by Tilar J. Mazzeo | photo courtesy Yakima Valley Tourism –
The autumn is my favourite time for wine tasting: the summer tourists are gone, the harvest is in, the air is fresh, and the vineyards are starting to go golden. All the winemakers can take a deep breath, and that means when you visit in the autumn everyone has just a bit more time to hang out in the tasting room.
Last month, we featured the ultra-local hands-on harvest. If you’re hankering for a getaway a little further afield, but still here in “Cascadia,” this month’s highlight is Woodinville, in Washington State. Like British Columbia, Washington has hundreds of wineries, scattered over a large geographical area. But in Woodinville, uniquely, more than 130 wineries from all over the state have set up satellite tasting rooms just a half-hour north of Seattle. It’s a wine lover’s bonanza. And, for Vancouver Island wine and history aficionados, there are some great Canadian connections – and Canadian winemakers – to explore.
The wine industry in the Puget Sound, like the wine industry along the Salish Sea, has its roots in the trading posts set up by the Hudson Bay Company in the 1850s. The earliest cuttings here for Vitus Vinifera – the “noble” grape varietals native to Europe and used around the world in fine winemaking – came from the post at Fort Vancouver. You know, that “other” Vancouver, the one in Washington State, at the mouth of the Columbia River.
But did you know that the founding “grandfather” of the Washington wine industry was a Canadian expat named William Bridgeman? Bridgeman, an Ontarian, came to see the Pacific and stayed to plant some of the region’s earliest vineyards in Yakima, south of the Okanagan. He led the way in the varietal selections that a century later have helped to make Washington State a world-class wine growing region, and he established one of the earliest wineries, opening Upland Winery in 1934, just after Prohibition.
Upland no longer makes wines, but Bridgeman’s vineyards continue to bear ultra-premium fruit, and the grapes from Upland Vineyard can be found in the wines of more than 20 different small wineries, many of which feature tasting rooms in Woodinville. To taste a bit of history and raise a glass to Bridgeman’s legacy, stop by the Woodinville tasting rooms of DeLille Cellar, Brian Carter Cellars, Smasne Cellars, or Pomum Cellars.
While most of these places are small, artisanal wineries, where the tasting room is an industrial hangar in the area’s working-wineries zone, the Warehouse District, there are of course some grand estate vineyards that you won’t want to miss. The oldest operating winery in the state is Chateau Ste. Michelle, and the estate built in 1912 by a Seattle lumber baron is Woodinville’s answer to Victoria’s iconic Craigdarroch Castle. Guide tours of the historical estate (wine tasting included) are offered daily. Or, if that sounds too sedate, check out their CRUSH Harvest Festival in mid-October, which includes a spirited (and wine-fueled) grape-stomping competition.
The other “grand lady,” of course, is Columbia Winery, established in 1962. Here, the acclaimed wines reflect the vision of two talented Canadian winemakers. The legendary late David Lake MW, a pioneer in Washington State winemaking, spent 27 years as the head winemaker and mentored a generation. In 2012 the torch passed to a second Canadian winemaker, Sean Hails, who got his start making wines in Ontario’s Niagara region. For an in-depth exploration of Hail’s wines try Columbia’s excellent wine-education seminars, which naturally include tasting.
Can’t get away for a jaunt this autumn? Never fear. Wine is terroir in a bottle. You can always sample some of these wines at home on Vancouver Island. Washington State wines can be a bit tricky to source because of the arcane liquor laws in our province, but a number of local independent wine stores have great lists and knowledgeable staff. DeLille Cellars wines are among those stocked by Vintage Spirits in Victoria (www.hotelrialto.ca/retail/vintage-spirits), and the folks at Metro Liquor in Brentwood Bay (www.metroliquor.com/locations/brentwood-bay), a Peninsula hidden gem for wine lovers who haven’t discovered it yet, are happy to special order any Washington State wines currently available in Canada.
For more information, email tilar.mazzeo@gmail.com.
