Alex Oh and Samuel Hilbert met in the summer of 2010 to enjoy a lovely sunset and wine at Golden Gardens. They talked about their lives, aspirations, and their mutual love for wine. Alex showed up with a bottle of Entre-deux-Mers and Samuel came with a bottle of Pinotage. They were both eager to talk about the wines they had chosen. At the time, Samuel was living in Woodinville, served on the Woodinville Chamber of Commerce, and spent his weekends working at wineries. Alex, on the other hand, was living in downtown Seattle and discovered that urban wineries were on the rise. With a background in law and science, Alex spent his days helping clients, including wineries, navigate complex legal issues, and his weekends working at tasting rooms and studying wine science.

In 2012, Alex and Samuel decided that it was time to turn their expertise and passion into something more. To learn from the best in the industry, Alex attended and graduated from the internationally acclaimed UC Davis Viticulture and Enology Program. Samuel, wanting to focus on Washington’s unique terroir, opted for Washington State University’s Viticulture & Enology Program. Aluel Cellars currently has three tasting rooms in Seattle neighborhoods – Capitol Hill, Ballard, and Queen Anne. Their love for Washington wines made in the traditional or old-world style is showcased in the wines handcrafted for Aluel Cellars. As for what’s next, they are working to build a brand new production facility, install vineyards, and open an additional seasonal tasting room on 15-acres on the beautiful Key Peninsula.

Our Name and Logo

Coming up with a name for a new venture is difficult!  We have called our home Aluel Estates (yes, we know, a sappy combination of our names) for years.  We kept tossing around all kinds of ideas for new names, but we always came back to "Aluel Cellars."  After all, Aluel Cellars is about two people with a shared passion for great wines, so it only seems fitting to label our labor of love with a name that represents both of us equally.  When it finally came time to decide on the name, we thought, why reinvent the wheel?

Our logo also carries symbolic meaning.  We wanted something with a modern look and a traditional feel, and thought that the crest you see on our labels captures just that.  When we think of our wines, we see both modern and traditional elements.  New world fruit used to make wines in the old-world style.  Fruit sourced from the vineyards of farm country to make wines here in urban Seattle, Washington.  They each complement the other.

For our crest, we each chose two images that represent something about who we are as individuals.  In fact, we frequently get asked about the meaning behind each of the four symbols.  We invite you to come into the tasting room and get to know us better, so as to discover the meaning behind the symbols we have chosen.