106 Pine

Just finished the wine and chocolate tour and absolutely enjoyed. Larry was a great tour guide and I really enjoyed the wine and chocolate pairings. Highly recommend.

I did the 106 Pine Urban Wine Tour. I had a great time and would highly recommend it to out of town visitors.
The tour starts off with some cheese and bubbles at the 106 Pine Bar. Next you jump in a van and visit the following places:
–Ward Johnson Winery in Interbay right by the Magnolia bridge turnoff
–509 Tasting Room in Freemont/​Wallingford
–Bartholomew Winery in the old Rainier Brewery building
We ended the tour back at 106 Pine for some late harvest wine and chocolate.
The tour was fun and interesting. The tour guide Larry was a pleasure to meet and did a great job leading the entertainment. This tour is more focused on fun rather than wine. If you are a serious wine nerd, this is not the tour for you. If you are looking for a fun day in Seattle, sipping on some vino with some great city views via the car, this is the tour for you.

5 Stars — 1^st visit. That’s right — look at my previous reviews for the rare-​factor in that, baby!
While I respect the shout outs in other reviews about the décor, I have to pause and say, really? I have never gone back to a place because of the amazing light fixtures, but I WILL go back because of the atmosphere.
Here, the atmosphere is about the intrigue at first, as the store layout may not seem «normal» (just go with it, it will really be OK). It pulls you in to explore. After looking at the gift baskets and fun wine bags, step over to the displays of bottles — notice that they are all from the NW — not typical. Step on back into the store to the wine bar and most likely you will get a warm welcome from a friendly person behind the bar.
You may see regulars who might have a glass of wine before heading out to a dinner or concert or some who will stick around for a few. There are interesting & intelligent folks who may consider this a «3^rd place» (concept very important to retailers & something Starbucks has perfected).
Speaking of the warm welcome from behind the bar, how many times have you met someone (in any job) who talks so respectfully about his/​her manager (Sarah) that it makes you want to go back to meet her? Brandon was this person — besides being very knowledgeable and personable himself, he says that his manager is amazing — very knowledgeable about wines, wineries, wine-​makers and wine owners and teaches him all these concepts & stories. This is not some «managing up» crap — he doesn’t know me from Jane — there was no reason for him to tell me this unless he really respected his boss. And let’s just put some perspective here — this guy is a firefighter who can do anything with his spare time and he chooses to work here (yes, I found this out on my first visit — just talk to my friends … this is what I do — I meet people & find out what makes them tick). Don’t you want to go where there are happy regulars, the people who work there luv what they do and where they just might know your name? Sounds like Cheers, doesn’t it? OK — this place is a bit more upscale than Cheers, but still, in my head, I hear the lyric, «And they’re always glad you came.» I may have to test that out next time I’m downtown.

I meant to post this in June… but better late than never!
Absolutely my favorite thing about Seattle. Actually, the favorite thing for my husband and I. We had the pleasure of having Brandon as our tour guide for the wines around Washington and Oregon, and his ability to find wines that we liked was amazing. We enjoyed everything recommended and learned a lot about the region. But seriously, I couldn’t say enough about how awesome Brandon is. Friendly, honest, and enthusiastic about wine, you can’t ask for better.

106 Pine was a great place to visit. The pourers were very pleasant and the happy hour wine was superb! Two Ponds Cab Sauvignon and Merlot were very nice recommendations and a nice price. Combined with the half off paring of Tasty Treats (compliments of Unilocal), the experience resonated well! A must try if you are craving a laid back atmosphere show casing some of WA’s fine wines.

Fun place to sit and relax. Our server Brandon was fantastic. He recommended several wines and created a special meat and cheese plate for us.
They only serve wines from Washington and Oregon. Good happy hour prices and selections.

Their Urban Wine Tour is sensational. An excellant tour with a great friendly guide. We had wine and cheese then wine and chocolate at 106 Pine before and after the tour. The tour took us to three wineries for meetings with the owners, wine tasting, and excellant parings at each location. The whole thing was great fun.

A friend and I stopped in here on a cold, rainy Seattle day and what an unexpected find! The atmosphere was perfect, dim, quiet and great European old world style atmosphere. I hardly felt like I was in Seattle anymore. We each decided on a wine flight. You can order off the menu or make your own, they offer full size and half size glasses of all their wines. All the wines were locally made, Oregon and Washington. They were all delicious! I ended up buying a full bottle for my husband, we shared it at a family meal and everyone fell in love with it, so we are going back to buy several more bottles. We also ordered one of the food flights which was delicious! It came with crackers, locally made salami, locally made cheese, locally made chocolate and olives. The service was also exceptional. I will definitely be back. It is the perfect little stop when you are down at the market with guests from out of town!

Great wine, great service, but food was overpriced…

106 Pine, your light fixture deserves 5 stars. I’m obsessed and want to make one for my own place now.
Your service and wine deserves 3 stars. Yes, I loved your happy hour prices on a Sunday. But the guy who served us lacked any personality to make me want to return.
I award you a «notional» fourth star just because of your proximity to the Chocolate Box which I am I now rather fond of.
Perhaps the presentation is lacking. I felt you could do so much better, 106 Pine. I’ll hang out and get drunk off your neighbor’s chocolate instead.

This wine bar is quite unique. They specialize in local wines (Northwest) as well as local cheeses and meats. The wine selection is intriguing as they only carry wines from small, boutique wineries.
The staff was knowledgeable and the service was great.
The best part was that everyone sitting at the bar started to have a conversation, so while we all arrived as different groups, we became one big party. I left feeling relaxed and happy that I had made new friends.

I wish I lived in Seattle so this could be my hang-​out! Stumbled upon this place on a side street near Pike Place Market, and was so glad that we did. We enjoyed some excellent wine — they serve Oregon and Washington state wines only — and food pairings. The staff seemed quite knowledgeable about the wines being served, and seemed to have good relationships with the winemakers. I like hearing the story behind the wine I am trying. The Sleepless in Seattle appetizer features cheese crusted with coffee beans!, salumi, and nuts. Other appetizers looked intriguing and imaginative. After you get all happy on wine, wander through the retail space and pick out some nummies to take with you. We picked up some alderwood-​smoked salt (excellent on new potatoes), some curried chocolate, and other fun gee gaws.

I went here today and here are my observations…
1. Interior is nice. 5 stars.
2. I was standing there for 5 minutes supposedly to ask a question/​questions but I was ignored. –1 star.
3. The lay-​out of the store is odd. Traffic is bad. You have to be careful not to accidentally toss anything. –1
4. Most of the wines are located behind the «bar» or counter. I usually like to read the labels before I buy one instead of asking «can I try that?» etc. –1

In my dream world, I would live in a beautiful apartment reminiscent of a French café, with tin ceiling tiles, shining wood counters, delicate glasses and exquisitely curated objets d’arte on the shelves. Also, it would be full of amazing Northwest wines, great local cheeses, and have a chocolate store next door. Actually, it would be something like 106 Pine, the fabulous wine store and tasting room. Breaking into the already-​crowded Pike Place food scene, 106 Pine is still a worthy addition to the neighborhood, and a great place to go with a group from two to twelve people. The ladies who work there are very good at picking out wines that you’d like (like the 2006 Tranche Pinot Gris, wow), and pairing them with boards of tasty nibbles (like Boat Street pickled plums, cheeses from every state in the Northwest, Marcona almonds, and chocolates from the Chocolate Box next door). While the markup on some of the local foods is a little silly if you have the time to go comparison shopping (honestly, you can buy Theo chocolate bars at Bartell’s for half the price), the space and the service is top-​notch.

What a genius idea for a shop. The front area is all wine and gourmet/​local food products, and the back area has a bar that serves wine flights and small bites. I wandered in here to kill time– and to see if I could find some local food based souveniours to trump the Twilight– themed tchotchkies I encountered at souvenior shops all around town. Not only were they selling Boat Street Pickles, but I actually got to taste them at the wine bar– they paired the pickled plums with gouda cheese, and provided me with some pickled figs to try as well. Absolutely delicious. I asked for a recommendation of what to drink, and got a fun glass of bubbles. I really had a very pleasant experience. They are closed Monday’s and Tuesdays though, so heads up.

The décor is fabulous, with the exterior looking like France, circa 1935. The interior is even better, with clever design that pays homage to the old building and yet is sleek and stylish.
Its a really pleasant place to share a glass.
The music selection is well planned. I heard Nina Simone, and Muddy Waters to name a few. The space is meticulously clean and the merchandising is nifty.
There is, however, one huge miss. The presentation of a wine flight was terrible. No discussion as to the true style, type and provenance of the wine or grapes. In a great wine bar, the sommelier has a passion for viticulture. Here it was almost like being served bacon and eggs at Hattie’s Hat.
I’ll be back, I enjoyed myself, but this could be so much more!

So I stopped in about a month ago as I was walking by. Didn’t see any grand opening signs or anything, but this place definitely caught my eye. Located right next to Chocolate Box on Pine, 106 Pine seems to be a nice small wine bar that serves pairings in the back as well as has a nice selection of local wines.
Turns out when I walked in this time they had a soft open and their grand opening was still a few weeks away (might have already happened). They were still getting setup and didn’t have much wine on the shelves etc. I asked one of the staff their about a particular wine I was looking for but couldn’t find anywhere else. She told me that she was talking to a bunch of local winemakers and would be sure to contact them… I thought this was the same canned response I got from a few different places and thought I’d have to order an entire case online. But I decided to have faith and wait to see if they came through.
So I come back a few weeks later to the shelves being full. I didn’t think they’d have it, but lo and behold, they have the exact wine I was looking for (Alexandria Nicole). While purchasing, the staff member who was helping me and I chatted up for awhile about different wines and events they will be having; she then asked me to tell her what I thought of the wine I bought as she takes feedback from customers seriously. I believe that she does.
The basic setup of the place is the front area holds wine and towards the back there is a small bar where you can have wine pairings. Now I haven’t tried anything yet but will be sure to check it out, but so far the staff and etc seem to be striving to provide a great place to find a wide selection of local wines.