How an old industrial park reimagined how Seattle drinks wine

With Seattle’s urban wine scene sprinkled around the city, a critical mass of wine tasting once required a 30-minute drive to Woodinville and at least a half-day commitment. That started to change in 2013, when retailer Full Pull Wines located its warehouse and retail pickup site at SoDo Urbanworks, an industrial park nearly two miles south of Seattle’s stadiums. Wineries soon started to open satellite tasting rooms in neighboring bays, which offered an escape from Woodinville’s rising prices, and a welcome proximity to Seattle’s giant customer base.

Five years later, SoDo Urbanworks is home to 10 wineries and satellite tasting rooms, including Sleight of Hand Cellars, Rôtie Cellars, Patterson Cellars, Den Hoed estates, and Waters Winery, plus production facilities for Kerloo Cellars, Structure Cellars, and Latta Wines. Nine Hats Wines spun off a pizzeria, Nine Pies, and Schooner Exact’s brewery is there for anyone in need of a palate-cleansing beer. Most of SoDo Urbanworks’ wine tenants signed on here, in close proximity, because the owners are genuinely friends, which creates a pleasant synergy when you wander from place to place.

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