Alexandria Nicole Cellars: Destiny Ridge Tasting Room
158422 Sonova Road
Paterson, WA
Phone: (509) 832-3877
Those who venture off the main highway to Alexandria Nicole Cellars' remote winery and tasting room are rewarded by a chance to stroll scenic grounds overlooking the Columbia River before or after tasting excellent wines. Book a stay in the winery's quaint tiny houses (reservations required, space is limited) for a quiet escape among the vineyards.
Alexandria Nicole Cellars: Prosser Tasting Room
2880 Lee Road, Ste. D
Prosser, WA
Phone: (509) 786-3497
This pioneering, 15,000-case-a-year winery produces luscious wines from grapes grown on its estate vineyards in Horse Heaven Hills. The red Bordeaux and Rhône varietals and blends are all solid, as is its particularly notable Shepherds Mark white Rhône blend. Wine Club members are fêted at release parties and receive access to VIP lounges in its Prosser and Woodinville tasting rooms, which makes it tempting to join the wine club.
AntoLin Cellars
14 N. Front St.
Yakima, WA
Phone: (509) 961-8371
Anthony (aka Anto) and Linda (aka Lin) Haralson pour samples of their eclectic wine lineup—riesling, viognier, cab sauv, merlot and syrah—in their downtown Yakima tasting room. The wines are sourced from their 5-acre vineyard and additional sites.
Côte Bonneville
1413 E. Edison Ave.
Sunnyside, WA
Phone: (509) 643-4569
The Shiels family produces about 2,500 cases a year of varietals and blends sourced from their esteemed 45-acre DuBrul Vineyard. The highlights include their flagship cab sauv–merlot blend.
Coyote Canyon Winery
357 Port Ave.
Prosser, WA
Phone: (509) 786-7686
The owners are a longtime Horse Heaven Hills farming family whose 20-acre plot of cabernet sauvignon, planted in 1994, has grown into a 1,125-acre vineyard, producing 25 varietals. In addition to providing fruit for other wineries, including Columbia Crest and Chateau Ste. Michelle, Coyote Canyon also produces a line of elegantly exhilarating wines of its own, available in its tasting room in the Winemakers Loft, near downtown Prosser.
Desert Wind
2258 Wine Country Road
Prosser, WA
Phone: (509) 786-7277
Established in 1984 by Doug and Jo Ann Fries, who also founded Duck Pond Cellars in Dundee, Ore., Desert Wind offers full-bodied wines sourced primarily from its Wahluke Slope vineyards. Its Southwest-inspired winery and tasting room offer an inviting setting along the Yakima River, right off I-82, in Prosser.
Gilbert Cellars
2620 Draper Road
Yakima, WA
Phone: (509) 249-9049
The Gilbert family's roots in the Yakima Valley date back to 1897, and their skills in the orchards lent to a smooth transition to viticulture and winemaking. The wines include a bright Provençal-style rosé and Bordeaux- and Rhône-style wines sourced from vineyards in multiple Columbia Valley locations, most notably the Wahluke Slope and Horse Heaven Hills AVAs.
McKinley Springs
357 Port Ave.
Prosser, WA
Phone: (509) 786-0004
Among the wineries with tasting rooms in Prosser's WInemakers Loft, McKinley Springs produces delicious wines from its estate vineyard in the nearby Horse Heaven Hills. Its popular Bombing Range red and white blends pay homage to the military heroes of the World War II–era, when the family's land served as a training ground for U.S. fighter pilots.
Mercer Winery
3100 Lee Road
Prosser, WA
Phone: (509) 786-2097
The Mercer family's roots run deep in Yakima Valley, dating back to the late 19th century. Today, the family's agricultural holdings include about 3,000 vineyard acres, located primarily in Horse Heaven Hills. Rob and Brenda Mercer established the winery in 2005, and brother Will Mercer is national sales manager. The family produces about 60,000 cases a year. Its Mercer Bros. wines are widely available, but the tasting room is the place to go to find its reserve and small-lot varietals and blends, and other special bottling.
Naches Heights Vineyard
1857 Weikel Road
Yakima, WA
Phone: (509) 966-4355
The winery places a premium on sustainability, producing intense wines from grapes grown through organic or biodynamic practices, whenever possible. Its tasting room is open by appointment only.
Owen Roe
309 Gangl Road
Wapato, WA
Phone: (509) 877-0454
Owen Roe's premium cabernet sauvignons, red Rhône varietals, chardonnays and blends contain a mix of estate fruit and those sourced from prestigious Washington sites. The tasting room at the winery (pictured above, photo by Francois Dereeper) offers samples of the full lineup, comprising wines from just about every price point.
Treveri Cellars
71 Gangl Road
Wapato, WA
Phone: (509) 877-0925
One of the state’s most innovative wineries, family-owned Treveri specializes in méthode champenoise sparking wines made with Washington fruit, including syrah, riesling and gerwürztraminer, in addition to pinot noir and chardonnay. Founder Jurgen Grieb was born and raised in Trier, Germany, where he studied wine making, before coming to Washington in the 1980s.
Wilridge Winery
250 Ehler Road
Yakima, WA
Phone: (509) 966-0686
Committed to sustainability, Seattle-based Wilridge produces small lots of terroir-driven varietals and blends from grapes grown through biodynamic or organic practices whenever possible. Its super-quaint tasting room is inside a 100-year-old farmhouse set among orchards and vineyards, along the rim of Cowiche Canyon. In fact, from the parking lot, you can hike down into the canyon before or after a tasting. The grounds also have picnic space, and the winery hosts concerts and special events throughout spring and summer.
WIT Cellars
505 Cabernet Court
Prosser, WA
Phone: (509) 786-1311
Short for "whatever it takes," WIT was established in 2015 by three talented wine and hospitality pros who met while working at Kestrel Vintners. They have been generating buzz for their wines and recently moved into the former Gamache Vintners space in Prosser's Vintners Village. (WIT also operate a tasting room in Woodinville.)