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Also within the Resort is a separate, private community with its own golf course and clubhouse, which might seem like Sudden Valley with an Eastern Washington flavor to Whatcom County residents.<\/p>\nSwiftwater Cellars bills itself as \u201cWashington\u2019s ultimate destination winery\u201d and after spending a day there earlier this month, it would be difficult for me to argue otherwise.<\/p>\n
The facility is located about 80 miles east of Seattle, just a few minutes north of Interstate 90 near the towns of Roslyn and Cle Elum. Because of its relative proximity to the freeway, I\u2019d hardly call this a remote area. And yet, upon arriving, one can\u2019t help but feel you\u2019re in an entirely different world surrounded by pine forests, rivers and streams, hiking trails, and expansive views of the nearby Cascades.<\/p>\n
Swiftwater Cellars is privately owned by Don Watts, a successful Tri-Cities farmer who built the facility in the heart of the pre-existing Suncadia Resort. Suncadia is a 6,400-acre project that includes a 254-room lodge, spa, and two golf courses. <\/p>\n
Also within the Resort is a separate, private community with its own golf course and clubhouse, which might seem like Sudden Valley with an Eastern Washington flavor to Whatcom County residents.<\/p>\n
A visit to Swiftwater Cellars is unique, to say the least. Rather than featuring a dedicated space, the \u201ctasting room\u201d is part of a larger complex that includes the Hoist House restaurant, a gift shop, and public golf course club house. There\u2019s also an adjacent amphitheater with seating for over 2,000 outdoor concertgoers.<\/p>\n
With all of these destination goodies to keep you occupied, it would be easy to overlook the winery itself. I\u2019d recommend making arrangements for a tour of the two beautiful barrel rooms and pristine stainless-steel holding tank area located on the facility\u2019s lower level to remind you that this is indeed a winery.<\/p>\n
On the building\u2019s main level, half of Swiftwater\u2019s circular tasting bar is shared by the restaurant, and I\u2019d care to wager this is one of the few Washington wineries where you can sample wines, order lunch or dinner, and then enjoy a cocktail all in one sitting.<\/p>\n
The 1980\u2019s classic rock piped over the facility\u2019s omnipresent speaker system can be maddeningly distracting, as can the mealtime crowds. But the wines, which are first-class in every respect, more than make up for this, and visitors can order them by the glass, flight, carafe, bottle or case.<\/p>\n
Watts did his homework by hiring winemaker Linda Trotta (pictured above), who spent 20 years at Gundlach Bundschu Winery in Sonoma, California prior to coming to Swiftwater Cellars. Trotta produces the winery\u2019s Washington wines, and she\u2019s clearly at the top of her game. Tony Rynders is responsible for the winery\u2019s pinot noir, which is sourced from Oregon\u2019s Willamette Valley.<\/p>\n
Next week, I\u2019ll give you my top recommendations from the wines I sampled during my visit. In the meantime, check out the winery at swiftwatercellars.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Swiftwater Cellars bills itself as \u201cWashington\u2019s ultimate destination winery\u201d and after spending a day there earlier this month, it would be difficult for me to argue otherwise. The facility is located about 80 miles east of Seattle, just a few minutes north of Interstate 90 near the towns of Roslyn and Cle Elum. Because of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-from-the-bellingham-herald"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1687"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1691,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1687\/revisions\/1691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}