My husband and I recently ate at a wonderful restaurant. After being seated, I immediately scanned the dining room for other cool people. My eyes quickly settled upon a table of three couples, all very handsomely dressed. The sommelier was anxiously standing by just having presented one of the diners with the bottle of wine they ordered. The wine steward poured the prerequisite 1 ounce of wine to taste for the diner’s approval.

First, the diner sniffed the cork – every inch of that cork. Then, he deftly raised his stemmed wine glass, and proceeded to stick his nose deep inside the glass and breath deeply. He seemed to know exactly what to look for! He then eyed the wine as it settled back down to the bottom to approximate the alcohol content by the strength of its “legs.”

One can only surmise that next, he admired the deep rich color and then, finally, he took a sip, breathing in simultaneously to aerate the wine. Not ready to swallow yet, he gurgled the liquid to distribute it evenly to every part of his mouth. Time seemed suspended as everyone waited to see if the wine would be acceptable.

And then it came – a subtle nod of approval. That hard-earned bottle of wine will be served with their meal. The sommelier audibly sighed in relief and the lucky wine was poured all around. It almost seemed as if a round of applause was warranted. Wow! I was, however, quickly jolted back to reality as I vaguely heard my husband say, “Two glasses of your house red please.” Darn!

But seriously, everyone has the right to enjoy wine how they want to enjoy it. There are those wine drinkers who are extremely methodical and knowledgeable about the wines they drink. There are those who really enjoy wine just for the taste and the pleasure it adds to their meal. And then there are those who are just sociable sippers. Northwest Cellars caters to all. This is just the philosophy that Bob Delf, owner/winemaker at Northwest Cellars in the up and coming Kirkland warehouse district has adopted. As a matter of fact, he has even trademarked the expression, “Wine. Now it gets personal.”

Northwest Cellars prides itself on making excellent quality wines, with the option of a custom label. They purchase grapes grown in many of the top vineyards in Eastern Washington and work closely with consulting winemaker Robert Smasne to produce award-winning wines. One hundred cases of their Viognier, a lovely white wine, is made right here in their Kirkland winery with the guidance of local consulting winemaker, Dave Moore!

It gets even more personal because if you choose, you can design your own wine bottle label that the production manager will be happy to affix to any bottles of Northwest Cellars wine you purchase. There is a nominal one-time set-up fee if you prefer the winery to design the label for you. They work closely with Laura Olsen, a graphic/web designer and amazing watercolor artist. The exceptional photography of Richard Duval, a local photographer, has also been featured on the winery’s labels.

Northwest Cellars is a wonderful hands-on supporter of so many different charitable organizations through events at their newly expanded tasting room. You can arrange a corporate event, a personal celebration, or just come in to the winery for an intimate wine tasting where you can purchase wine, art, photographs and more.

Bob, a self-proclaimed wine geek, his lovely wife, Kathleen, a self-proclaimed wine diva – in a good way – and Vino, their fluffy white Bolognese dog (apparently Bolognese is much more than a meat-based pasta sauce – who knew?) welcome you to their winery and tasting room at 11909 124th Ave. N.E. in the Totem Lake Business Park. They are so excited about their success and their future and look forward to sharing their love of great wine with you. Be sure to log on to their website at www.northwestcellars.com for hours, tasting room events, and loads of other great information. You can reach Northwest Cellars at (425) 825-WINE (9463).

Kirkland resident Victoria Martin welcomes reader feedback at martin.victoria917@gmail.com.