Yakima Valley Wineries

[Melanie R.]

Hello all,
Has anyone visited wineries in the Yakima Valley that they can recommend (for port as well as other offerings)? I'm planning a trip in the near future and have been trying to narrow down a few wineries that are worth a visit. It will be a one or two-day trip.

Also any additional tips about visiting that area would be helpful, if anyone can recommend budget-conscious accommodations, or has a good strategy for getting the most out of a visit to this area.

Thanks!
Melanie

[Steve E.]

Hi Melanie,

I've been there a few times. My most comprehensive winery tasting trip was the red wine and chocolate event my wife and I did a few years ago.

A favorite stop for me is Piety Flats Winery. My wife and I really enjoyed the Chenin Blanc for quite a while. It was quite sweet and easy to drink. Depending on when you're going, they have some spectacular ice cream with peaches. They operate from an old "Country Store" location. Very friendly and I enjoy the wines. I have yet to see them distributed. We found them at the Kirkland arts fair the first time they added wine tasting to the event. Looking at their website, they do list a Port as one of their offerings: http://www.pietyflatswinery.com/

Maison de Padgett has a nice location that also hosts weddings and such. I can't actually remember the wines, but their label art (in my opninion) is fantastic. Horizon's Edge Winery has the same artist I think. And Horizon's Edge also have Port offerings (2004 Intimate Affair Port, Wishful Thinking Chocolate Port, 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Platinum Reserve Port). Both seem to like to play with the names of their wines. http://www.maisondepadgettwinery.com/ http://www.horizonsedgewinery.com

Two Mountain Winery is a nice winery. A friend of mine, who lives in Yakima, volunteered there for a while. You can find a lot of their wine in our area.

They're all part of the "Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail," which includes several others. In the past they had a tasting punch card where you get stamps on your cards as you taste. After a certain number, you get a choice of a couple of gifts (from whichever winery you're at when you complete it). I chose the bottle opener. http://www.rattlesnakehills.com/winetrailwineries.htm

You can find another list of wineries at http://www.visityakima.com/newsite/wash ... ountry.asp There are so many!

They've also started opening up tasting rooms in downtown Yakima, although I like to visit wineries. There are also some spectacular restaurants in the old section of downtown. And don't forget to search out the world's biggest urinal (yes-women have been known to go into the men's room and have their picture next to it... from what I've heard/seen).

As far as budget accommodations, I don't have much to recommend. I sat on a hiring oral board panel and was put up at the Howard Johnson... it was fine and didn't cost me anything. However I do have a favorite place in the Yakima area. It's a B&B in Selah that my wife stayed in before doing a bike ride through the canyon up to Ellensburg. It's called the Wine Country Inn Bed & Breakfast. You can find them on Tripadvisor at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review ... ngton.html. You shouldn't have a hard time finding my review. And I took all of the photos currently listed in their "Traveler Photos". They're outside of town, but I wouldn't want to stay anywhere else, given the choice. Their website is at http://www.thewinecountryinn.com/

[Melanie R.]

Steve,
Thank you for the info and recommendations. We are thinking of going during the Red Wine and Chocolate event. Several of those wineries are ones that appealed to me when I was doing my research.

World's largest urinal? LOL....the things that become tourist attractions....

Melanie

[Steve E.]

Melanie,

Here are a couple of tips regarding RW&C in Yakima.

First - bring your own tasting glasses. If you don't, you will have to purchase one at one of the wineries. They do not provide glasses at the big events due to the number of people and the amount of work it would take to keep enough clean to always have some available.

Second - start away from downtown Yakima and work your way back. We started at Portteus (when they opened), Paradisos del Sol, and then Maison de Pagett. Silver Lake was the third or fourth we hit. By this time, those that started from town were starting to show up and Silver Lake gets a lot of tour buses. It was packed, but had the best chocolates for pairing (Paradisos del Sol had a soup made with chocolate). We hit several others, often based on if we could see ample parking. Seeing how Horizon's Edge has the different 'Ports', I may start down in that area and work back. You'll reach a point where it doesn't matter and everyone will be busy. But then they taper off. We also looked at the winery closing times as some may close earlier than others. And finished at Masset just before they closed. We only had one day there and had never been there before... that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Third - if you think you're going to want to eat dinner downtown, you may want to consider reservations. Everything was pretty packed. We ended up walking into Bob's Keg and Cork, which is more of a bar but with what appeared to be some pretty fancy wine offerings. There wasn't anywhere to sit, but then a group who had taken over the middle of the place waved us over to sit with them in their two extra seats. So we just hung out there with them, had some food, and then someone mentioned the urinal... enough said on that. The Front Street area is where the fancier restaurants are at.

Have fun!

[Melanie R.]

Thanks again for the good advice. I had no idea about bringing a glass. The "premier pass" includes a commemorative glass, and I think I may end up buying passes.

Did you buy the "premier pass" when you went? If so, did you find that it was worth it? I won't be purchasing a ton of wines--I'm not yet a collector who buys by the case. But I'm thinking that the pass may pay for itself in tasting fees alone. (Some of the wineries have tasting fees that are waived for passholders).

[Steve E.]

We didn't, but having browsed the passholder benefits, if I were to do it this year - I'd get the pass. I think we'd get our money's worth out of the $30 pass. And you get the glass to use as part of it. With the tasting fees and special tastings for passholders, it seems worth $60 for the two of us. There are a lot of wineries I'd like on the list too.

[Steve E.]

Melanie,

I wanted to add some to this as I 'found' myself in Woodinville Wednesday afternoon. I saw the sign for Tefft Cellars out on the road (north of Silver Lake, in the same warehouse district as Facelli) and decided to do a drive-by. Sure enough, it wasn't a sign always left out - they're open every day. So I swung in and had what amounted to a private wine tasting with Paul (Tollner) who is one of the owners who recently purchased the winery from Joel (I think) Tefft. I didn't find this out until doing a little research afterwards. He was amazingly pleasant and I went through around 10 different wines. Of those, he has a few different ports that you may be interested in. You could hit them during your Red Wine & Chocolate trip, or have a preview at their Woodinville tasting room (or both). They're open daily until 7:00, so if you don't have time off during the weekday, an after-work trip may be the way to go. They have a really nice tasting room that can hold very large groups. He said that there was an informal, but announced, gathering of about 50 people going to be there later Wednesday evening.

[Melanie R.]

Steve,
Thanks for the recommendation! Good to know they also have a tasting room in Woodinville. I am so looking forward to this trip.