Serret and I were enjoying a Girls Day Out in Woodinville’s Warehouse District. As the afternoon wore on and it started getting dark, we realized we were rapidly running out of time – most warehouse district tasting rooms close at 5pm.
She strongly recommended a trip to Savage Grace Wines. She’d tasted there before and was practically swooning as she recalled a Chardonnay she’d bought from there and enjoyed last year. This surprised me, as I don’t normally hear Serret talking about even drinking a Chardonnay, let alone enjoying it!
We slipped in about twenty minutes before closing, checking to see if it was ok to join the last couple tasting wine here.
We were welcomed in and given permission to take photos of this eclectic space. It’s one of the smaller tasting rooms I’ve been to, but that’s ok – they need the extra space in the back room for making and aging their wine! We learned that the winery name comes from the owner’s last name, Savage, and his wife’s first name, Grace.
The current tasting lineup includes a 2016 Chardonnay, their two Cabernet Francs (one from Copeland Vineyard and one from Two Blondes Vineyard), their 2016 Côt (the French version of Malbec, pronounced “Coh”), and the Savage Grace 2015 Merlot.
They also offer a tasting of their 2016 Sauvignon Blanc, 2016 Riesling, and 2016 Syrah if you choose.
The other customers left the tasting room, and the winemaker, Michael Savage, introduced us to his tasting room associate, also named Michael.
We began the tasting with the 2016 Chardonnay. I immediately realized why Serret has been so obsessed with this wine. It was utterly delicious and quite unlike any Chardonnay I’ve tasted. I’ve come to dislike Chardonnay due to the many inexpensive bad-tasting Chardonnays people bring as hostess gifts to my parties (not to sound ungrateful for the gifts!) This one, I will happily drink any time.
Michael explained that Savage Grace Wines uses neutral barrels to impart texture to the wine. They strive for a minimal wine style, and espouse “low intervention” winemaking.
We asked if this small space is available for event rentals. It is, and can host up to a 200 person capacity if using the back rooms too. It’s dog friendly, too.
We paused our tasting to ask Michael Savage to give us a back room tour of their operations. Look at all that wine aging – such an agonizing wait until it gets into the bottle!
Serret snapped a photo of some of the barrels.
I honestly had no idea how many pieces of equipment were needed to create wine and run a winery!
Back in the tasting room, Serret learned that there are less than 10 cases left of the 2016 Gewurztraminer White left. I have a couple relatives who only drink Gewurztraminer, so I thought I’d better pick up a bottle as a gift for them for next time I visit their town.
We inquired about upcoming wine releases – they were a month away from releasing a Cab Franc Rose. I definitely have to try that one! In the Spring, they’ll release a White Gewurztraminer.
We continued our tasting with the Cot, which I really enjoyed. It had never occurred to me that France would have its own version of Malbec (usually thought of as an Argentinian wine). I am now regretting not purchasing a bottle of Cot while we were there! I’d love to be drinking it tonight while I write this!
I am always excited to taste a Cabernet Franc, and this one is definitely among the best I’ve tasted. I should have bought a bottle of it to bring home. (I have a feeling I should have just bought one of everything from here!)
Our last tasting was the Merlot, which is made with grapes from the Celilo Vineyard. I enjoyed it very much, and bought a bottle to take home.
I must confess, this is the only time I went to a wine tasting and drove straight home and immediately opened a bottle from the tasting and started drinking it! I mean, we go to quite a few tastings, and bring home lots of wine. I don’t cellar wine, I usually save it for the parties I’m likely throwing within a week or two of the tasting. But the Savage Grace Merlot was incredible, and I wanted to drink more of it. I’ve thought of it several times since that day. I simply must make time to go visit on a weekend and stock up on more of these incredible wines. It was really difficult for us (given budget and storage constraints) to walk out of there with only one bottle purchase apiece of these beautiful wines.
-Carrie
Savage Grace Wines is located at 19501 144th Ave NE F1100, Woodinville, WA 98072 in the Woodinville Warehouse District.
RESOURCES:
Savage Grace Wines on Facebook
Savage Grace Wines on Instagram
