When we attended Vino Bello’s 2nd anniversary party last month, we enjoyed meeting Alex Manoni of the recently opened Stomani Cellars on Atlantic St. near Safeco Field. Alex makes Italian-style wines from Washington state grapes. Stomani’s first official vintage was conducted in the harvest of 2006.

Alex entertained us with stories of his life and his business. We also like this description of his wines from Stomani’s Web site: “… when reading about wines, ‘well balanced’ is a phrase often used. You will find that [in] the wines of Stomani Cellars this balance will be evident to the palate, the nose and your pocket!”

Stomani Cellars offers two whites and four reds, including a Dolcetto and Sangiovese. My favorite was the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, which was aged in new French and American oak barrels for 16 months.

Stomani Cellars tasting room is open on Saturday afternoons from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. through Sept. 27. And you can usually find it open when there are baseball games on Sundays! There’s even an outside bistro when the weather cooperates.

Alex scored when Stomani Cellars was the location of an event featuring the incredible Gary V (Gary Vaynerchuk) of Wine Library TV. Gary has captured national attention and become an Internet celebrity of sorts, so wine enthusiasts were lined up outside Stomani’s to see him and to taste Stomani’s wines.

We plan on stopping by Stomani Cellars in the near future. Hope to see you there!

Cheers!