Once a year, Seattle Urban Wineries hosts its annual POUR event, gathering all its member wineries together in one space, and invites the public to a post-harvest celebration of urban winemaking and lots of wine tasting. The 2023 event will be held on November 17 at Club Sur in Sodo.
With 23 boutique wineries pouring at this year’s party (most SUW members produce less than 5,000 cases annually), you can expect to experience a representative view of current wine trends and varietal favorites. Patrons both can try and buy wines at POUR.
Paul Beveridge of Wilridge Winery says they will be pouring a “really nice vintage” of their Nebbiolo, made with grapes sourced from their estate vineyard, and their brand-new Viognier. “It’s very popular,” says Beveridge of the Viognier. “It’s got a refreshing acidity. It’s great for folks tired of Chardonnay.”
A founding member of Seattle Urban Wineries, Wilridge Winery, which also has the distinction of being Seattle’s oldest winery, has been promoting and participating in the urban wine scene for more than two decades.
“We started as a group of westside wineries 25 years ago,” Beveridge recalls. The group was looking for space for a common tasting room and as a result, Wildridge became one of the first partners in The Tasting Room, located in Seattle’s Post Alley.
Seattle Urban Wineries has grown since those early days to serve member wineries across the city who meet monthly to discuss business and share ideas to promote their wineries to local patrons and tourists.
“We enjoy the camaraderie,” Beveridge says. “The winemakers are fun. They’re great people. And we get to taste each other wines at meetings.”
Beveridge notes that the annual POUR event is especially important for newer wineries and those who don’t yet have tasting rooms to be able to introduce and sell their wine to an interested and captive audience.
The newest SUW partner is Spruce Hill Winery, owned by Jo and Mark Bader. They share a space with T2 Cellars and the Republic of Cider in the “Sodo Gateway” which is also home to Elsom Cellars.
With their licensing and bond coming through in August (“You have to be so patient!” says Jo) the Baders hurried to get wine in bottle before their tasting room opened in early October—and then they hosted the whole Seattle Urban Wineries group for the monthly meeting.
“It’s such a great group. So positive,” says Jo, noting their collaborative nature. The Baders are looking forward to sharing their wines with the POUR crowd, particularly their earthy, savory Grenache.
“We really, really enjoy making wine and seeing how it resonates with people,” says Mark, who worked at Bartholomew and Brian Carter before launching Spruce Hill. “We love Pour,” he adds. “We can get our wines into the hands of hundreds of customers—and we welcome feedback”
The 6th Annual POUR event will be held at Club Sur in SODO on Friday, November 17 from 6-9 pm. Tickets are available here.
Participating wineries:
Bacovino
Browne Family Vineyards
Cloudlift Cellars
Contrivance Wine and Mead Co.
Darby Winery
Eight Bells Winery
Elsom Cellars
Foundry Vineyard
House of Smith Jet City Winery
Locus Wines
Michael Florentino Cellars/Sherman Winery
Nine Hats Wines
Nota Bene Cellars
Patterson Cellars
Pine Lake Cellars
Princess & Bear Wines
Spruce Hill Winery
Structure Cellars
T2 Cellar
Tinte Cellars
Viscon Cellars
Welcome Road Winery
Wilridge Vineyard
