Our tips for storing your wine at home!

Chances are if you’re bringing home a bottle or two of Patterson Cellars wine you are enjoying it with friends and family not long after it makes it through your door! And that’s great! Wine is meant to be enjoyed and shared, paired with great food and cataloged in your memory long after the last sip. But if you find yourself wanting to lay down a few bottles for the future, it’s best to follow a few simple steps to make sure your favorite bottle ages gracefully. We’ve put together a few tricks of the trade for you to keep your investment safe for years to come… if you can wait that long…

1. Consistent cool temperature is key! Ideally, between 45° F and 65° F.

2. Consistent humidity should be kept in mind if you live in a particularly dry climate or a very moist one. Think about your cork here… if it’s too dry, the cork will dry out too much, and if it’s too humid it could swell. Either one of these scenarios can be problematic for wine.

3. Keep your bottles away from light. The darker the better! Any UV exposure can cause your wine to prematurely age.

4. Most bottles should be stored on their sides, but our winemaker suggests keeping sparkling upright, because like still whites, sparkling generally doesn’t benefit from much age once it’s been disgorged.

5. Patterson Cellars Reds are ready for your glass now, or can be aged for up to 5-7 years.

6. Enjoy Patterson Whites and Rosés within a year or 2 of the vintage date.

So now you’re probably thinking “where can I keep my wine that will meet all of these standards?”… If you don’t have a wine cellar, find a closet that stays relatively consistent in temperature throughout the year, look for similar conditions in your basement, or maybe even invest in a wine fridge. At the very least, don’t keep bottles on your sunny kitchen counter next to the stove, and you should be just fine! Keeping your wine tucked away somewhere cool and dark is not only a great way to help it age properly, but it also keeps it out of sight, which may in turn reduce your changes of drinking it before your desired date!

So come visit us in any of our four tasting rooms to gather some bottles for now or for later. Either way, we know you'll find something you love!

Let’s Stay Home (& Cook!)

In light of what is going on in our world, country and our community, there has never been a better time to settle in and practice our culinary skills! Whether cooking for 1, 2 or 10, we have some unbelievable recipes that can be adapted for everyone’s needs.

In April, we usually roll up our sleeves and get ready for the Spring Wine Club Release Party. This celebration is something we at Patterson Cellars look forward to just as much as our guests, who have really become more like family over the years. Our chefs arrive at the crack of dawn to fire up the ovens, chop fresh herbs and prepare to share their passion for food and wine with all of us.

Sometimes, we make Paella for the crowd in our 4 foot, custom made Paella pans. Other times, we are slicing warm, freshly baked focaccia bread to serve alongside an earthy, braised chicken dish. This year, we decided to focus on what we do best, and create a recipe that pairs exquisitely with each of our newly released club wines. From a mouthwatering citrusy salad, paired with our 2019 Pinot Gris, to a rib sticking braised beef that is an excellent accompaniment to our 2017 Red Willow Syrah, these recipes are in a class unto themselves. Our chef, Aubri Travis Hawley, who also happens to be a Level 1 Sommelier, WSET2, and our very own tasting room manager at the winery, meticulously crafted these dishes to not only stand up to the wine, but moreover to enhance the experience with every sip.

While we were so looking forward to being able to share these delectable dishes with you at the party, we hope that you will take a moment to pick through and find your favorite, or maybe even make them all! After all, most of us are facing an abundance of time at home, and let’s be honest, you can only make tacos so many times before you need to spice things up a bit!

Share your home culinary journey with us! Snap some photos and tag us on facebook or instagram, or email the photos to wineclub@pattersoncellars.com, and of course, make sure to get your glasses and bottles of Patterson Cellars wine in the picture! If you don’t have our club wines, but would like some recommendations on pairing another one of our wines with the dishes, please reach out!

We are so grateful for our club members, customers, staff and friends who have supported us throughout the years, and especially during this time. We will get through this together, and we can’t wait until we are able to fill your glass in the tasting room once more! Cheers!

Washington wine is on the map!

It’s no surprise that Washington State is rising up in the ranks and becoming a world renowned wine growing region! According to the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB), there are over 1,000 active wineries in the state! That kind of growth is remarkable because if you look at the numbers from the early 1980’s, there were only 20 wineries in the entire state! We are so proud of our roots, and as Patterson Cellars is celebrating 20 years in the biz, we have the pleasure of being able to look back on the last two decades fondly. We were one of the first wineries in the Warehouse District in Woodinville and we have been welcoming new neighbors ever since!

Our favorite things about Washington Wine

Washington makes it really easy to love where you’re from and bloom where you’re planted. With over 14 unique AVAs and 300+ days of sunlight, our wine region offers some of the best growing conditions in the world! At 45 degrees latitude, we are situated closest in line with Bordeaux, France. It’s no surprise one of our most popular wines is BDX, which is our take on a Bordeaux blend. We’ve just released our 2017 BDX in all four tasting rooms. If you’ve never tried the BDX or are a lifelong fan, make sure you stop by any of our tasting rooms this month to swirl a little in your glass.

While we have four tasting rooms in three different communities, here in Woodinville Wine Country, we can attest to a real sense of family. Patterson Cellars has been “crushing it” in the Warehouse District since 2000, and planted ourselves in the Hollywood Hill district in 2017, so we definitely have some history here. Our owner and winemaker, John Patterson is the president of Woodinville Wine Country and is deeply rooted in the community, helping Woodinville continue to thrive. So whether you live in Washington year round, or you just visit from time-to-time, raise a glass of fabulous Washington wine and celebrate all that beautiful Washington Wine Country has to offer. See you in the tasting rooms!

Top Three Things to Look Forward to from Patterson Cellars in 2020

So many wonderful things happened in 2019 for Patterson Cellars that it’s hard to pick favorites!! There is so much to look forward to in 2020 and we are excited to share the top three things to look forward to in 2020 with you.

New Leavenworth Tasting Room

This first announcement just might be the biggest we have for the start of 2020! We have been jumping out of our seats waiting to share with you that we have officially signed a lease for a new tasting room in Leavenworth right on Front Street! We’re so excited to be closer to the action in downtown Leavenworth and look forward to sharing our wines and experiences with you in a brand new, updated spot. We anticipate being open around April 1st and can’t wait to celebrate with you! We appreciate your continued support as we grow and change in order to make the entire Patterson Cellars experience the best it can be.

Our 20th Anniversary Celebration

The year 2020 happens to be our 20th anniversary! John Patterson founded Patterson Cellars in 2000 in the Warehouse District of Woodinville. The Warehouse District Winery has become our hub for not only making our wine but also for hosting tastings and special events. Woodinville wine country really is like a family and we’ve developed beautiful relationships not only with out customers, but with the other businesses around us. Did you know we even rent out our equipment to other boutique wineries in Woodinville? 12 years after we opened our Warehouse District winery and tasting room, we opened our second location in Hollywood Hill District of Woodinville. In 2017, our current Leavenworth tasting room opened and most recently, our Seattle SODO tasting room was born. After 20 years, we now boast an extensive wine portfolio expanding from sparkling, white, and Rosé wines to single-varietal, red blend, and dessert wines. We’ve opened four tasting rooms, have introduced indulgent wine and food pairing experiences, and built a wine club that has grown into a family. We’ve also hosted countless events, live music nights, and created a community of wine lovers that we’re proud to be a part of. All of that deserves to be celebrated, don’t you think? Don’t worry, we plan to celebrate our 20th anniversary in all of our tasting rooms & you’re invited! We will be announcing the dates and details soon, but expect it to be sometime during the summer months.

Spring Release

Spring release is quickly approaching! A new wine release is always something to look forward to no matter the year, and we can assure you that the wines we are releasing in March will exceed your expectations! We can’t share all of the details just yet, but we can tell you that there will be three delicious wines including Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Syrah. Wine club members get first dibs, so if you want to get your hands on these bottles before everyone else (plus amazing discounts on all Patterson Cellars wines) sign up today. We can’t wait to share more delicious wines with you in the spring, and delicious food pairings if you’re joining us for the release party! 2019 is a wrap and 2020 is looking so bright! We hope you get the chance to help us celebrate our new Leavenworth tasting room, our 20th anniversary, and our spring release. Thank you so much for all of your ongoing support, 2020 is for you as much as it is for us. Cheers to the new year!