Woodinville, Washington State located 30 minutes from downtown Seattle is a perfect wine country escape. Without doubt Woodinville Wine Country, home to over 90 wineries and tasting rooms, is an ideal place to explore Washington State's wines. Most of the grapes grown for the wines sold in Woodinville however, comes from Eastern Washington's Columbia Valley. Last time on our I5 drive north Spaswinefood decided to take the 405 loop around Seattle and exit at Woodinville. Our first tasting room stop in Woodinville was at Columbia Winery.
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| Columbia Winery, Woodinville © Spaswinefood |
Tasting Columbia Winery Wines
When we stopped by Columbia Winery's tasting room we discovered that the winery produces wines from grapes grown in both the Columbia Valley AVA and the Yakima Valley AVA. A recent post by Erin Van Bronkhorst puts Columbia Winery on the list of top producing Washington State wineries.
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| Columbia Winery, Woodinville © Spaswinefood |
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| Tasting Room at Columbia Winery, Woodinville © Spaswinefood |
Tasting Columbia Winery Wines
Two weeks ago when we dropped by Columbia Winery's tasting room we tasted wines from their Signature Wine Tasting and Premium Wine Tasting lists. Here are a few highlights from these tastings:
The Signature Wine Tasting: On the Signature Wine Tasting list were wines produced from single grape varieties.
1. 2010 Pinot Gris
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| Columbia Winery Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2010 © Spaswinefood |
The 2010 Pinot Gris is from the Columbia Valley. Dwight Furrow gives a good description of this wine. I rather liked the overall crisp and refreshing taste of this aromatic wine.
2. 2012 Rosé of Grenache
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| Columbia Winery Rosé of Grenache, Columbia Valley 2012 © Spaswinefood |
This Columbia Valley wine is from the small lot series. The winery's tasting notes has a nice description of
this Rosé. With only 3.5g/L of sugar this wine is pleasantly dry. I loved the
fruity, and the Cranberry and other berry aromas. The wine has good acidity. It
is fruity on the palate with a nice crisp finish that makes me think of Cranberries.
This wine definitely makes me think of YES, Cranberries.
Next, I tasted the red wines in Signature Wine Tasting. Overall the red wines in the Signature Wine Tasting were quite pleasing. My two favorites were the 2010 Barbera and 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon. I did not taste the 2010 Sangiovese, which is included in this tasting group.
3. 2010 Barbera
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| Columbia Winery Barbera, Columbia Valley 2010 © Spaswinefood |
This small lot series wine is from the Columbia Valley.
4. 2009 Merlot
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| Columbia Winery Merlot, Columbia Valley 2009 © Spaswinefood |
The 2009 Merlot is from the Red Willow Vineyard, Yakima Valley.
5. 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon
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| Columbia Winery Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley 2008 © Spaswinefood |
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| Columbia Winery, Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley 2008 © Spaswinefood |
The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon is from the Red Willow Vineyard, Yakima Valley.
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| Tasting Signature Wines at Columbia Winery © Spaswinefood |
6. 2008 Syrah
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| Columbia Winery Syrah, Columbia Valley 2008 © Spaswinefood |
The 2008 Syrah is from the Red Willow Vineyard, Yakima Valley.
The Premium Wine Tasting: The red wines on the Premium Tasting list were all blends, except for the Malbec. Overall the wines in this series were not only quite pleasing but for me they had a more refined taste than the red wines in the first series. Here are the wines we tasted from the Premium Wine Tasting list:
1. 2010 Lapis
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| Columbia Winery Lapis, Columbia Valley 2010 © Spaswinefood |
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| Columbia Winery Lapis, Columbia Valley 2010 © Spaswinefood |
The 2010 Lapis is a blend of Syrah, Grenache and Mourverde. This Columbia Valley red wine is from the Stone Cutter's Series.
2. 2008 Milestone
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| Columbia Winery Milestone, Columbia Valley 2008 © Spaswinefood |
The 2008 Milestone is a blend of Petit Verdot 48%, 38% Malbec, 8% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is from the small lot series.
3. 2009 Milestone
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| Columbia Winery Milestone, Columbia Valley 2009 © Spaswinefood |
The 2009 Milestone is a blend of 35% Malbec, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 14% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. This wine is from the small lot series.
The 2008 and 2009 Milestone wines are both from the Columbia Valley.
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| Columbia Winery Milestone 2008 and 2009, Columbia Valley © Spaswinefood |
4. 2010 Malbec
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| Columbia Winery Malbec, Columbia Valley 2010 © Spaswinefood |
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| Columbia Winery Malbec, Columbia Valley 2010© Spaswinefood |
The 2010 Malbec from the Columbia Valley is from the small lot series.
5. 2009 Peninsula
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| Columbia Winery Peninsula, Columbia Valley 2009 © Spaswinefood |
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| Columbia Winery Peninsula, Columbia Valley 2009 © Spaswinefood |
The 2009 Peninsula is a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 125 Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. This wine is from the Red Willow Vineyard, Yakima Valley.
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| Tasting Premium Wines at Columbia Winery © Spaswinefood |
We enjoyed visiting the tasting room at Columbia Winery. Even though they were busy when we arrived we received prompt friendly service. You can check other visitors reviews at Tripadvisor (Certificate of Excellence 2013) and Yelp.
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| Columbia Winery, Columbia Valley © Spaswinefood |
The Columbia Winery is located on beautiful landscaped grounds with plenty of parking space.
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| Columbia Winery, Columbia Valley © Spaswinefood |
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| Columbia Winery, Columbia Valley © Spaswinefood |
Based on our experience at Columbia Winery if your travels take you through Washington State take the time to visit Columbia Winery and other Woodinville's tasting rooms. Also do not forget to check out my travels in Washington State at Spaswinefood, or visit my travel column at the Examiner.
Sharon
August 2013
Woodinville, Washington State
© Spaswinefood
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