutique winery Market Vineyards is in a strip mall behind Hollywood Schoolhouse Winery. It’s unassuming, but it’s making beautiful, big red wines in small batches. It was founded by ex-finance professionals, hence their winery and bottles being named after financial terms (Benchmark, Liquidity, etc.).
I asked the tasting room attendant what they’re known for and she said single-variety Bordeauxs, which isn’t common since most other wineries blend. She also gave this wonderful tip for remembering how their wines taste: most of their grapes comes from Red Mountain, which is the smallest AVA in Washington producing the biggest grapes…meaning they have wines with a lot of tannins and structure.
What to taste: If available, their 2015 Liquidity white, a viognier-roussanne blend that has deep, complex flavors, or their 2015 Benchmark red, which starts big but mellows out with currant and caramel notes.
Long Shadows
Hollywood District | website | tasting fee: $20, waived with purchase | Go for: wines made by famous winemakers around the world
Long Shadows is one of the best wineries in Woodinville, hands down. It was created by the CEO of juggernaut Chateau Ste. Michelle who had a dream of creating a winery that showcases the best winemakers in the world. You’ll find wines made by master winemakers out of Chile, Italy, Australia and more who come to the production facility to create limited-production wines. Winemaker Gilles Nicault overseas all production and will work with the other winemakers while they’re overseas throughout the winemaking process to tell them the flavors and chemical makeup of their wines.
You’re definitely getting premium wines at Long Shadows, which shows in the price tags of the bottles. However this Woodinville tasting room is anything but snooty. My favorite thing about them is that they will literally ask if you want to split a tasting. My boyfriend and I do this a lot so we can taste more wines, but most wineries turn their nose up at this. To have a fancy winery offer it blows my mind.
I also love this place because they cater to my geeky side.
The tasting room attendant literally spent about 5 minutes as she poured each wine gushing about the wines and how they were made. I loved the passion and willingness to tell you everything about what you were drinking, so if you’re also nerdy and want to know everything, you’ll love Long Shadows.
What to taste: If it’s available, the 2016 saggi. It’s a sangiovese-dominant blend made by an Italian winemaker from a prestigious wine family out of Tuscany. And it’s heavier than most sangioveses, with a long finish and complex flavors. It’s $55 a bottle. We rarely buy wines this expensive, but we did on our last visit (if that tells you anything about how good it is).
Pondera Winery
Warehouse District | website | tasting fee: $10, waived with purchase | Go for: dry reds enjoyed among art curated by the winemakers mom
Pondera is a small, family-owned boutique winery with serious accolades. It was recommended to me by a waiter at The Herb Farm who used to work in the wine industry. To show what I mean, winemaker Shane Howard once submitted 7 wines to a competition and all 7 got gold.
But you would never know this from walking in, especially if Shane happens to be pouring your wines. He’s a humble, shy guy who will describe what you’re drinking concisely before moving onto the next table. It took one of his regular wine club members coming up to us to explain that Shane isn’t letting on just how good of a winemaker he is.
What to taste: If available, the 2015 cabernet franc. It’s a heavy red with flavors of berries and black pepper that linger long after sipping.
DeLille Cellars
Hollywood District | website | tasting fee: $25, waived with 2 bottle purchase | Go for: Bordeaux-style blends
DeLille Cellars is incredibly popular for their deep red wines. They produce about 30,000 cases a year of wines featuring Washington grapes sourced from the Red Mountain AVA, which they blend using European techniques. I was given a barrel tasting tour here once and honestly, even when the wines “aren’t ready” they are friggin’ phenomenal.
The winery used to be located in a quaint house-turned-tasting room near Novelty Hill Januik and JM Cellars, with another outpost closer to the heart of the Hollywood District called the Carriage House. The Carriage House is still there, but they’ve since moved their operation into a big, beautiful, and modern building on the old Red Hook Brewery lot.
What to taste: If available, try the Métier. It’s bright and fruity, unlike DeLille’s other big, bold reds. If you prefer heavier reds, try their D2 series, like the D2 Estate Red.
Long Cellars
Warehouse District | website | tasting fee: $10, waived with purchase | Go for: Bordeaux-style varietals
Long Cellars is a small winery tucked in the strip of warehouses across the street from all the other wineries. It’s one of the last wineries in the area offering $10 tasting fees (as of the time of writing this), which is a steal considering winemaker John Long’s ability to develop beautiful Bordeaux-style varietals.
Long got into wine by working for Barrage Cellars. He said they paid him in grapes so that he can learn to make his own wine. Now he makes about 3,000 – 4,000 cases a year of mostly red blends using grapes out of Yakima.
What to taste: If available, the Screaming Baby red blend has nice structure and a fun story. It was made for a friend’s baby shower (hence the name) and was so good, he decided to release it to the world.
Tertulia Vineyards
Warehouse District | website | tasting fee: $15, waived with purchase | Go for: estate grown wines with an emphasis on terroir
Tertulia Vineyards, which means “circle of friends” in Spanish and Latin, is technically in the Warehouse District, but it’s not in the cluster of warehouses you’d expect. Rather, you take about a 15-minute walk from that warehouse block to the Hampton Inn & Suites parking lot where there is a mini strip mall with wine tasting rooms.
Now before you say, “A parking lot? Really?” know that that this strip mall is new and quite fancy-looking. It also includes one of my other favorite wine tasting rooms in Woodinville, Tsillian Cellars. The reason Tertulia is in the Hampton Inn & Suites parking lot is because it’s the passion project of the hotel’s owners.
They have 3 vineyards in Walla Walla situated along a rocky mountain that they use to make beautiful estate-grown wines. During your wine tasting, they’ll actually show you samples of the rocks and soils from their vineyard and talk through how the rocky sediments affect their wines. They’ll also share stories behind some of their most interesting wines, such as how they employ a rare process that uses gravity to remove sediments.
What to taste: If it’s available, their carménere. It’s a structured red with a peppery flavor profile.
Obelisco Estates
Hollywood & Warehouse Districts | website | tasting fee: $15, waived with purchase | Go for: art & solid wines
Obelisco is one of the other best Woodinville wineries. Their Hollywood location is cozy, with local artists’ work lining most of the walls. There’s a wrap around deck with seating and you can enjoy 8 wine tastes, which makes this place one of the best values.
I like most of their wines, which range from a 92-point malbec to a riesling white wine that somehow smells like rubber but tastes reminiscent of white grape juice.
What to taste: If it’s available, get their cabernet sauvignon rosé. The 2015 vintage I tasted has a beautiful color. It smells like cheese, but it tastes caramel-y and jammy. And it’s heavy for a rose, which I always appreciate.
Lauren Ashton Cellars
Hollywood & Warehouse District | website | tasting fee: $15, waived with purchase | Go for: friendly, knowledgeable staff
Lauren Ashton is in a quaint, coulda-been-my-dream-house building. The staff is super friendly and will tell you detailed tasting notes to look out for in their wines. I always find their wines to be super solid, and since it’s just around the corner from Obelisco, it’s a great place to stop on your wine tasting tour.
What to taste: If it’s available, their 2014 cabernet sauvignon. It’s a full-bodied wine that has a great jammy after taste. Or splurge to try their Cabernet Franc Private Barrel Auction for a truly memorable experience.
Tasting rooms from my eastern Washington favorites
In my guide to Walla Walla wineries and Lake Chelan winery guide, I outline my favorite wineries in eastern Washington. Luckily, some of my favorites have tasting rooms in Woodinville.
Don’t miss Trust Cellars, Amavi Cellars, and Tsillian Cellars.
Looking to do more tastings?
- Let me plan you a custom itinerary exploring wine country
- Check out my guide to the best wineries in Seattle
- Go on a self-guided Seattle brewery tour if you want to switch to beer
- Seek out the best Seattle cocktails if you want to move onto hard stuff
- Take a self-guided Seattle food tour that also includes stops for drinks
- Visit Eugene, OR wineries to discover the lower Willamette Valley