“Basically I’m one of 20 sales people for the Unique Wine Company, my territory includes Gig Harbor, Vashon and Tacoma. This is where I live and where I love to drink.” he says. 

 

Currently representing more than 200 wineries and 1,500 wines, Cline sat down with me at The Monsoon Room, which is one of 12 bars where his wines are distributed here in Tacoma. His other stops include Rosewood Cafe, Tempest Lounge, Asado, Pour at Four, and old school joints such as the Lobster Shop and C.I. Shenanigans. Add that to what he calls “key retailers” that sell you bottles instead of glasses (Tacoma Boys, Tacoma Wine Merchants and Water to Wine in Gig Harbor) and you have one busy wine man. He told me that he can drive up to 25,000 miles a year between his accounts making sure everyone is happy and rosy-cheeked as they pour his bottles into glasses of all shapes and sizes. I asked him if I was high profile enough to get fine wine from his source and he said I needed to get a liquor license. Bummer.

 

I met Cline last Easter Sunday at a gathering in a mutual bar-owning friend’s apartment downtown. He poured me the (up to that point) only glass of white wine I had ever enjoyed. Since then I have had the pleasure of drinking fermented grapes with him on two separate occasions, and on both his subtle suggestions have enhanced my ability to taste the truth behind the wooz. When I asked him what the greatest wine he has ever sipped was he told me, “Listen, if its cold outside, you put on a sweater, but you’ve got to ask yourself, ‘what kind of sweater do I want to wear?’ At the end of the day I laugh at the fact that I sell juice for a living, but I’m giving the Monsoon a product that helps them keep this place open so we can have this conversation.” 

 

That’s the kind of circular attitude I can drink to.

For more information, check out uniquewine.com.