Full Pull

John and Paul

"This year has been, for me, a heady mix of joys and sorrows. It is a year that has underscored the importance of building happy memories with family and friends, those memories that serve as life-rafts in seas of trouble. I firmly believe that wine facilitates happiness; that it is an enabler of our best times together; that it can be the rope that binds those life-rafts together."

- Paul Zitarelli, 35, Philosopher, Owner, Full Pull Wines

I've been meaning to write about Full Pull Wines for a while, but haven't gotten around to it because the interesting business model needs some explanation for our friends and family living in states where a shopper can't even pick up a bottle of wine (liquid food, according to Robert Mondavi) at the grocery store.  In Colorado and other places, "the rope that binds the life-raft" requires a separate stop at a depressing liquor store.

 Anyway, in Washington we can buy beer, wine or even a gallon of vodka at the grocery store, a drug store, Costco, various liquor mega-warehouses, etc. etc. I guess marijuana is next at Safeway, once they work the bugs out of the new legislation. I don't know if this marks the decline of decent civilization, or just a happy convenience. I won't be around when the jury finally comes in on that.

But with all this easy abundance and choice at our fingertips, it might seem odd that a niche wine seller, marketing through an exclusive email list of "special offers" and operating out of a warehouse in an industrial area, could be so seductive to Seattle wine lovers.  Now-- imagine picking up your order at 10 am, and offered a nice blind tasting of fine wines in the alley?  Somehow, it's all very classy and fun...

The Full Pull Wines "storefront"

Saturday morning pickup

SODO district, Seattle 

Here's the way this works.  First you join the mailing list, then interesting wine offers start to pour in from Paul, no doubt brightening up the workday email queues of many folks around town. Buying is always optional, and you're entertained by good stories as you learn about wine makers, soil, vineyards and history.

The subscriber reads the luscious descriptions, and imagines drinking (or hoarding) these specially selected, small production boutique wines. Of course there's an easy on-line ordering process, and you can pick up your impulse purchases on Thursdays, or occasionally Saturday mornings. Full Pull will even ship right to your door, but you won't get the TPU (Thursday pick up) price.

Checking the order with Matt, Warehouse Manager

Yelp Full Pull review:  The offer emails are awesome...You're a strong, strong willed person indeed if you can read them and not purchase. And if you are that person... PLEASE teach me how. 
I'm poor now. But at least I have lots of WA state wine. 

Ha! Paul Zitarelli majored in applied math at Harvard. I'm jealous about his right brain/left brain abilities. Unlike most people, he can write and do hard arithmetic. Some bloggers are stuck forever at 4th grade math level.  Paul spent time in his youth working at different jobs, figuring out what he wanted to do with his life, and then he opened Full Pull about 4 years ago.  He's currently working toward becoming a Master of Wine, the pinnacle of professional wine achievement, earned by only a few hundred people in the world.

And we just learned that the Full Pull warehouse is running out of space and moving soon to a new location.  When the Seattle winter arrives, we won't have tastings outside on a windy, wet day next to a dumpster. (Not that we minded.)

Way to go, Paul! It was nice meeting you on Saturday.