the tasting room

Sitting on the sunny veranda of an old farmhouse, sipping wine and nibbling on the contents of a cheese plate is my idea of heaven. The Tasting Room is definitely off the beaten track...at the top of a hill overlooking a fine vista of canyons, wineries and rolling desert, where it's blessedly quiet and wonderfully lonely. We were nearly the only ones there and felt like guests visiting a friend's house rather than customers at a business. We took a stroll in the vineyard and saw the varieties thoughtfully posted; if we'd brought our hiking boots we could have traipsed down the trails nearby. An immensely restful atmosphere unlike other tasting rooms, genuinely refreshing and well worth the effort to find.

The Tasting Room now includes Naches Heights Vineyard as well as wines from Willridge and others. It is a nice stop to try several different wines without a lot of driving around. Casual and relaxing atmosphere and they often have live music and other fun things going on. Well worth the scenic drive up the canyon.

This was a pleasant spot to hike to from the Cowiche Canyon trail. The sign from the trail said, "One-half mile to winery." It seemed further going uphill, but it was worth the hike. We were greeted by a nice friendly young gentleman who graciously took our picture and served us wine. The wine was wonderful and so was the view. I can't wait to go again!

Here's a little surprise piece of information that made my day hiking in the Yakima area. The Cowiche Canyon trail follows an old railroad bed through a fascinating rock-walled canyon and over trestles spanning a bubbling creek. In springtime it is replete with wildflowers. It is a level three miles from end to end, but wonder-of-wonders, at about 2 miles in, (or after 4 miles if you have gone to the far end of the trail), there is a steep side trail that leaves the canyon and climbs up steeply for about half a mile into the spacious vineyards of the Wilridge Winery. A level walk beyond that, and you are at the Tasting Room. Sit on shady porch that wraps around an old farm house, or pick a sunny spot at a picnic table on the grassy lawn. A series of 5 pours is $5. Or you can purchase wine by the glass, or an entire bottle. If you have been hiking for one hour or several hours, and you have made that climb out of the canyon, this will feel as close to heaven as you will ever get, unless (like me) you're a saint. The view is as great as the wine -- which is indeed very good. Vineyards and ridges stretch to the furthest horizons, which are rimmed with snow capped mountains. Drink in the view as you drink in the wine. This is what it means to be alive. I particularly liked the "melange" blend which comes in both red and white. Glasses are in the $5-$9 range and you can pay $12 for a bottle of the day's special, or $30 for something even more special. Wilridge Winery -- Cowiche Canyon trail -- got that? This is one of those memories for mind-banking. Oh, and the walk out of the vineyards and back down that trail offer views as magnificent as you could ever desire. The remainder of the walk to the trail head leaves the perfect after taste.

Stopped here on our way to Walla Walla. Beautiful location and not only friendly, but educational service. Carries a variety of both red and white wines. We brought our own picnic and they were kind enough to let us take in their views while relaxing on the lawn. Also have a location in Seattle.

This was a surprisingly nice venue for the second night of our 30th class reunion. The grounds were very spacious, the view was incredible, the feel of the place was casual and fun. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Gorgeous natural beauty and views (that reminded me of Italian hilltowns) surround this cute cottage of a wine tasting room in the hills above Yakima. Only a few minutes from downtown, but what feels like a world away, are the Tasting Room and its hosts, Damian and Angie, waiting to welcome you into their world of wine. They feature 3 wineries, which may soon be more, and new vineyards are being planted surrounding the tasting room (of over 10 varietals!), which will soon produce grapes to be made into wine right there. On a recent visit (on a day that they weren't normally open), we called ahead and were invited to come up and taste wine, bring a picnic, and walk around the gorgeous property (at the edge of breathtaking Cowiche Canyon). It's a fantastic stop, and a special escape. Go see our friends up at The Tasting Room in Yakima!

My friends and I traveled to The Tasting Room-Yakima for a school assignment and we had no idea what to expect, especially me having never ventured out into the Yakima wine country before. We were met by Damian, an extremely friendly and energetic person who immediately made us feel comfortable. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous and the atmosphere was like that of home. Damian was very helpful and informative and really knew his stuff! And the wines....OH THE WINES...absolutely delicious...I am a Syrah type of gal and the Wilridge 2004 Syrah was heaven. My friends had never been wine tasting before and they loved The Tasting Room-Yakima and we couldnt stop talking about it all the way home. They feature numerous wines from 3 separate wineries and you really get value and quality for extremely reasonable prices. This is a MUST for your Yakima wine country trip! Thank you Damian!!!

My wife and I wanted to do a little wine tasting while we were in Yakima and found out The Tasting Room Yakima just opened. It's a sister store to The Tasting Room Seattle, which we love and frequent.The Tasting Room Yakima is a very different atmosphere than it's Seattle sibling. It's in a farmhouse situated on a small vineyard. It was snowy and cold when we were there but still quite lovely. It's on quite a bit of property (70 acres?) and overlooks the Cowiche Canyon. Spring will be gorgeous I imagine. The managers are also the caretakers and were a young, very friendly couple who offered up a lot of information about the vineyard and other places we should go. They actually serve 3 different wineries (20 or so wines) right there so we didn't need to go to any other tasting rooms! Try the Wilridge Nebbiolo...fantastic