Straight from the Barrel in Lake Chelan

from Marty Sparks 

Lake Chelan’s Spring Barrel Tasting Weekend is coming up on May 21st and 22nd.   This event provides a great opportunity to get a sneak peak at upcoming releases, meet the area’s winemakers and escape to the East side of Washington state for some glorious Spring time weather.

The Lake Chelan AVA has been growing in acclaim, and number of wineries, since being recognized as an AVA in 2009.   The area has been known as a family vacation destination for many generations.  Our current generation is seeing the region gaining notoriety for their wineries.  As of 2016, Lake Chelan is home to 25 wineries.  Many have estate vineyards where the winemakers oversee the entire winemaking process from tending the vineyard to bottling the wine that winds up on your table.  

The Spring Barrel Tasting weekend is a great opportunity to discover the wines from the wineries that surround Lake Chelan.  The majority of the wineries have something special planned for the weekend.

Here are three wineries to visit:

South Shore – Fielding Hills

Fielding Hills has been making wine made from grapes grown on their Wahluke Slope estate vineyard since 2000.  They are a relative new comer to the Lake Chelan area with a gorgeous tasting room that opened on the South Shore of the lake in September of 2014.   The views from the tasting room and the wines are both fabulous.  

The Fielding Hills 2010 Wahluke Slope Syrah is dark, lush and full bodied with notes of dark blue fruit, dusty cracked pepper and cocoa powder that all come together in a well integrated tannin and barrel spice driven finish.

North Shore - Cairdeas

Charlie Lybecker started making wine in his West Seattle Garage.  He moved to Lake Chelan about 4 years ago and has settled into his current location on the North Shore of the lake just off highway 150.  He is making some excellent Southern Rhone style red and white wines.

The Cairdeas 2013 Nellie Mae is a blend of Marsanne, Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Rousanne and Picpoul.  The nose shows great minerality with notes of white flowers, honey dew melon and lemon zest with a palate featuring similar flavors along with some smoky herbal notes backed with a mean streak of acidity.

Manson – Hard Row to Hoe

Judy and Don Phelps are the Wine Maker and Vineyard manager, respectfully, at Hard Row to Hoe.  They combine serious wine making with local history that has a slightly naughty twist.  You will have to visit their vineyard and tasting room in Manson to hear the story and see some mementoes of the area’s ribald history.

The Hard Row to How 2012 Burning Desire Cabernet Franc has a nose featuring dark berries, dried herbs and flower petals with a palate of dried dark fruit, white pepper and funky herbal notes that are followed by a pencil lead and tannin spice fueled finish.

Make a plan to visit Lake Chelan the weekend of May 21st and 22nd to get a sneak peak at the upcoming vintages from this up and coming Washington state AVA.  You will be met by some down to earth people making seriously delicious wines in one of the most beautiful places in our state.

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Lake Chelan AVA Rolls Out the Barrel

From Lucha Vino

The Lake Chelan AVA hosted a Spring Barrel Tasting Weekend May 18th and 19th.  There are 20 wineries surrounding Lake Chelan and 11 of them were offering barrel samples during the two day festival.

If you are curious about the winemaking process then a barrel tasting event is something that will help shed some light on what happens behind the curtain.  The experience provided an opportunity to learn how barrel aging influences the finished product.  And it also gives you a chance to chat with the winemakers in a relatively casual setting.

In the two days I spent in Lake Chelan I was able to visit 12 of the wineries.  Getting around to this many wineries emphasized the diversity of winemaking styles that exist across this wine destination and region.  All of the wineries I visited had some of their best efforts available for tasting.  Of the 12 locations I visited, 8 of them were providing barrel tastings.  The winemakers were available at nearly all the places and were happy to discuss winemaking techniques and philosophies.

Here are a few of the highlights.

Nefarious Cellars had 2012 Grenache and 2012 Defiance Vineyard Syrah.

The Grenache was in a neutral barrel, it featured notes of cedar floating on top of medium red berries and light earthy spices.

The Defiance vineyard Syrah was in a new French Oak Barrel and it was showing some dark savory character along with a touch of sweetness and white pepper.

Chelan Estate had a 2008 Pinot Noir.  This one definitely won the award for most time spent in barrel.  They are nearing the end of the 2007 stock and will be bottling the 2008 soon.  This Pinot Noir was showing some nice medium red fruit, Asian spices and some decent acidity.

Tunnel Hill had two barrels of 2012 Malbec.  A neutral barrel and a new French oak barrel.  This was one of the more interesting tasting experiences since you were able to taste the difference between the two barrels.  The neutral barrel featured rich black cherry and cola.  The Malbec from the new French oak barrel was loaded with oak that blew off to expose tart currants on the palate and finish.

Cairdeas was sharing tastes of their 2010 port style wine made from Cabernet Sauvignon.  It was rich and dark with notes of currants, hazelnut and a solid dose of cedar spices.

Tildio was sampling their 2011 Garnacha and Malbec.  The Garnacha was showing dark sweet fruit, cedar, candle wax and pepper spices.  The Malbec was robust with notes of licorice and tart coffee bean.

Hard Row to Hoe had their 2012 Sangiovese available for tasting from a neutral oak barrel.  This Sangiovese is tasting nice already with some cranberry, strawberry and smoky spices.  Once this wine hits the bottle it will age for another year before release.

T’sillan Cellars had their estate Syrah in a new French oak barrel.  It was showing dark currants and hazelnut with some serious barrel notes.  Surprisingly, things were pretty slow here so I was able to have a great visit with Shane, the head winemaker, and his assistant winemaker Kyle.

This was a great weekend experience and I would highly recommend it for an easy getaway.  If you live on the West side of the Cascade Mountains, Lake Chelan is an easy three hour drive out of the rain and into the sunshine.  Along with the sun you will find some serious, and friendly, winemakers plying their craft.  Each has their own style.  The diversity and friendliness are two ingredients that make a visit to Lake Chelan a true destination.

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