The license plate frame read, “My favorite little city, Mukilteo by the sea”, as the SUV sped by. There’s now another appropriate slogan for this quaint town with a bustling ferry landing, “My favorite ‘Hub’ for fine wine, Mukilteo by the sea!”
One litmus test for the evolution of a community is the availability of fine wine, by the bottle or glass. It now appears that this friendly town tucked on the shores of Possession Sound can pass that test with flying colors.
Mukilteo has, I believe for many years, been a niche that needed to be scratched for a business dispensing a broad selection of high-quality wines. When I toyed with the idea of opening such a business almost a decade ago, I entertained the idea of setting up shop in or around Mukilteo, but settled on a location in the heart of my hometown, Everett. The Lighthouse Deli and Wine Shop gave it a go a few years back in old Muk, but sadly wasn’t able to hang in there and left a perception that either Mukilteo wasn’t ready to support such an endeavor, or that perhaps the location was less than conducive.
Well, ready or not Mukilteo (and the greater Everett area), here comes a wave of new wine businesses.
Three completely different sets of people pursued their dreams and opened three similar but totally complementary wine-related enterprises, all within a couple of months and a couple of miles from one another.
Harbour Pointe Wines
Harbour Pointe Wines was the first to open its doors in early September, up from the ferry landing along the Mukilteo Speedway at 9999 Harbour Place, Suite 103. For owners Don and Lynn Barker, this retail specialty wine, ale and gourmet foods shop is the realization of decades of passion for the art of wine and the lifestyle that accompanies it. He retired from the military 10 years ago and began contemplating how to convert this bug for fermented grape juice (caught in the early 1970s while touring the world in the military) into a viable business. “We live in Edmonds, and since they already have a wine shop, I started looking at the surrounding areas for another location. Mill Creek was intriguing, but I found out that someone had already beat me to it with DeVine Wines set to open, and so I started looking at the Harbour Pointe-Mukilteo area. The demographics and traffic volumes all pointed to this being a quality site right along the Mukilteo Speedway, and so we took a leap of faith,” he said.
The theme for Harbour Point Wines is education, “To teach people about the art and joys of wine is the best way expand your own horizons.” The Barkers are planning a grand opening celebration for Nov. 19 to 21 to correlate with the annual release of Beaujolais Nouveau, a fitting celebration of the new harvest and the new retail addition to the quickly emerging Mukilteo wine scene.
Piazza’s Wine Bar
The next exciting new venture to open was Piazza’s Wine Bar in the Harbour Pointe Shopping Centre, next to the QFC, 11700 Mukilteo Speedway, Suite 405. This is a concept way overdue, not only for the Everett-Mukilteo area, but for the whole county. Previously, Piazza’s Pasta to Go Go owner Traci Gan had a deli, take-and-bake pasta and catering business with a small selection of wines. But she had a dream to pursue her passion for wine and take her business to another level. To achieve this, she felt that a partnership with a like-minded person would be the best way to proceed. Some friends of mine, Darlene and Jeff Whitney, had expressed an avid interest in the wine business, so it seemed only natural to link them up. As it turned out, Darlene and Traci already knew each other through Darlene’s patronage of Pasta to Go Go, and all that was really required was a little push. It was really cool to watch the sparks fly as this natural union formed and the creative juices flowed. The result is an establishment that absolutely rocks.
Jeff has a construction business and led the way in professionally developing the ambience. Warm colors, dramatic pillars framing a mural of Tuscan vineyards, cozy lighting and an inviting bar welcome visitors to this new, and mightily past due, wine venue. Let’s not forget about the small-plate menu, expertly paired with the list of wines by the bottle and the glass, orchestrated by chef Traci and her team.
Northwest Wine Mart
The hat trick in this Mukilteo wine scene is a business drawn on the new techno-vino trend that is sweeping the country. Northwest Wine Mart is a multilayered, Internet-driven wine retail business that has been choreographed by Ron Johnson as an efficient way for people to access wines that represent the best values in the marketplace. Ron is planning to be up and running by this time this article is printed, so feel free to visit his Web site at www.nwwinemart.com.
He envisions collaboration with large organizations such as Boeing and Verizon to offer its members aggressive discounts and other perks such as mobile wine education seminars. That’s one of the layers of Ron’s business plan that he really wants to explore. “My vision is to efficiently bring good wine to everyone who wants to enjoy it, and heighten their enjoyment through education,” Ron said. “I just received my C.S.W. (certified specialist of wine) and would like to include that certification program in the wine classes I plan to teach. We are going to start with ‘wine 101’ and go from there and see what happens. It’s very exciting.” Another phase of his operation may include a wine storage facility at his office complex in Mukilteo, where people can confidently store their wine in a temperature and humidity controlled environment.
So there you have it, the great Mukilteo wine explosion of 2004. I’m guessing that the new license plate frames are already being made.
Jeff Wicklund can be reached at 425-737-2600, or wick@colbyhospitality.com.
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