Upsidedown Wine has opened a tasting room in Cle Elum, Washington. The location had its grand opening November 11^th.

“We wanted to do something closer to the west side of the state, and I think there’s an opportunity in Cle Elum,” says Seth Kitzke. Kitzke, who founded the winery in 2014 with his wife Audrey, is also winemaker at Kitzke Cellars and Devil Is A Liar.

The tasting room is approximately 2,750-square feet and is situated on East 1^st Street. The brick building was constructed in 1920 and was originally a grocery store. The Kitzkes have embraced the building’s history and style.

“It’s pretty open seating and floor plan,” Kitzke says. “We tried to preserve as much of the old building as we could, so it’s more rustic, with original concrete floors and brick walls.”

The building has a large backroom previously used as a kitchen. The Kitzkes plan to make that functional next summer to accommodate guest chefs and wine dinners.

“We’re just piecing it out in stages,” says Kitzke. The couple informally opened the tasting room late last year and have spent the subsequent time getting it to where they want it to be.

This is Upsidedown’s second tasting room. The Kitzkes opened the winery’s first tasting room in Hood River in 2017. The Cle Elum location will provide several advantages.

“This will allow us to have a different experience and a bit more space compared to Hood River,” Kitzke says. “It will also bring something new to that area.”

Offerings will be similar to the winery’s Hood River tasting room, with tastings as well as wines by the glass. There will be a small amount of food offered from nearby Cle Elum businesses.

While wineries have been opening satellite tasting rooms in new areas throughout Washington, Cle Elum, which was incorporated in 1902, is a new frontier. Swiftwater Cellars, located about 10 minutes away from downtown in Suncadia Resort, is the only other winery nearby.

“There’s nothing like it in the area, which is kind of nerve racking,” Kitzke says. “It’s always nice to have a few wineries nearby.”

That might well happen. Though Woodinville and Walla Walla Valley have shown the strongest growth in Washington over the past 20 years, wineries have recently been opening satellite tasting rooms and wineries in Seattle, Maltby, Edmonds, Tacoma, and beyond. Ellensburg, 25 miles east of Cle Elum, has a blossoming wine scene that includes tasting rooms for Gård and Fortuity as well as wineries for Ellensburg Canyon and Thrall & Dodge.

Cle Elum offers some advantages over other, more heavily wine-trodden places. It has retained its frontier-town visual appeal, with numerous historical buildings and a popular downtown that is currently seeing infrastructure investments. In addition to its small, local population, Cle Elum is also a popular place for vacationers as well as a stopping point for people traveling on Interstate-90.

“For me, it was thinking about places where we can connect with our customers, have a good experience, and build our wine club but not have to pay a huge rent,” Kitzke says. He expects other wineries might follow.

“After talking to just a few other wineries, it wouldn’t surprise me if there were more in the next few years.”

Image courtesy of Upsidedown Wine. 

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