Hours: 4-9 p.m. Tuesday - Wednesday,  4-10 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 2-10 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday

Take a few flights then settle down with the port at Uncork & Unwind in Tumwater. This recently opened wine bar has a tremendous wine flight selection, not to mention a wide variety of appetizers and desserts.

You start with the fish - Goldfish crackers, that is.

Then you pick your potion - white, red, fruit or dessert wine.

On our most recent trip to Uncork & Unwind, my husband and I started with the flight described as, "nice legs, great mouth feel and luscious body."  Does that give everything away? No? Well, we had the Malbec flight, and from it we decided we should drink more Malbec. Since the goal of a wine flight is to discover new wines and new flavors, for us it was a total success.

In case you're not in the mood to gamble, rest assured you get two sure bets in the three wine flights at Uncork & Unwind, plus a mystery wine. The mystery is never revealed unless you ask, or actually insist, as my friend Erica did on my second visit. Flights include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Malbec, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling, fruit wines, dessert wines and ports. Uncork & Unwind's focus is serving Washington wines, beers and cheeses.

My husband and I went in on a Friday night, and the joint was soon so hopping that we had to give our menus back because the restaurant didn't have enough for the crowd. In this instance, we'll call that a positive thing.

The accommodations at Uncork & Unwind are comfortable and (shocking development!) you are surrounded, tastefully, by bottles of wine.  You can get flights, which range from $8 to $12 for red, $7 to $9 for white and $7 to $11 for sweet wines. You can also get wines by the glass or by the bottle. My husband and I did two red flights.

After some Goldfish crackers we moved on to the Cabernet Sauvignon flight, which included local Madsen Family Cellars and also Boudreaux Cellars.  There's no question you can get your local wine fix at Uncork & Unwind - Walter Dacon, Westport Winery, Class Winemakers and Olympic Cellars are also represented. I would have tried the sweet wines, but we planned to do dinner after so I limited myself to a couple of appetizers ... on that visit.

There are 10 appetizers on the menu including bread and oil, stuffed olives, a hummus plate, bruschetta, artisan cheeses and meats, an antipasti platter, two salads and, for the men, the Guy's Plate with sausage, toast and beer. Prices range from $3 to $14. There are five desserts that cost about $4, these include truffles, chocolate torte, cheesecake, pineapple upside-down cake and a caramel apple blossom. The restaurant also has eight beers - cream ale, Hefeweizen, Scottish ale, barley wine ale, two IPAs, cream stout and a porter. Beer prices range from $4 to $7.

Continuing the local theme, the cheeses at Uncork & Unwind are from local cheese makers and the desserts originated at a local bakery. The restaurant serves sausage from NW Sausage and Deli in Grand Mound, and they are searching for other meat purveyors in Washington.

We had the bread with grapeseed oil that is available flavored with either roasted garlic Chardonnay or lime Riesling - we couldn't decide between the two so we asked if we could have both. The oils and the balsamic are amazing and are sold in bottles on site. The oils came classily displayed with their names handwritten on the plate.

Uncork & Unwind proprietor Oron Jacobs III said we got the last of the balsamic that he purchased in Leavenworth and combined with the two oils. The balsamic just coated the bread and the results both delicious and sweet. Jacobs said he needed to get more in Leavenworth, and I couldn't agree more. The restaurant also accommodates gluten sensitivities; on request, the restaurant will serve gluten-free rice crackers instead of bread.

My second visit was a girl's night out with my knitting friends, Sara and Erica. We sat in the comfy chairs by the fireplace and were there until closing time at 9 p.m. I tried the fruit flight, which included a pineapple wine definitely packing the taste and aroma of the fruit. We all tried a truffle, which was rich and delicious and so wonderful with the ports. I then had the port wine flight and chose three of the four available selections. The Smoking Gun Coffee port has a wonderful coffee flavor and is quite sweet. Raspberry chocolate has a heady raspberry scent and a light chocolate note. Vanilla port carries the scent of vanilla but the port is quite alcohol forward and not as sweet as the others.