Kirkland Development has announced that Naked Winery will open a wine bar on the ground floor of the future Kirkland Tower at The Waterfront Vancouver.
Naked Winery’s next location is scheduled to open in the fall of 2020 and will occupy 2,000 square feet at the southwest corner of Kirkland Tower, giving it prime views of the Columbia River. The bar is planned to be open seven days a week and offer a food menu that focuses on wine pairings from a list of more than 25 varieties.
“Wine is all about getting together with friends and loved ones and this new location provides the perfect venue for sharing Naked Winery’s unique atmosphere and experience,” said Peter Steinfeld, owner and president of parent company Naked Wines. “Between the view, the new space, and the seasonal wine-friendly food menu, we’re excited to share this spot with the community of Vancouver and our Club Naked wine club members.”
Oregon-based Naked Winery is headquartered in Hood River and operates tasting rooms in Hood River, Bend, McMinville and Seaside, as well as two tasting rooms in South Dakota. True to its name, the company is known for its creative and sometimes suggestive wine brands like Wild and Free Pinot Gris, Booty Call Blush and Foreplay Chardonnay.
The winery was founded by David and Jody Barringer and Dave Michalec in 2005 and started out as a fairly small-scale operation, producing 2,000 cases of wine per year when Steinfeld joined the team in 2010. Production ramped up to 45,000 cases per year by 2018, and in 2017 the founders retired and sold the company to an investment group of current and former employees, led by Steinfeld.
Naked Winery brands are available online and in Washington grocery stores, but The Waterfront Vancouver wine bar will be the company’s first brick-and-mortar location in the state.
“Naked Winery is a great fit for this space, and when we met with the team from Naked Winery it just clicked,” said Dean Kirkland, chairman of Kirkland Development. “The Waterfront has been bustling and it is only going to get busier as our condos and hotel open. We’re incredibly excited to have this wine bar open for everyone.”
The 12-story Kirkland Tower will feature 40 luxury condos ranging from one to three bedrooms, and is being built alongside the eight-story boutique Hotel Indigo. The project broke ground last year and is scheduled to open in 2020. Naked Winery will begin the build-out of its space in the spring of 2020 to meet the fall opening date.
Naked Winery is the first commercial tenant announced for Kirkland Tower, and the second to join the overall project. The parent company of Pacific Northwest steakhouse El Gaucho announced in February that it would be bringing a location to the ground floor of the Hotel Indigo, also scheduled to open in 2020.
Naked will be the fourth winery to set up shop at The Waterfront Vancouver. Maryhill Winery, based in Goldendale, opened a tasting room in the restaurant building west of Grant Street Pier in April, and Pepper Bridge Winery and Amavi Cellars — both based in Walla Walla — announced last week that they plan to open a joint tasting room this fall on the ground floor of the Rediviva building.
