Update: 10:30am Friday November 22nd: I’ve heard from multiple people that power has now been restored to most areas of Woodinville.

A severe windstorm in western Washington Tuesday night caused widespread power outages. The outages left Woodinville wineries and tasting rooms in the dark.

“In terms of production, we can’t do anything at the winery, and in terms of the tasting rooms, both are inoperative,” Brian Carter, owner and winemaker at Brian Carter Cellars, said Thursday. Carter also lost power at his home, though it came back on Wednesday night.

The power outage affected wineries and tasting rooms in Woodinville’s Hollywood, Downtown, and Warehouse districts as well as other areas. Several Warehouse District wineries reported that their power came back on approximately 2pm Thursday. L’Ecole No. 41, which has a tasting room in downtown Woodinville, reported that its power returned Thursday. Others remained without power late into Thursday evening.

The ‘bomb cyclone’ that came through the area Tuesday resulted in wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour. The Seattle Times reported that 640,000 western Washington residents lost power. There have been at least two deaths. The storm knocked down an untold number of trees.

Two trees came down at Chateau Ste. Michelle’s 118-acre Woodinville property. One fell on the back of an access road on the property. A second fell on one of Chateau’s popular ‘igloos.’

“We plan to repair it and get it up and running soon,” said Lynda Eller, senior director of communications and corporate affairs at Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. The trees fell after hours, and there were no guests on the property at the time. At present, there have been no other reports of damage to area wineries or their surrounding properties.

In addition to causing winery closures, the power outage left wineries unable to do basic functions. Most wineries in Woodinville and elsewhere in Washington wrapped up harvest last month, or, at the latest, early this month. However, some still need to press, transfer wine to barrel, and do other tasks.

“The power outage only delayed some racking we planned,” Sean Boyd of Sightglass Cellars said Thursday. “Nothing goes without some electricity. We will continue tomorrow if the power stays on.”

Wineries have not been able to use heated/cooled rooms or tanks the past several days unless they have generators. Local temperatures have ranged between the high 30s and low 50s.

“I was [at the winery] earlier today and everything was sitting just fine at 60-61 degrees,” Chris Peterson, winemaker and partner at Avennia, said Thursday. “There wasn’t much to do in the dark. Since we’re primarily going through [malolactic fermentation] right now and don’t have any active ferments, I don’t see any downside to the integrity of the wines.”

Simple administrative tasks, such as sending or responding to emails, have been affected. Wineries have been using social media to keep customers informed of their current status.

Some Woodinville wineries have postponed release events planned for this weekend. Some are continuing forward. Others, like Brian Carter, are in a wait-and-see mode.

“We’re supposed to have a club release at the winery on Saturday, and in the meantime, our chef can’t do the prep work in the kitchen,” Carter says. “I’ll make a decision [Friday] at 8 o’clock. If we don’t have power back on by then, we’ll probably have to cancel.”

Woodinville is home to 130+ wineries and tasting rooms. The town is located approximately 20 miles from Seattle. Most of King County is expected to have power restored by noon Saturday.

Do you enjoy Northwest Wine Report? If you do and haven’t subscribed already, now is the time during our Fall Subscriber Drive. This site is 100% subscriber funded and is my primary source of income. None of the content can be created without you subscribing. Subscribe here. It’s the cost per month of a cup of coffee and a crumpet.