‘Modern and moody’ tasting room will bring new Washington winery to downtown Tacoma

A few years ago, Tacoma had one winery-specific tasting room. Soon it will have six.

On Blended Knee Winery, known under its nickname of OBK, will introduce its first brick-and-mortar later this year at 2307 Tacoma Avenue S. The building, previously Clinton’s Music House, was sold last year to the owners of Ted Brown Music, which will operate a nonprofit educational and music therapy program in the space next door, The News Tribune reported last week. On the other side of its new walls, OBK joins Common Ground Coffee, a bustling shop that opened in 2023.

Co-founder La’Rissa Dwyer envisions a “grand and elevated” bar with nearly-black walls with pops of wood and greenery, accented by appropriately glam globe pendant lights.

“Modern and moody is what OBK is about, but it has a sense of elegance,” said Dwyer this month.

The unit had been gutted, but as of early February, new walls are up and the bones of the bar are built. Now it’s awaiting equipment installations and design, for which Dwyer enlisted support from fellow women-owned companies, New Vision Interiors and M. Rose Interiors.

When it opens, the tasting room will pour the Washington winery’s own vintages by the bottle, glass or flight, along with local beer. There will be a decent-sized bar and table seating, as well as a lounge area with couches and a fireplace. Dwyer anticipates hosting frequent live music and events, which have helped catapult the brand to this point in just a few short years.

She and her husband Michael Dwyer slipped into the world of wine quietly but not quite accidentally about eight years ago. They met at a bar — not a blind date but an unexpected intersection of two souls both in search of an after-work respite before heading home. His parents later coined it “a classic encounter,” now also the name of OBK’s signature riesling.

La’Rissa spent most of her career climbing the ranks of corporate retail, she explained, managing the Pacific Northwest region for big clothing brands including Old Navy, Aeropostale and American Eagle Outfitters. She developed a personal interest in wine, but it was the stories told around the celebrations that often included wine that brought her joy.

So how did they get to starting a winery?

A few months into their relationship, Michael told her he had signed up for a viticulture program in the Yakima Valley.

“I’m like, ‘viti-what’?” she recalled in February.

As he learned, he encouraged her to harness her management experience into a business of her own.

“I Googled ‘how to start a winery’ and here we are!” she said with a laugh.

That was 2017.

While strolling the vineyards of McMenamins Edgefield in Troutdale, Oregon, Michael proposed. That moment, and their blending of friends and families, including their respective children, inspired the name.

It took several years of learning, talking with fellow entrepreneurs and passionate vinophiles, including Jim and Andrea Dahlman who opened their Dahlman Cellars in the Stadium District a few years ago, and forging relationships with vineyards and farmers. OBK officially launched in 2022, using grapes sourced from Eastern Washington. They produce the wine at Custom Crush, a shared winemaking facility in Woodinville that’s home to many such upstarts.

“Quickly the demand grew,” said Dwyer.

They poured at wine walks in Tacoma, Puyallup and Seattle. After one wedding-industry event, they started fielding ever-more inquiries. It makes sense: OBK’s wines are themed in the name of love, such as the First Dance sauvignon blanc, The Bridesmaids rosé and the Ballroom Red forged with merlot. Where to find their wine — and more pointedly, where to find them — became a recurring theme.

By late 2023 they were searching for a storefront, laser-focused on Tacoma.

“Where do I want my tasting room? I want it in my home,” said Dwyer, who was raised in Tacoma.

When it opens, OBK will join five other Washington wineries with tasting rooms in Tacoma, including Gingko Forest Winery, Browne Family Vineyards (now also serving cocktails with their house spirits), Structure Cellars and the nonprofit Water from Wine. Several wine bars and bottle shops have also sprung up in the area in the past couple of years, from Cuvee Wine Shop and Hidden Harbor Wine Library in Gig Harbor to Bordeaux Wine Bar in Old Town and The Buried Bottle downtown.

ON BLENDED KNEE WINERY - TACOMA

▪ 2307 Tacoma Ave. S., Tacoma, onblendedknee.com

▪ Details: winery tasting room and bar opening near downtown Tacoma, follow instagram.com/obkwinery for updates

This story was originally published February 20, 2025 at 11:41 AM.