Almquist Family Cellars

Unedited

Harvest came late in 2011 and the drunken fruit flies or smell of fermenting grapes didn’t surprise me as I entered Almquist Family Cellars. I was a first time visitor to the winery two blocks west of the Fremont Bridge on the Queen Anne side and hadn’t a clue what awaited me. I spied a loan figure toward the back of a very spacious building punching down the cap of fermenting grapes. That loan figure was none other than owner/winemaker Mike Almquist of Almquist Family Cellars. Little did I know that it would be another two hours before I dashed out the door late for my next appointment.

I discovered that to appreciate Almquist Family Cellars is to experience the mind of Mike Almquist. He’s brilliant with no shortage of opinions on various subjects and swagger to match. Leaving the comfortable confines of his east coast home, Mike ventured to Seattle taking a job with the University of Washington. Somewhere along the line, he began making wine but rather than hanging out the shingle and releasing his first batch of 300 cases, he did the unheard thing of putting together a business plan. Essentially, the business plan informed him that to be successful he needed to think big. And “big” he did with winery that can readily serve as a hangar for a small commercial airplane, a barrel room that easily accommodates 15 rows of barrels stacked 8 barrels high and an adjacent restaurant that’s become all the rage with Seattle’s ever-buzzing foodies.

Mike explained that Almquist Family Cellars is a custom crush facility meaning that he’s making wine for lots of folks that want to get into the wine business without investing in your latest Italian stemmer-crusher. It’s also the site with fellow winemaker and self-described “cellar rat” Mitch Shirbroun, crafts Mayfly Wine. Mike has also embraced the distilled craft spirits venture and pointed to the distilling equipment in the distance. I made a mental note that this guy must keep a small army of Washington’s Liquor Control Board busy with licensure issues.

Mike gave me a tour of the sumptuous Book Bindery Restaurant with its rich cream colored wainscoting, open kitchen, views of the ship canal and peek-a-boo window to the Almquist Family Cellars barrel room next door. Preparing that evening’s meal was chef Shaun McCrain whose cooking resume reads like a who’s who of great places to eat including a recent four year stint at New York City’s Per Se. I’m sure his culinary creations are just as splendid as the Book Bindery’s décor and the amazing world that Mike Almquist has authored. Clearly, this is a many-layered place to come back to. Often.