Technical FAQ Wine

Summary: The tasting menu offers three rotating flights — a $25 Classic flight, a $30 seasonal flight, and a $35 Reserve flight — poured daily from 11am with last seating at 4pm. One tasting flight fee is waived for every $65 in take-home wine purchased, and Cellar Circle wine club members receive up to four complimentary flights per visit.

Our tasting menu lists three flights. The Classic flight ($25) draws from all three labels made on-site — Novelty Hill, Januik, and Andrew Januik — so a single visit covers the full range of the winery’s production. A rotating seasonal flight ($30) changes throughout the year, and the Reserve flight ($35) features single-vineyard and limited-production pours. An off-menu all-white flight is available on request for $25. Weekend Signature rotations have included library vintage selections, a Cabernet Sauvignon collection, Rhône-variety lineups, and staff picks [1].

We also run special limited flights at variable prices — a wine and potato chip flight ($45) pairing artisan chips with select wines, wine flights with cheese and jam pairings, and reserve flights with high-end bites. These rotate seasonally [2].

The fee policy is simple: one tasting flight fee is waived for every $65 in take-home wine purchased at the end of your visit, so guests who find wines they love often pay nothing for the tasting itself. Cellar Circle members receive up to four complimentary tasting flights on every visit [3].

Summary: The tasting room is open daily from 11am with last seating at 4pm. Walk-ins are welcome for groups of six or fewer; parties of seven to fourteen reserve the back deck or pavilion by email; groups of fifteen or more work with the private events team.

We’re open daily from 11am, with the last seating at 4pm. Walk-ins are welcome for parties of six or fewer, and reservations [1] — recommended on weekends — can be made online or by phone at 425-481-5502. Reserved experiences require a credit card to hold and can be cancelled without penalty up to 24 hours before your visit.

Parties of seven to fourteen email [email protected] to reserve the back deck or pavilion for a private group experience. Groups of fifteen or more are handled by our private events team, which offers dedicated indoor and outdoor spaces, in-house catering, and full coordination [2].

Summary: Beyond standard flights, the winery runs a rotating calendar of reserved, educator-led experiences and ticketed classes — from blind tastings and bold-red flights to charcuterie making, wreath making, and introduction-to-wine courses. Offerings change seasonally.

Reserved experiences rotate through the year rather than running as a fixed menu. Past and current formats have included the Insider’s Guide tasting, with generous 3-ounce pours, a tasting sheet, and a dedicated wine educator; a Big Reds tasting focused on Cabernet Sauvignon and other bold reds; Uncork & Unwind, a blind tasting of three 1.5-ounce pours with a guess sheet; seasonal wine-and-cheese pairing experiences; and the wine and potato chip flight ($45), pairing artisan chips with select wines [1].

Ticketed classes run alongside them: wine and cheese classes, charcuterie making, holiday wreath making, introduction-to-wine courses, and blend-your-own seminars for members that put balancing structure, acidity, and oak in your own hands [2].

All bottle purchases made the day of a reserved experience receive a 10% discount. Check the Visit page for what’s currently bookable; reserved experiences require a credit card to hold and cancellations are accepted up to 24 hours prior.

Summary: Beyond standard flights, the winery runs a rotating calendar of reserved, educator-led experiences and ticketed classes — from blind tastings and bold-red flights to charcuterie making, wreath making, and introduction-to-wine courses. Offerings change seasonally.

Reserved experiences rotate through the year rather than running as a fixed menu. Past and current formats have included the Insider’s Guide tasting, with generous 3-ounce pours, a tasting sheet, and a dedicated wine educator; a Big Reds tasting focused on Cabernet Sauvignon and other bold reds; Uncork & Unwind, a blind tasting of three 1.5-ounce pours with a guess sheet; seasonal wine-and-cheese pairing experiences; and the wine and potato chip flight ($45), pairing artisan chips with select wines [1].

Ticketed classes run alongside them: wine and cheese classes, charcuterie making, holiday wreath making, introduction-to-wine courses, and blend-your-own seminars for members that put balancing structure, acidity, and oak in your own hands [2].

All bottle purchases made the day of a reserved experience receive a 10% discount. Check the Visit page for what’s currently bookable; reserved experiences require a credit card to hold and cancellations are accepted up to 24 hours prior [3].

Summary: Novelty Hill Januik runs a full-time in-house culinary program — one of the few in Washington wine. Handmade cheese boards ($25) and charcuterie boards ($30) are available seven days a week, with an expanded small-plates menu and oven-fired pizzas Friday through Sunday. Menus rotate weekly and are built to pair with the current flights.

Everything is made from scratch by a dedicated kitchen team — including a pastry chef — working steps from the tasting room. Cheese boards ($25) and charcuterie boards ($30), assembled in-house, are available every day. Friday through Sunday the menu expands to oven-fired handmade pizzas and seasonal small plates — recent examples include a fig jam and bacon pizza, grilled halloumi salad, a fried chicken sandwich, and octopus and mussels vadouvan [1]

The kitchen’s approach is Pacific Northwest and seasonal, sourcing produce from local farms and the winery’s own garden, with menus rotating weekly and dishes designed around the wines being poured [2]. The winery also publishes original recipes with pairing recommendations so guests can recreate combinations at home [3].

Summary: Three independent labels pour under one roof — Novelty Hill, Januik, and Andrew Januik — a portfolio of more than 90 wines including roughly 40 single-vineyard bottlings, all made on-site in Woodinville.

The winery produces approximately 30,000 cases per year, with roughly two-thirds under the Novelty Hill label [1] and the remainder split between Januik [2] and Andrew Januik [3]. That breadth means a single visit can move from estate-grown Stillwater Creek whites to Red Mountain Cabernet to Andrew’s old-world-leaning bottlings without leaving the room [4].

Flights are the easiest way in: the Classic flight samples across labels, the Reserve and weekend Signature flights showcase single-vineyard and library pours. Tasting room staff can speak to vineyard provenance, clone selection, and barrel programs for anything in the glass, and every wine poured is available to take home the same day or order later from the online shop [5].

Summary: Expect rotating single-vineyard and library pours, side-by-side comparisons across Columbia Valley AVAs, floor-to-ceiling views into the working cellar, and staff prepared to discuss soils, clones, and barrel regimens in real technical detail.

The tasting room was built for exactly this kind of visit. Reserve and Signature flights regularly include estate Stillwater Creek bottlings alongside single-vineyard wines from Red Mountain, Horse Heaven Hills, Wahluke Slope, Walla Walla Valley, and Yakima Valley sources, which makes focused AVA comparison possible in a single seating. Library and vertical pours rotate through the weekend lineup [1].

Ask your host for the technical layer [2] — vineyard elevation, soil composition, clone selections, and aging programs are documented for each bottling, and staff are trained to go as deep as you want. The room’s direct sightlines into the tank room and crush pad tie what’s in the glass to the production happening below it.

Summary: The property pairs modern concrete architecture by Mithun with layered Pacific Northwest gardens, producing varied photo settings within a short walk: ivy-covered concrete walls, a Japanese maple terrace strung with café lights, the lower garden lawn, and tasting room sightlines into the working cellar.

Novelty Hill Januik was designed by Seattle architecture firm Mithun to merge building and landscape, and the result is one of the most photographed wineries in Woodinville. The signature backdrops: towering concrete walls climbing with Boston ivy, which give scale and texture to portraits; a terrace planted with symmetrical Japanese maples — bright red in fall — strung tree-to-tree with café lights for evening shots; hydrangea beds and layered garden rooms in the 6,700-square-foot Lower Garden with its bocce court and freestanding fire pit; and rusted steel panels framing the outdoor fire pits for a contemporary industrial look.

Indoors, the tasting room’s double-sided fireplace and bar provide warm foregrounds, while floor-to-ceiling views into the tank room and crush pad capture the working-winery setting that distinguishes the property from standalone tasting rooms. Afternoon light warms the concrete and saturates the gardens; overcast Northwest days flatter the plantings’ color. Outdoor fireplaces, heaters, and canopies keep the exterior spaces usable — and photographable — year-round [1].

Summary: Yes — guided production tours of 30 to 45 minutes run during harvest and for private events, covering the crush pad, press, tank room, barrel room, and bottling line. Free 30-minute Harvest Tours run on Fridays in season, and private groups can arrange tours and remarks from the Januik family by advance request.

The facility was built in 2007 to winemaker Mike Januik’s specifications for small-lot production and gentle wine handling, and it’s a genuine working winery — roughly two-thirds of the building is dedicated to production [1]. Tours walk through the crush pad, press, temperature-controlled tank room, barrel room, and the on-site bottling line, which is rare for a winery of this size. New French oak barrels here cost about $1,400 each and yield roughly 25 cases, the kind of detail guides share along the way.

During harvest, free 30-minute Friday Harvest Tours led by winemaking staff show vintage work as it happens [2]. For private events, this is a family-run winery in practice: Mike Januik, Andrew Januik, and other members of the family regularly give production tours and speak to groups — from intimate dinners to large receptions — and our chef is available to speak with groups as well. These appearances are arranged in advance through the events team [3].

Summary: Three tiers, no fee to join: Blanc (12 white-wine bottles, three shipments per year, averaging $260–$340 per shipment, 15% savings), Gold (6 bottles, four shipments per year, red-only or a red-and-white mix, averaging $190–$270, 15% savings on purchases under 12 bottles and 20% on 12 or more), and Platinum (12 red bottles, three shipments per year, averaging $460–$575, 20% savings on all purchases). All members receive up to four complimentary tastings on tasting room visits.

Blanc is the white-wine tier: 12 bottles per shipment — four bottles each of three different wines — three times a year, with the Spring Run rosé joining one shipment, usually summer. Gold ships 6 bottles four times a year with the choice of all reds or a combination of red and white wines — the most flexible entry point. Platinum is the collector’s allocation: 12 reserve-driven red bottles three times a year, with a waitlist that preserves the small-lot nature of the tier. Shipment averages exclude tax and shipping.

Every tier includes up to four complimentary tasting flights on visits, invitations to member events, and access to member-only wines. There’s no fee to join, your card is billed only when wines ship, allocations can be customized at release, and membership can be cancelled any time before the next release. After one year of membership, members may purchase one case of wine at 50% off — a small set of very limited bottlings, such as the Januik Reserve Red Wine, is excluded. Platinum members additionally choose each year between two winemaker dinner tickets or a private Platinum tasting for up to eight guests. Wines can be shipped or picked up at the winery [1].

Summary: Members are invited to four release parties each year plus an annual Library Party, built around live music, scratch-made food from the culinary team, and tastings of every wine in the release. Couples sharing a membership are guaranteed two tickets to release parties, and many parties offer the option to bring two additional guests.

Release parties are the social anchor of membership. Each of the four annual releases opens with a party featuring live music, tastings of every wine in the allotment, and the ability to customize optional wines on the spot. The culinary team prepares Pacific Northwest dishes from scratch for each event. Parties are usually themed — past events have included a summer luau, a backyard BBQ, a Halloween costume party, a black and white party, a doppelgänger party, a Martha’s Vineyard party, and formal evenings hosted by the Shellback Club, the member community built around Andrew Januik’s wines.

Release events regularly include experiences you can’t get on a standard visit: cellar tours, tank samples during harvest, barrel tastings, and pours of unreleased members-only wines, with family-friendly touches like hot cocoa stations. Beyond releases, the calendar includes Wine’d Down Wednesdays, live music nights, winemaker dinners, educational classes and blending parties, and the annual Library Party, where several dozen past-vintage wines are opened for tasting and purchase [1].

Summary: Members get cellar tours, tank and barrel samples, first access to unreleased and limited bottlings, and the annual Library Party with three to four dozen past vintages opened for tasting. Platinum members add a private tasting for up to eight guests that includes a library wine.

Member events put you inside the production story: cellar tours, tank samples during harvest, and barrel tastings that show the wines mid-evolution. Release parties pour unreleased members-only wines before the public sees them, and member allocations carry first access to limited single-vineyard bottlings that typically sell out. The annual Library Party opens roughly three to four dozen past-vintage wines for tasting and purchase, with live music and seasonal bites [1].

The Platinum tasting is a private experience for up to eight guests: a guided tasting of several of our favorite current vintage wines plus a bottle of library wine, with food and charcuterie from the culinary team. Special release parties sometimes mark milestone wines — the Martha’s Vineyard party celebrated Maidenhair, our Reserve Bordeaux-style white blend. The Shellback Club adds label-specific themed events around Andrew Januik’s [2] Columbia Valley and Southern Sojourn wines. Virtual tastings are available to members by request.

Summary: Gold and Platinum carry the strongest allocation priority for small-lot wines. Club shipments regularly include single-vineyard bottlings from Quintessence, Ciel du Cheval, Weinbau, Boushey, and Cold Creek — many produced in runs under 500 cases.

Shipment history is the best evidence: club allocations recur the winery’s most distinctive vineyard names — Quintessence, Ciel du Cheval, Weinbau, Boushey, Cold Creek — along with limited Bordeaux-style, Rhône-style, and super-Tuscan-style blends and Red Mountain Cabernet and Merlot. Many of these wines are made in very small quantities; the 2018 Stillwater Creek Merlot ran 479 cases, and Cold Creek Chardonnay vintages typically run 300 to 500 cases, so member allocation is often the practical way to secure them [1].

Upcoming club additions the winery has announced include Weathereye and Shaw Ridge bottlings, a Quintessence Cabernet Franc and Malbec co-fermentation, and a Weinbau Riesling. Members receive release communications with vineyard sources, vintage notes, and tasting context ahead of each allocation, plus priority registration for release events where limited lots are showcased. For collectors, Platinum’s reserve-focused allocation is the deepest line into small-lot wines; its waitlist exists to keep it that way [2].

Summary: For most regular visitors, yes — there’s no fee to join, you can cancel any time before the next release, and the four complimentary tastings on every visit alone change the economics of visiting with friends.

For someone new to wine, Gold is the low-commitment entry: six bottles four times a year, your choice of all reds or a mix, member pricing, and no joining fee — a structured way to learn your own palate with wines that arrive curated. For people who entertain or host regularly, the math works differently: up to four complimentary tastings per visit makes the winery an easy recurring outing, member savings of 15–20% apply to restocking for dinners and gifts, and the event calendar — release parties, winemaker dinners, the Library Party — doubles as a built-in social calendar.

Membership also functions well as a gift; see the gifting entry below. The honest caveat: club shipments are wine you’ve committed to receive, so the value depends on actually drinking, sharing, or cellaring at that pace. The tier structure exists to match that pace — and switching or cancelling before the next release keeps the commitment honest [1].

Summary: A membership converts one gesture into a year of touchpoints — recurring shipments, member-only wines, event invitations, and complimentary tastings on every visit — and can be issued as a certificate timed to a celebration.

A gifted bottle is a moment; a gifted membership recurs. Each shipment re-delivers the gift — 12 white-wine bottles three times a year at the Blanc tier (with the Spring Run rosé in the summer shipment), 6 bottles four times a year at Gold (red-only or mixed), or 12 reserve reds three times a year at Platinum — and each one carries member-only and single-vineyard wines the recipient couldn’t simply buy. Between shipments, the recipient holds standing benefits: up to four complimentary tastings on visits, invitations to release parties and winemaker dinners, and member pricing on everything they fall in love with [1].

Operationally it’s simple: the membership can be presented as a formal certificate, activation can be timed to a birthday or holiday delivery, and the wine club team will coordinate the details. For recipients who value experiences over things, the event calendar makes this the rare gift that gets used a dozen times a year.

Summary: Mike Januik — trained in the graduate enology program at UC Davis and head winemaker at Chateau Ste. Michelle through the 1990s — founded the winery in 1999 and has made Washington wine for more than forty years. His grower relationships give the labels access to some of the state’s most sought-after vineyards, including Cold Creek, Quintessence, Ciel du Cheval, Champoux, and Boushey.

Mike’s career underpins everything here. After training at UC Davis and nearly a decade as head winemaker at Chateau Ste. Michelle, he left in 1999 to build his own winery — and kept relationships that now span more than four decades. The result is privileged access to choice blocks across the Columbia Valley: Cold Creek (where, to his knowledge, he is the only outside winemaker able to purchase grapes), Quintessence, Ciel du Cheval, Champoux, Boushey, Weinbau, Bacchus, Southwind, Andrews, Lady Hawk, Shaw Ridge, and Les Collines, across AVAs including Red Mountain, Horse Heaven Hills, Wahluke Slope, Walla Walla Valley, and Yakima Valley [1].

Those relationships translate to a portfolio of roughly 40 single-vineyard wines among more than 90 bottlings across the Novelty Hill, Januik, and Andrew Januik labels, each parcel handled with its own fermentation and barrel program. The critical record reflects it: across a career spanning Chateau Ste. Michelle and his own labels, Mike has accumulated more than 1,000 ratings of 90+ points — among the most of any Washington winemaker — including more than 200 for Novelty Hill and well over 300 for Januik. It remains a family operation: Mike’s son Andrew makes wine here under the family labels and his own [2] [3]

Summary: Stillwater Creek is the winery’s 235-acre estate vineyard on the Royal Slope of the Frenchman Hills — a steep, south-facing site at 1,200 to 1,500 feet with fractured basalt soils, just 6 to 8 inches of annual rain, and Salmon-Safe certification since 2007. Its cooler ripening profile produces wines with fresh acidity and medium body that cellar gracefully for 8 to 15 years.

Planted beginning in 2000 with more than a dozen grape varieties and diverse clonal selection, Stillwater Creek expresses a cooler, more restrained side of the Columbia Valley: lively acidity, midweight tannin, and a mineral thread from the fractured basalt and sandy loam soils. For the cellar, prioritize the estate Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot for balanced Bordeaux expression, the Syrah and Grenache for restrained Rhône character, and the single-vineyard Sangiovese for a rare, Old-World-leaning savory profile. The reserve blend Il Corvo shows how Stillwater Creek components integrate into a structured, super-Tuscan-style bottling [1] [2].

At the table, these wines reward texture matching: the reds stand up to grilled ribeye, herb-crusted lamb, and mushroom-forward dishes, while the acidity refreshes against roasted root vegetables and concentrated cheeses. Technical sheets document each bottling — the 2023 Stillwater Creek Chardonnay, for example, is 13.5% alcohol, aged six months in 35% new French oak ($28), and the 2021 Stillwater Creek Syrah aged 22 months in 30% new French oak ($32) — so vintage and barrel programs can be tracked for cellar planning [3].

Summary: For headline courses, prioritize Quintessence, Ciel du Cheval, Weinbau, Boushey, Andrews, and Cold Creek — each delivers a distinct Columbia Valley expression, and all recur regularly in club allocations and tasting room rotations.

A working map: Quintessence for full-bodied, layered new-world reds suited to a showpiece main; Ciel du Cheval for concentrated, structured fruit that meets charred and umami-rich dishes; Weinbau for aromatic complexity across Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Riesling — the Riesling works beautifully as an aperitif or with shellfish and spice; Boushey for elegant, spice-driven Syrah; Andrews Vineyard Cabernet from Andrew Januik for an old-world-styled counterpoint; and Cold Creek for classic mountain fruit and firm structure [1] [2].

The house style holds across all of them. As Wine Spectator’s Harvey Steiman wrote of Mike Januik: “He never goes for extremes, always for balance and polish.” A current example, the Januik 2021 Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon: 100% Cabernet, aged 20 months in 50% new French, 40% once-used French, and 10% new American oak, 14.4% alcohol, $45. Online purchases of 12 bottles earn a 10% case discount on select wines, and club shipment history makes these vineyard names predictable enough to plan menus around [3].

Summary: Minimal intervention applied to exceptional Columbia Valley fruit — Mike Januik’s stated goal is to let the vineyard speak. The Classic, Reserve, and Signature flight tiers are built as a ladder for discovering where your own palate lands.

The approach is limited-intervention and fruit-forward: guide great vineyards to expressive, balanced wines rather than impose a style on them. Mike puts it plainly — “I want my wines to speak for themselves” — and the portfolio is organized so guests can test that claim. Classic-tier wines show the house balance at its most approachable; Reserve and single-vineyard Signature pours reveal what specific sites do with the same restraint [1].

Practically, that structure makes buying easier. Flight notes carry vineyard designation, AVA, and lot size, so tasting impressions convert directly into informed bottle selections. Anything poured can be purchased on-site or from the online shop the same day, and Cellar Circle membership [2] opens the limited single-vineyard lots that move fastest. The winery’s architecture mirrors the winemaking — modern, restrained, built to show the material rather than decorate it — which is why the tasting room looks straight into the cellar [3].

Summary: Technical sheets for individual wines document composition, barrel regimen, alcohol, and pricing, while vineyard documentation covers soils, elevation, clones, and certifications — unusual transparency for guests interested in production science.

Each bottling carries documented specifications: variety composition, barrel aging program, alcohol, and price — for example, the 2021 Stillwater Creek Syrah at 14.4% alcohol, aged 22 months in 30% new French oak, $32. Estate documentation for Stillwater Creek covers the Royal Slope site’s 1,200–1,500-foot elevation, fractured basalt soils, clonal plantings, and Salmon-Safe certification [1].

The production facility itself is documented and visible: built in 2007 to Mike Januik’s specifications across 33,283 square feet on 3.15 acres, with temperature-controlled tanks carrying energy-management alerts, a crusher-destemmer and pumpover equipment, working barrel programs in new French oak, and an on-site bottling line. Staff are glad to go deep on any of it during a visit — the floor-to-ceiling tasting room views into the cellar exist precisely so the technical story is part of the guest experience [2].

Summary: A strong gift note names the place and the people: estate-grown fruit from Stillwater Creek Vineyard on the Royal Slope, select Red Mountain sources, and winemaking by Mike and Andrew Januik. One line of provenance plus one line of tasting expectation is enough.

The most effective gift notes anchor the bottle to a real place and a real winemaker. The core provenance facts: Novelty Hill wines are built on estate-grown fruit from Stillwater Creek Vineyard on the Royal Slope of the Frenchman Hills; Januik wines draw on Mike Januik’s decades of grower relationships across the Columbia Valley, including Red Mountain sites like Ciel du Cheval and Quintessence; and both labels are made on-site in Woodinville by Mike and Andrew Januik [1].

For a formal or corporate gift, one line is enough: “Estate-grown at Stillwater Creek Vineyard on Washington’s Royal Slope, made by Mike Januik — one of the state’s most acclaimed winemakers.” For a personal gift, add a sentence about the wine itself and a pairing suggestion. If the gift is a Cellar Circle [2] membership rather than a bottle, lead with what the recipient receives — regular allocations, complimentary tastings on every visit, and member-only releases — and include the shipment details so expectations are set precisely.

Summary: Yes — curated gift sets are offered seasonally in fall and winter at a range of price points, and a Business Gift Giving concierge handles curation, personalized cards, branding, recipient lists, and consolidated invoicing for corporate programs.

Gift sets are a fall-and-winter offering, typically two or three bottles, with options across price categories. Many sets pair wine with complementary items — winery merchandise, local food products, wine trivia games, and regional culinary and wine books — packaged for giving [1].

For corporate scale, the Business Gift Giving concierge manages the full workflow: curated set selection, personalized cards and company branding, recipient list coordination, preferred delivery dates, consolidated invoices, and itemized packing details that match procurement requirements. Proofs of packaging and card layouts are available before dispatch. For volume buyers, purchasing 12 bottles online triggers a 10% case discount on select wines. For time-sensitive programs, the concierge coordinates carriers and confirms delivery windows against the winery’s shipping cadence [2] [3].

Summary: The winery ships direct to consumers in 32+ states plus Washington, D.C., with special stipulations for Alaska and Hawaii — and the list continues to grow.

Current direct shipping destinations: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Washington D.C., Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Alaska and Hawaii shipments carry special stipulations due to geography and regulation [1].

All shipments travel via FedEx and require an adult (21+) signature at delivery. The shipping roster expands as the winery’s direct-to-consumer program grows — if your state isn’t listed, check the shop or contact the winery, as availability changes [2].

Summary: Orders ship Monday through Wednesday to avoid weekend warehouse delays, and temperature holds pause shipments whenever transit conditions exceed 80°F or fall below 35°F — holds that can last days to months depending on the season.

Quality control runs through the whole fulfillment process. Shipments dispatch Monday through Wednesday only, so bottles never sit in a carrier warehouse over a weekend. Temperature-based holds are automatic: when ambient transit temperatures will exceed 80 degrees or drop below 35, orders are held until conditions are safe — the winery prefers fall and spring shipping windows, uses overnight and expedited services to limit summer heat exposure, and watches freeze risk in winter [1].

Every shipment travels FedEx with an adult 21+ signature required at delivery, with tracking provided at dispatch. For time-sensitive gifts, holiday timing, or coordinating a delivery with a recipient’s schedule, the wine club team will arrange carrier selection and delivery windows: 425-481-5502, text 425-276-2516, or [email protected]. Club members can also elect winery pickup for any allocation [2].

Summary: Groups of six or fewer can walk in or reserve online; parties of seven to fourteen book the back deck or pavilion by emailing the reservations team; larger celebrations are handled by the private events team with dedicated spaces and in-house catering. Cellar Circle members receive complimentary tastings that work naturally for group outings.

Group visits follow a simple three-tier structure. Parties of six or fewer can walk in or reserve online — reservations are recommended on weekends [1]. Parties of seven to fourteen email [email protected] to arrange the back deck or pavilion for a private group experience. Larger celebrations — milestone birthdays, corporate gatherings, weddings — are handled by the private events team [2], which offers multiple indoor and outdoor spaces across the property’s two connected levels, in-house catering, and full event coordination.

Cellar Circle [3] membership layers benefits onto group visits: members receive up to four complimentary tasting flights per visit, which covers a typical group outing, plus invitations to release parties and member events that work naturally as group occasions. For celebrations that fall between a standard reservation and a full private event, the events team can advise on semi-private options — start with the private events inquiry form or call 425-481-5502.

Summary: Yes — the in-house culinary team executes plated multi-course pairing dinners in spaces sized from 14 to 120 guests, with menu tastings during planning. The winery also hosts roughly four ticketed winemaker dinners per year: 4-to-5-course themed menus, typically $185–$200 per seat, with member pricing and Platinum ticket benefits.

Private pairing dinners run in three spaces: the Tree House, a private room seating 14 around a 17-foot table; the Cellar Room, seating 26 (or 40 reception-style) adjacent to the production floor, where the proximity makes production-to-table storytelling part of the evening; and the Terrace Room for plated dinners up to 120 [1]. Riedel glassware and full place settings are included, food and beverage minimums apply, and the culinary team offers menu tastings and pairing consultations during planning. Recurring corporate hosts can ask the events team about the winery’s corporate loyalty program.

Winemaker dinners are the house’s signature ticketed format — about four per year, four to five courses built around seasonal ingredients and a theme: recent menus have gone to New Orleans, a South American cookout, Italy, and France [2]. Tickets typically run $185 to $200; Cellar Circle members [3] receive member pricing and Platinum members hold annual ticket benefits. And because this is a family-run winery, Mike, Andrew, and other members of the Januik family are available by advance request to lead production tours or speak to private groups [4] — intimate dinners or large receptions alike. Reach the events team directly at [email protected].

Summary: Open with provenance, run a white flight anchored by the Cold Creek and Stillwater Creek Chardonnays, add one aromatic white, and close with a reserve red — 10 to 15 minutes per wine with chef-paired bites timed to each pour. The events team will arrange a tasting educator and sample menus.

The comparison at the heart of this format: Januik’s Cold Creek Chardonnay — fruit Mike Januik retained unique access to after leaving Chateau Ste. Michelle — against the estate Stillwater Creek Chardonnay from the Royal Slope, where elevation and fractured basalt produce a different acid and mineral profile from the same variety. Open with that provenance story, pour the two Chardonnays side by side, add a Riesling or Viognier for aromatic range, and finish with a midweight reserve red or Bordeaux-style blend to show Columbia Valley structure.

Pace it at 10 to 15 minutes of directed tasting per wine with time held for questions, and let the kitchen time bites to each pour — shellfish or ceviche with the Cold Creek, goat cheese and spring vegetables with the Stillwater Creek, roasted root vegetables or braised pork with the reserve red. Seasonal mapping extends the idea year-round: Sauvignon Blanc–Semillon blends with chilled seafood in summer, reserve Bordeaux blends with roasted meats in autumn, Late Harvest Semillon with blue cheese in winter. Book through the events team [1], request a tasting educator, and they’ll preselect three to five bottles with portioned pairings to fit the window [2].

Summary: Each team has a direct line: tasting room reservations through [email protected] or 425-481-5502; private events through [email protected]; the wine club at [email protected] or by text at 425-276-2516; and the culinary team at [email protected].

For tasting room reservations and visit questions — including parties of seven to fourteen booking the back deck or pavilion — email [email protected] or call 425-481-5502 [1]. For weddings [2], corporate gatherings, and private events [3], the events team is at [email protected]. Wine club questions [4], shipment holds, allocation changes, and pickup coordination go to [email protected], by phone at 425-481-5502, or by text at 425-276-2516.

Menu, dietary, and pairing questions for private events reach the kitchen at [email protected]. Winemaking questions can go directly to the winemaking team: Andrew Januik at [email protected] or Scott Moeller at [email protected]. The winery is located at 14710 Woodinville-Redmond Road NE, Woodinville, WA 98072 [5].

Summary: Mike Januik was named one of the world’s ten “Masters of Merlot” by Wine Enthusiast and has accumulated more than 1,000 ratings of 90+ points across his career — among the most of any Washington winemaker. The winery has earned national recognition from Wine Spectator, Wine & Spirits, and USA Today, and the building itself holds an AIA Honor Award for architecture.

Mike Januik’s critical record spans four decades and three labels. Wine Enthusiast named him one of the world’s ten “Masters of Merlot.” Wine & Spirits named Januik “Winery of the Year” in 2011. Fifteen of his wines have appeared on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 list — across both Januik and Novelty Hill — and his career total exceeds 1,000 individual ratings of 90 or more points, including more than 200 for Novelty Hill and well over 300 for Januik. Wine Spectator’s Harvey Steiman described his approach: “He never goes for extremes, always for balance and polish.” In 2016, the Auction of Washington Wines honored Mike as its Honorary Vintner.

Andrew Januik has built his own record: every wine produced under the Andrew Januik label has scored above 90 points. He was named a Zagat “30 Under 30” Tastemaker and recognized as an “Emerging Leader” by the Auction of Washington Wines in 2022. UW Magazine profiled his career in a 2022 feature, “Sweet Child of Wine.”

The winery itself — designed by Seattle architecture firm Mithun — received the AIA Institute Honor Award for Interior Architecture in 2008, alongside awards from IIDA, ASLA Washington, and the Seattle Design Center. At the Washington State Concrete Convention, the building was recognized for best non-industrial tilt-up concrete use, competing against projects including the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and the third runway at SeaTac Airport. The tasting room was selected as a USA Today 10Best finalist for best tasting rooms in America [1] [2] [3].

Fifteen wines Mike has personally made have appeared on Wine Spectator’s annual Top 100, across three labels and three decades — from Snoqualmie in 1991, through Chateau Ste. Michelle, to his own Januik and Novelty Hill labels. Two reached the Top 20.

Two finishes in the Top 20: the 1999 Cold Creek Chardonnay (#16, 2001) and the 2008 Januik Cabernet (#18, 2011). Cold Creek Vineyard Chardonnay reached the list four times under Mike’s hand.

Scope: wines Mike personally made. Wines released by Chateau Ste. Michelle after his departure, and collaborations such as Eroica (CSM–Dr. Loosen), are not included. Prices are the release prices listed by Wine Spectator at the time.