Wine Tasting! (Seattle, Yakima, Redmond: school, taxes, live in)

[Teuscher]

When is the best time to go wine tasting? Any winery recommendations? Thanks!!

[mkarch]

Mid week days. Evenings have a larger crowd, and weekends tend to have annoying 'parties' IE: vanloads of people who have imbibed heavily already. An easy way to start is to just head over to Woodinville wine country. There is a huge cluster of wineries in the valley between Woodinville and Redmond, including the two 'old' ones Chateau Ste. Michelle and Columbia Crest. Novelty Hill / Januik probably has the coolest looking tasting room over there. I haven't been to too many winery specific tasting rooms in Seattle, but there's 509 wines down in Fremont at the corner of 34th and stone.

[Seacove]

I live in Woodinville and think the weekends a little more festive this time of year. In summer, it can get hectic on the weekends so it just depends. There are helpful sites below and there is a newly updated book called Winetrails of Washington 2nd Edition with almost 600 pages of info.
Winetrails of Washington 2nd Edition: Steve Roberts, Sunny Parsons, Lisa Pettit: 9780979269851: Amazon.com: Books

Woodinville Wine Country | 30 Minutes from Downtown Seattle
Guide to Woodinville Wine Country: Wineries, Tasting Rooms & Events
WineTrailsNW :: Home

[Teuscher]

Thank you for the info! Which month of the year do you think it's the best time to visit?

[Molli]

Is anyone here familiar with wine tasting in Napa, CA vs in the WA area? Are there beautiful vineyards like in Napa that you can travel around to? I will be relocating to the Seattle area this year and looking forward to this.

[509]

Originally Posted by Molli

Is anyone here familiar with wine tasting in Napa, CA vs in the WA area? Are there beautiful vineyards like in Napa that you can travel around to? I will be relocating to the Seattle area this year and looking forward to this.

If you go to Disneyland to see the Matterhorn or Las Vegas to see Venice, you will really enjoy going to Woodinville to see the wineries.

Otherwise, you need to travel to eastern Washington to see the vineyards and sample Estate bottled wines.

Here is my take on Napa Valley Wine Tasting: usbackroads™: Napa Valley, California

So as you can see....Walla Walla. The quality of wines is higher than Napa and the town is probably where the Napa Valley was in the early 1980's.

We really enjoyed the wineries of the Yakima Valley in the early 1980's when very few people even dropped by a winery in that region. They have decent wines.

Wenatchee and Lake Chelan have wineries, but they are still in the "it is better to look good, than taste good stage". Lots of good looking wineries with lots of average to poor wines. This will be changing in a few years and it might be interesting to watch these wineries develop and get better over time.

We also enjoy the Goldendale area. It is what California was a long time ago, however, it is changing rapidly. Maryhill is a good winery.

Towards the end I discuss the wineries of Goldendale: usbackroads™: Maryhill State Park, Goldendale, Washington

The only disadvantage to wines in Washington are the taxes and prices. Wine is expensive in Washington.

Oh, almost forgot western Oregon is noted for their world class Pinot's. It is worth a trip down there if your into "weak" wines.

Go now to these places, before they become just like the Napa Valley.

[Kayela]

Thank you for the info! Which month of the year do you think it's the best time to visit?

Personally my favorite time is September. All the kids are back in school, the weather is still warm, and usually dry, but the evenings are getting crisp. It's a lovely time to be out and about.

Is anyone here familiar with wine tasting in Napa, CA vs in the WA area? Are there beautiful vineyards like in Napa that you can travel around to? I will be relocating to the Seattle area this year and looking forward to this.

There are beautiful vineyards, but they aren't that close to Seattle. Typically grapes need more sun and a drier climate to really develop well for wine-making. Eastern WA is where most of the vineyards are - the Yakima and Columbia valleys are a great place to visit. There are tours you can take. However, we don't really have anything comparable to Napa. Maybe it will get that way someday, but I'm kinda hoping it doesn't.

[Molli]

Originally Posted by Kayela

There are beautiful vineyards, but they aren't that close to Seattle. Typically grapes need more sun and a drier climate to really develop well for wine-making. Eastern WA is where most of the vineyards are - the Yakima and Columbia valleys are a great place to visit. There are tours you can take. However, we don't really have anything comparable to Napa. Maybe it will get that way someday, but I'm kinda hoping it doesn't.

I wondered how anyone could grow grapes near Seattle! Now I understand ... I used to love to ride a bike around the Napa vineyards with my husband on little 3 day vacations. Riding a bicycle tends to keep you from drinking too much wine!

[509]

You use to ride around Napa and survived!! I cannot believe the traffic on the Highway and Silvarado Trail these days.

It was great in the 1970's.

That said, if you google bike trails in Yakima there are several bike routes suggested that go between some of the wineries. The Yakima Valley is much larger than the Napa Valley so you might want to pick and chose the area for the bike trip.

Walla Walla is good for bike riding though part of it will be on Highway 12 and remind you of the Napa Valley.

If you stay in Walla Walla try to stay downtown. It is a real nice downtown with good restaurants, shops and made for walking.

I think you will find Walla Walla much nicer than the Napa Valley.

Springtime for both areas. Watch the wind forecasts.

[Teuscher]

Could you recommend some wineries in Walla Walla? Thanks!