The Shed: wine country from four floors up

Woodinville has a hundred tasting rooms and, until recently, nowhere good to land after them. I found The Shed the way most people probably will — four tastings deep, hungry, not ready to drive back to the city — and it’s been my standing last stop on any Woodinville day since. Four floors up at The SOMM hotel, it skips the skyline-view formula for something better suited to wine country: rolling Eastside hills, treetops, and a canopied patio lounge that feels like a very well-funded treehouse.

The room

There’s an entire wall of woodworking tools, and guitars hang off the timber columns like someone’s very cool uncle built the place. I laughed at it the first time; by the second drink it made complete sense. Inside seats are good; the patio is the point — on my last visit Rainier was out beyond the bar rail and nobody could look at anything else.

Food and drink

The menu is chef-led and seasonal — small plates built for grazing between glasses, plus cocktails that hold their own in a town that mostly pours wine. I came up after a full day of tastings, told the bartender to drive the pairing decisions, and have no notes.

Best time to go: late afternoon on a tasting-room day, before the dinner crowd shows up. That’s my slot, so leave me a seat.

Photo courtesy of The SOMM Hotel & Spa.