Washington's European Soul, Right on the Water
Downtown Vancouver Waterfront · Vancouver · Winery Tasting Room · Visit Website ↗
Updated September 2026
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · June 29, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Brian Carter Cellars – Vancouver Tasting Room’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
You're sitting on the Vancouver waterfront — Columbia River views, casual energy — and the list is entirely one producer. That's a bold move, but Brian Carter earns it. The range here is genuinely surprising: Mourvèdre, Graciano, Souzao, Roussanne — these aren't the grapes your average tasting room rolls out.
Brian Carter's whole thing is European-style blends built from Washington fruit, and the lineup leans hard into that identity. The ONE series covers single-varietal deep cuts — think Graciano, Souzao, and Mourvèdre alongside more familiar Tempranillo, Malbec, and Cab Sauv — while the blends like Corrida, Solesce, and Byzance nod to Bordeaux and Rhône traditions. It's a focused list, but the range of grapes and styles gives you real room to explore. The gap is obvious: you're not getting any outside producers or regional comparison points, so the tasting room format really is the whole experience.
Eight to twelve pours available by the glass in the $10–$16 range, which is reasonable for this market and the quality on offer. The glass program appears to rotate across both the ONE single-varietal lineup and the flagship blends, so you're not stuck choosing between two Cabs. That kind of access to the winery's full portfolio by the glass is the whole point of being here.
Brian Carter Cellars Corrida Red Blend — $55
Retails for $40 and the markup is a sensible 37% — practically charitable for a tasting room. A Tempranillo-forward Rioja-inspired blend that punches well above its price and gives you a real reason to skip the bottle shop on the way home.
Brian Carter Cellars ONE Souzao
Souzao is a Port grape — dark, inky, high acid — and almost nobody is doing it as a dry table wine in Washington. Most people walk past it for the Malbec. Don't. It's one of the most interesting things on the list and the kind of wine you won't find at your neighborhood Italian place.
Brian Carter Cellars Abracadabra Red Blend
The 60% markup over retail is the steepest on the list, and it's on the entry-level blend. At $40 in-house versus $25 retail, you're paying a premium that the wine doesn't quite justify relative to the better-value Corrida or Byzance sitting right next to it.
Brian Carter Cellars ONE Tempranillo + Charcuterie and Cheese Board
Tempranillo's earthy red fruit and firm tannin structure are basically built for cured meats and aged cheeses. It's the classic Rioja move, and the tasting room format with a charcuterie spread is exactly where this wine shows best.
The Bottom Line
A single-producer tasting room shouldn't work as a wine destination, but Brian Carter's commitment to obscure European grapes grown in Washington makes it genuinely worth the stop. If you want to drink something you've never had before in a setting that doesn't take itself too seriously, this is your waterfront wild card.
· Vancouver · Italian / Wine Shop
La Bottega is a Wild Card in the best sense: a café-deli-wine-shop in a city not known for serious wine, pouring Arnot-Roberts and Dönnhoff by the glass at fair prices. If you're in Vancouver, WA and want a genuinely good pour with your lunch, this is your spot.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Vancouver · Seafood / Steak
Line & Lure clears the casino restaurant bar by a comfortable margin — fair prices, a thoughtful white wine program, and a Royal Tokaji that earns genuine respect. We'd send a friend here for a pre-dinner glass without hesitation, as long as they stick to the whites.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Vancouver · Latin / Contemporary
DOSALAS is a tequila bar with a wine list that's doing the minimum — decent regional picks, steep markups, and no real surprises. Drink the Albarino or the Tempranillo and save your wine ambitions for a dedicated wine spot.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Vancouver · New American
The Hammond isn't a destination wine list, but it punches above its weight for a craft bar — especially if you love Pacific Northwest reds. Send a friend here, point them toward the Oregon section, and tell them to skip the cocktails.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Vancouver · American / Wine Bar
Uptown Barrel Room isn't trying to be a destination wine list, and it doesn't need to be — it's a solid neighborhood wine bar with fair prices, good enough options, and the rare commitment to making everything available by the glass. Send a friend here for a casual weeknight pour without hesitation.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Vancouver · Pacific Rim / Hawaiian
Tommy O's wine list isn't going to make you cancel your dinner reservation somewhere else, but it's an honest, no-nonsense selection that covers the basics at what appears to be reasonable prices. Send your friends here for the food and a decent pour — just don't expect to geek out over the list.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Newport · Winery Tasting Room
Greenvale Vineyards is a legitimate reason to detour off Bellevue Avenue. The estate list is small but not lazy — the Ramato alone earns the visit — and at $25 to $40 a bottle, you're paying tasting room prices, not restaurant markups. If you're spending a day in Newport, this is where you buy a bottle for the waterfront, not where you linger over a three-course dinner.
Small but Thoughtful
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
· Las Cruces · Winery Tasting Room
This is a Wild Card in the truest sense — a desert-state tasting room that's actually swinging for something more interesting than you'd expect, at prices that make the experiment low-stakes. If you're in Las Cruces and curious about what New Mexico wine can actually do, this is the right room to be in.
Small but Thoughtful
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
· Rochester · Winery Tasting Room
Salem Glen is the Wild Card because almost nobody expects to find a legit wine experience in a barn outside Rochester — and yet here we are. If you're open to cold-climate grapes and a laid-back afternoon, it earns the trip.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Occasional
Proper
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