New Wine Tasting Showroom Opening In Kirkland By Sotheby's International Realty & Ste. Michelle Wine Estates

A forward-thinking brokerage firm investigates novel retail concepts in order to foster community.

Realogics Sotheby's International Realty (RSIR) and famous Washington winemaker Ste. Michelle Wine Estates recently unveiled the Blend by Ste. Michelle, a new showroom and immersive wine tasting experience area. This is the second social gathering venue built by the innovative real estate brokerage on Seattle's fast-growing Eastside in the last year, following the launch of B•Bar, an all-day coffee bar, restaurant, and piano bar that fronts Realogics Sotheby's International Realty's branch office on Old Main Street in Bellevue.

The Blend had its public premiere yesterday, July 1, with a private ribbon cutting and grand opening event, and it is now accessible to the public. The moment corresponded with Governor Jay Inslee's official reopening of Washington after a 15-month period of occupancy regulations according to COVID-19 guidelines. The tasting room now provides a carefully curated and one-of-a-kind selection of wines from the extensive Ste. Michelle Wine Estates collection. Offerings will rotate on a monthly basis, allowing regular customers to always find something new as the very informed Ste. Michelle crew offers current favorites and Washington's best-kept secrets.

“We at Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty are delighted to be partnering with Washington’s first and foremost winemakers to bring the Blend to Kirkland,” said Dean Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty. “It’s exciting as a brokerage to once again innovate and expand the idea of what a real estate firm can be by creating another place for our Eastside community to gather, connect, and of course, enjoy the incredible wines and curated bites offered by Ste. Michelle Wine Estates.”

Jones acknowledges that reopening retail operations, particularly brokerage offices, after the COVID pandemic may take some time to return to pre-pandemic occupancy levels, but that leveraging high-profile lifestyle, food, and beverage partnerships is attracting brokers and real estate consumers out of home offices and back to gathering centers.

“Our brokers and their clients are eager to come together and Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty is blessed to have identified prime, retail locations for each branch location to offer such a venue,” adds Andrea Savage, Vice President of Marketing for Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty. “We want to create opportunities for conversations that lead to real estate, and according to the warm reception at the Blend, we are on target.”

In addition to the retail venue, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates (SMWE) and Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty are looking into other marketing collaborations such as special closing gift packages, curated wine cellars, and special events paired with exclusive real estate opportunities in the Pacific Northwest and across the Sotheby's International Realty network. SWME is now featured on the back cover of Dow Jones and Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty's Reside Magazine.

The Blend area will focus on rotating tasting flights that will combine wines from Washington state's various growing regions with modest food. Flights in July include Que Syrah, Syrah, July Bright Whites, and Red, White, and Brut. Blend 42, the Blend's new wine club, will also debut, allowing customers to receive regular wine shipments that mix and match some of the greatest selections from highlighted vineyards around Washington, the nation's 42nd state.

The Blend, which aims to be a warm and welcoming gathering place where anyone can come to expand their knowledge of wine or simply enjoy a glass, provides a sophisticated and yet relaxed atmosphere in which to mingle, spend time with friends, and learn about Ste. Michelle's vineyards and winemaking process in an accessible (and fun!) way.

The Blend plans to host special events such as winemaker dinners and terroir-driven experiences, as well as exclusive summer offerings such as prechilled, to-go bags of white, rosé, and sparkling wines available for a day out on Lake Washington, one of the area's most beautiful bodies of water and a quintessential Eastside summer activity.

The Blend is located at 15 Lake Street, Suite 200, in Kirkland, WA, which is also the retail storefront of Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty’s Kirkland branch brokerage office. The wine tasting room will be open Thursday-Sunday each week, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. To learn more, visit theblendwa.com and follow @theblendbySteMichelle Instagram and Facebook.