| One of Seattle's finest "Micro" Wineries | ABOUT |
||||
The plan is to stay small and focused on quality, like many of the small wineries in Europe. There are no employees and volunteers that want to "get their feet wet" are welcome to help during harvest and bottling (see below). If you would like to volunteer for harvest or bottling, simply Click Here and type "Add me to the volunteer list" in the subject line. |
|||||
| . | |||||
History |
|
||||
Wilridge Winery was founded in 1988 by
Paul Beveridge and Jim Wilhelmi (Lysle's Father and the
 "Wil" in Wilridge). The
wines were made in the cellar of Madrona Bistro, a restaurant run by Lysle.
Initially, the wines were
 available
only at the restaurant, but with the closure of the Bistro in 1995, Paul
and Lysle decided to expand the winery. They lifted the building and excavated
a 1,500 square foot cellar. New equipment was purchased from Italy, where
there is a long tradition of small, family-scale wine making. The first vintage
from the new facility was produced in 1996. Lysle, Paul, Mack and Liam lived
above the winery until they moved to a nearby house in 2003. Paul's parents
now live above the winery and take care of the winery's black cat, Pinot
Noir.
To learn more about Paul's winemaking history background and the history of Wilridge, Click Here. |
|||||
| . | |||||
Activities |
|
||||
 Annual
events at Wilridge Winery focus around harvest, bottling, and release of
the new vintage. Wilridge's harvest parties are infamous in the Madrona neighborhood. The grapes arrive early in the morning via refrigerated trucks direct from the vineyards. Mack and Liam will show you the entire process if you Click Here. Volunteers carefully sort the grapes into a small Italian  stemmer/crusher.
The grapes are fermented in small, open top containers and the cap of fermenting
"must" is punched down manually at least twice a day. When Paul determines
that the time is right, the wine is pressed from the skins in a gentle basket
press and transferred to new French-oak barrels for aging. The spent pressings
are given away as compost to neighborhood gardeners. Volunteers join in the
fun and each day of work ends with an
 anti-pasto
buffet made by Lysle. If you would like to experience harvest or crush at
Wilridge Winery, please send us an e-mail or give us a call. Depending on
Mother Nature, we usually start crushing in early September and finish pressing
by late October.
Bottling typically occurs in the Spring about twenty
months after the vintage is harvested. The first step is determining the
final blends for the wines after they have spent the right amount of time
in the French-oak barrels. An entire vintage is bottled in one day by bringing
in a If you would like to volunteer for harvest or bottling, simply Click Here and type "Add me to the volunteer list" in the subject line. The culmination of all the effort is the annual vintage release party, usually held in the Fall two years after the harvest. At the party, all of the Wilridge wines from the vintage are available for tasting and purchase. This is often the only opportunity to buy some of the wines before they sell out. If you would like to receive an invitation to the party, please provide us with your e-mail or mailing address and we will add you to our announcement list. |
|||||
| . | |||||
Paul's Ceramics |
|
||||
 In
addition to making wine, Paul Beveridge is a ceramic artist. His large, hand
thrown works were called "gorgeous" by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Recently
he has been producing ceramic wine bottles in unique shapes and sizes. He
is inspired by ancient Greek, Roman, and renaissance Italian wine bottle
designs. Paul once threw the largest wine bottle ever made -- a monstrous
magnum that held over fourteen (14) cases of wine -- and donated it to the
Children's Hospital Auction of Washington Wines. His unique bottles make
great gifts and can be filled with Wilridge Wines. Paul's ceramics are on
display at the winery and at the Tasting Room in the Pike Place Market. |
|||||
| . | |||||
Wine Tasting |
|
||||
 In Seattle, Wilridge Winery's Tasting
Room is located at 1924 Post Alley in Seattle's famous Pike Place Market.
We share the Tasting Room with several other boutique wineries,
so it's a great place to visit and sample a range of Washington wines.
|
|||||
Wilridge is a small, family
winery run in the European tradition. Owners Lysle Wilhelmi and Paul Beveridge
live near the winery in the Madrona neighborhood of Seattle with their two
sons, Mack and Liam. Paul's parents , Bob and Berta Beveridge, live in the
apartment above the winery.
Wine
making at Wilridge is a family and neighborhood affair, with relatives and
friends pitching in. Paul is winemaker, Lysle is in charge of sales, Mack
and Liam handle barrel washing and grampa provides "quality control
sampling". If you would like Mack and Liam to
show you how we make our wines
mobile
bottling line in the back of a semi-truck. Paul usually goes crazy, but everybody
else has a good time.
Everyone
who helps takes home a few bottles of the new Wilridge vintage.
If you are interested in purchasing Wilridge wine you can visit The Tasting Rom in the Pike Place Market or place an order online at the Tasting Room's Web site.
©1999-2009 Wilridge Winery 1416 34th Avenue Seattle, WA USA 206-325-3051 |
|||||