Seattle Urban Wineries Making Vino in Georgetown, Ravenna, and More

Used to be you had to day trip to hit the source where your wine is crafted, but no more. An increasing number of local winemakers—so many, in fact, they have collected under an official name: Seattle Urban Wineries—are setting down roots right here in the city.

Over 20 wineries from Green Lake to South 95^th Street now exist under this umbrella, including Georgetown's O•S, the Industrial District's Cloudlift, Ravenna's Eight Bells, SoDo's Bartholomew, and West Seattle's Northwest Wine Academy.

"I don't want to be out there," Cloudlift Cellars' Tom Stangeland told The Seattle Times, "waving a hand toward the wide-open spaces east of the Cascades where his grapes are grown. ‘I want to live in the city.'"

No complaints here.  Sure, one feels like winetrekking to the country sometimes, but adding the option of tasting from the maker right here at home? Yes, please. And it just keeps getting better with Walla Walla vino master Charles Smith setting up what's expected to be the largest urban winery in the country in Georgetown come July.

One more model: Bob Harris' Woodinville-based Robert Ramsay Cellars opened a tasting room in Queen Anne last year, so perhaps this is a trend we'll see more of as Seattle's wine scene blooms.