Last week I had the pleasure of experiencing an intimate tasting at Laurelhurst Cellars of Washington. Originally started in the Laurelhurst nieghborhood of Seattle, this up-and-coming winery recently relocated to the historic Georgetown neighborhood to accommodate their rapid expansion. Founders Gabe Warner, Greg Smallwood and Dave Halbgewachs are very close friends and of like minds when it comes to producing high quality wines.  The mastermind behind the beginning, Gabe Warner took his long-term experience for crafting beers and applied it with a bit of study for making wines to develop the first Laurelhurst wines. Greg brought a vast knowledge of wines from around the world through his discovery and travels. His warehouse is where their current operations reside. Dave joined his friends in the endeavor and brings years of wine experience as a buyer for high class restaurants and long-term knowledge of distribution and how quality wines are positioned in the market. With the three of these gentlemen driving the momentum behind Laurelhurst cellars, its going to be fun to watch how quickly their production grows! From what I gathered during my short visit, there have been countless hours of hard work and passion put into the business thus far. Each of these guys still remain sound friends with an eagerness to continue growing the business, one high-quality bottle at a time.

During our tasting we were presented with their 2006 offering, which was just bottled this spring,  along with a couple of the 2005 bottles that still remain (not long mind you). Laurelhurst does not produce their own grapes currently, but  rather they source them from high quality purveyors here in Washington.  Our full tasting included:

2006 Cabernet Franc – Boushey Vineyards
2006 Syrah – Red Mountain
2006 Cabernet Sauvignon – Red Mountain
2006 Bordeaux Blend – Columbia Valley
2005 Azorica
2005 Petite Syrah

The tasting was warm and friendly, with Greg sharing his exceptional knowledge for each of the bottles they have produced and a little of his history in world travels discovering wine. Following a few great tastings, our group broke off into small conversations with each of the owners who each spent time telling the story of how this came to be and described a little bit about their passion for creating such fantastic wine. One specific fact that each of these gentlemen conveyed is that not a single drop of wine will ever reach the hands of the consumer before all of them agreed that the end result was absolute perfection. Their benchmark for this perfection…it’s simple, never rush and perfection takes what it takes. Gabe, Dave, and Greg each mentioned in separate conversations that they will not release a wine that they themselves would not drink but more importantly would not regard as a high quality wine. Our group would agree, the presentation of the 2006 bottling was exceptional. I walked away with bottles of their Bordeaux Blend, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Syrah (2005 bottle),  which I found to be my favorites.

I’ll let you be the judge for what might be your favorites and must recommend that if you are in the Seattle area that you reach out to Laurelhurst to set up a tasting. Or, better yet,  go buy a bottle and taste these great wines for yourself. You can find their wines at these locations:

Purple Wine Bar – Seattle
Branzino – Belltown
The Paragon Bar & Grill – Queen Anne
Impromptu Wine Bar – Madison Park
Stumbling Goat Bistro – Phinney
Spring Hill – West Seattle
North City Wine Bar – Shoreline
Jaks Grill – Laurelhurst
Jaks Grill – West Seattle
Jaks Grill – Issaquah
Esquin Wine Merchants – Seattle
Leschi Market – Leschi
McCarthy & Schiering Wine Merchants – Queen Anne
Yarrow Bay Grill – Kirkland
QFC – Edmonds
QFC – Bellevue
QFC – Bothell
QFC – Laurelhurst
Grape Choice – Kirkland
Full Throttle Bottles – Seattle (Georgetown)
Cellar 46 – Mercer Island
Fine Wine and Cigars – Redmond
La Cantina – Bellevue
The Wine Alley – Renton
The Barking Frog – Woodinville
Rovers – Madison Park
Fremont Wine Warehouse – Fremont
Jack’s (Wine Shop) – North Seattle

We extend our thanks to the Gabe, Greg and Dave for their time during our tasting…we had a blast! If you would like to experience an intimate and fun tasting with the Laurelhurst crew, send an e-mail to them to find out the tasting schedule. We can’t wait for our next tasting and release of their quality wines!

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