Wine Tasting in Woodinville, WA

JM Cellars

Off to Woodinville!!!! When booking our trip to Seattle, we really wanted to do something “adult” since we were without the kids. We

Welcome To Woodinville Sign

called the Seattle Sheraton and the concierge highly recommended Evergreen Escapes!!! So we called and booked a wine tasting tour through Woodinville. The tour takes you on a beautiful ride in a Mercedes van to Woodinville. The tour guide was very knowledgeable, born & raised in the local area. The price is $125 per person which includes a 6 hour tour that takes you through 3 wineries. http://evergreenescapes.com/woodinville-wine-trail-experience

Elsom Cellars

Woodinville, WA: Woodinville is located in King County, Washington. The population is approximately 10,938. Woodinville is part of the Seattle metropolitan area. There is a much larger population in Woodinville when including the adjacent areas of King (Cottage Lake) and Snohomish (Maltby) counties. Woodinville has waterfront parks on the Sammamish River, sweeping winery and brewery grounds, and densely wooded residential areas.

Woodinville’s economy is a mix of light industrial, retail, and tourism. Woodinville is commonly known for its local wineries, which showcase wines from grapes grown in Eastern Washington including Chateau Ste. Michelle, which is well-known for their popular summer concert series, Columbia Winery and dozens of other smaller ones. The Woodinville Tourist District is also home to the Redhook Ale Brewery and several fine restaurants including The Herbfarm “destination” restaurant.

Until July 2007, the north end of the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train’s route was at the Columbia Winery. Talks are currently underway to restore service, but running from Woodinville north to Snohomish, instead of south to Renton.

Elsom Cellars

Eat a big breakfast before heading out on the 6 hour tour. We walked to Pike Place first and had a great breakfast at Bacco Bistro prior to taking off to Woodinville. The tour company will provide a meat and cheese platter at one of the wineries. However, I highly recommend bringing snacks so that you don’t get too woosey. Ha! We packed our beef jerky and granola bars (very posh) to snack during the ride. Bring enough to share!!! The tour take anywhere from 2-10 people. Our tour had a group of 8 from all over the U.S. It was fun chatting it up with a group, laughing along the way.

Evergreen Escapes:

Just outside Seattle lies Woodinville wine country, boasting nearly 100 wineries and tasting rooms. On this half-day quest, visit three award-winning wineries that deliver on elegance but leave the pretense at the door. Meet winemakers, tour wineries and taste fine wine, while our expert guides give a lesson in viticulture. You’ll clean your palate with local meats and cheeses, and shuttle this all-inclusive experience in one of our plush bio-diesel Mercedes vans.

First stop, Eslom Cellars!!!! Everyone’s favorite that day was the 2009 Columbia Valley Isabella (red) and the Road to Hell (white).

Elsom Cellars

Wine Tasting Menu

Red Wine Blend!!!! Be sure to ask for this one.

My husband’s second favorite was the 2009 Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. The tastings at this winery were primarily reds. The staff was personable, knowledgable and fun!!! Be sure to ask for Erich!!He took us back to the barrels where we were able to sample directly from the barrel.

For more information be sure to visit

their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Elsom-Cellars/106846303129

Elsom Cellars is located in Woodinville just around the corner from Redhook & Chateau St. Michelle Winery.  Tasting Room open Saturdays and Sundays, 12-5! www.elsomcellars.com http://elsomcellars.wordpress.comTwitter/: @elsomcellars

We were thrilled to be able to experience a tasting from an additional winery that day called Celaeno Winery.  Brian was very accommodating and described the details of his amazing wine- Road to Hell. The benefits of wine tasting from two wineries all in one place!!

Elsom Menu

As people who don’t typically drink white wine, we were blown away by the flavor and body of the white wine “Road to Hell”. Brian offered a taste of two different versions of his white wine. Both wines were the exact same grape and made at the exact same time. The difference in the two was that one was in an oak barrel and the other was in a stainless steel tank. We couldn’t believe the difference in the two. The wine from the stainless steel was a softer wine that left your palate immediately, while the “Road to Hell” had a bold flavor that lasted well after the taste. In addition, you were able to get a really good taste of the oak; it wasn’t overwhelmingly oaky, just perfect. The Road to Hell would be excellent with good chicken or seafood.  We even asked the owner if we could have another glass – which he was nice enough to give.

Be sure to check them out on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CelaenoWinery?ref=br_rs

JM Cellars

Our next stop was JM Cellars located up in the hills of Woodinville.

Barrels at JM Cellars

Driving into the winery was amazing. The trees were so tall and you can smell them immediately stepping out of the van. The property and winery itself was absolutely beautiful. It has a very classy feel. When we walked up the path to the entrance there was a table setup with the wine glasses and a very

John at JM Cellars

nice lady standing behind waiting to pour our drinks. Before pouring though, she began telling us about the property, the owners and the wine.

JM Cellars pouring

The introduction was very educational and had us all eager to try the wine. The ambiance and setting at this winery was quite  inviting. After our second tasting of the wine, John the owner took us in the back of the winery to show the barrels and explain where the wine was made. John took the time to explain their vineyards, the process, and THEIR style of making wine. Oh yeah, he also gave us two tastings of the wine right out of the barrel!!! We learned more about the process of wine making in the 15 minutes in the back of JM than ever before. We learned about the different kinds of oak barrels and why they use the ones they do. After he was finished explaining, we went to the next room for tasting. This is where we tasted our favorite JM wine the 2010 TRE, which is named after their three sons. The wine was amazing and something we wish we could have all of the time – for when we have company or just eating steak. This was a great wine!

John mentioned monthly family dinners that are held at the winery. I contacted the winery to find out more information.

“We hold what we call “Family Dinners” each quarter.  These are usually for our wine club members and guests featuring a local chef who will cook on site and share the process with the guests as the evening progresses.  They are intimate groups of 40 and we always have amazing food.”
Contact Brenda Butler at brenda@jmcellars.com if you have questions regarding the family dinners.

JM Cellars

JM Wine Tasting List

JM Cellars is a family-owned winery in Woodinville, Washington working in
partnership with a diverse collection of the Columbia Valley’s
best vineyards to produce high quality wines styled for balance, power,
dimension and finesse. Best known for blended reds (we make four), many regard

Tre (formerly Tre Fanciulli) as JM Cellars’ “signature”
wine.
Production of all our wines is limited and so too is availability.
The wines are sold through our tasting room in Woodinville, our mailing list and in select wine shops

and restaurants. We hope your family will enjoy drinking them as much as our
family has enjoyed making them.
http://www.jmcellars.com/

Group wine tasting at Kestrel Winery

Kestrel

Final stop, Kestrel Winery.

Kestrel Winery

We opened our winery in early 1999 on three acresin the Prosser Wine and Food Park.Our winery building is 15,000 square feet, which includes a 13,500 square foot cellar, tank, warehouse and barrel area as well as a 1,500 square foot tasting room, gift shop and office.We opened our doors as a 3,000 case winery and are now at approximately 35,000 cases.We are predominately a red wine producer with 90% of our production in Lady in Red, our red table blend, as well as our red varietals – Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah. The remaining 10% is in Platinum – a blend of Gewurztraminer and Viognier, as well as Chardonnay and Viognier varietals.Barrel aging plays an important part in our wine production. Our wines are aged one-to-two years in the finest French, American and Hungarian oak barrels and provided bottle aging prior to release.http://www.kestrelwines.com/aboutus/

Kestrel wine tasting was located in a warehouse setting and was definitely the most commercial of the three wineries that day. As the tour guide said, “The wineries in the warehouse industrial area are like the Disneyland of wine tasting”. The tastings were in a room with tables which seemed to cater to larger groups. A marketing woman stood up and presented each wine to the table and then moved on to other tables. She was very knowledgable, while sales focussed at the same time. The two other wineries seemed to be more informative as we got to drink directly from the various barrels. Kestrel would be a great place to go wine tasting with a large group, as it was not an intimate setting. To be honest, we were loving the meat and cheese tray at the time. This was the only winery that day which passed out an order form for their wine. Not sure we really cared for that. Our view about wine is – if we LOVE it than we will buy it, we don’t need an order form. We were thankful that they had complementary water and lemon aide as well as live music.

Meat and Cheese Platter

$$ saving tips: Highly recommend booking a tour for several reasons. You can wine taste at numerous wineries and not worry about driving. Although the wine tastings were only about $10 per person, you will save money booking the tour because you wont have to rent a car, deal with GPS, hire a driver nor pay for gas. Also, the tour guides are so knowledgable and you don’t have to choose which wineries to visit when there are over 100 in Woodinville. The tour guides encourage feedback from the clients. We had an exceptional tour guide who kept us laughing while educating the group about each winery.

Thank you Angie!!!! Bring snacks and bottled water. The guide will provide snacks at the last winery which is about 5 hours into the tour.

Seattle in June

Bainbridge Island

The great thing about Seattle is if you stay downtown, you can pretty much walk all around the waterfront, shopping, ferry boat rides, Pike Place Market, aquarium, Space Needle and have access to great restaurants. We stayed at the Seattle Westin which is located downtown. It was the perfect location if you don’t want to rent a car.

Space Needle

Seattle, Washington is so pretty in June!!

Space Needle

We were expecting slightly better weather as everyone said June is summer in Seattle, but not so true. We were there mid-June for one week and it was sunny one day. Fortunately, it was the one day we chose to ride to the top of the Space Needle via the elevators which travel 10 mph. The trip takes 41 seconds to reach the top and some tourists wait in hour-long lines. On windy days, the elevators slow to 5 miles per hour. It was really crowded at the top of the Space Needle. We walked all the way around to see the

Telescope views from top of Space Needle

various views. It is definitely a tourist trap and not that affordable for a family of four. We were not up there more than 15

Kids at Space Needle

minutes but the views of downtown Seattle skyline, Olympic and Cascade Mountains, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Elliott Bay, and surrounding islands were very pretty.

History: The Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington. It is a landmark of the Pacific Northwest, and a symbol of Seattle which is built in the Seattle Center. It was originally designed for the 1962 World’s Fair, which drew over 2.3 million visitors. Nearly 20,000 people a day used the elevators to ride to the top of the Space Needle. The Space Needle used to be the

View from Space Needle

tallest structure west of the Mississippi River, 605 feet high, 138 feet wide, and weighs 9,550 tons. Amazingly, the Space Needle was built to withstand winds of up to 200 miles per hour and earthquakes of up to 9.1 magnitude. It also has 25 lightning rods. The observation deck is at 520 feet and there is a gift shop with the rotating SkyCity restaurant at 500 ft. On April 19, 1999,

Kids at top of Space Needle

the city’s Landmarks Preservation Board designated the Space Needle a historic landmark.

Interesting fact: Six people have jumped off of the Space Needle using parachutes to break their fall as part of a sport known as base

Monorail

jumping since its opening, but this activity is only legal with prior consent. Four jumpers were part of various promotions, and the other two were arrested. No thanks, we will not be attempting this activity nor recommending it on the blog.

Tickets are $1.00 cheaper when purchasing on line and you will also save time by bypassing the long ticket lines. The Space Needle is open until midnight during the summer. We took the monorail to get to the Space Needle from our hotel.

Seattle Center Monorail is the nation’s first full-scale commercial monorail system which provides a fun, quick and convenient link between downtown Seattle and Seattle Center.

Seattle Center Monorail departs approximately every 10 minutes from two stations: Westlake Center Station, at 5th Avenue and Pine Street and Seattle Center Station, adjacent to the Space Needle. For more information about the monorail visit http://www.seattlemonorail.com/

Prices are as follows:

Regular: $21 up early (8am-9:30am) or up late (6pm-close): $17

Senior (ages 65+): $18 up early (8am-9:30am) or up late (6pm-close): $15

Youth (ages 4-12): $12 up early (8am-9:30am) or up late (6pm-close): $10

Child (age 3 & under): Free

Purchase tickets on line at http://www.spaceneedle.com/visit-the-needle/tickets/

I caught the fish!

Pike Place Fish Market

Pike Place Market: Pike Place is somewhere that everyone should experience….it is an

Pike Place Fish Market

experience and difficult to explain. We loved walking around and observing all of the people shopping, the noise, the fresh, long-stemmed flowers, the aromas of the open-air market and tasting our way through. We didn’t actually stop to eat, we walked and kept eating along the way. Of course, we had to stop off at the world famous Pike Place Fish Market where people come from all over the world to see the crew of fishmongers throwing fish and having fun with customers. My son would absolutely say that this was the highlight of our trip to Seattle!!!

Pike Place Bakery

About the market:

Pike Place Market is a public, open air market which overlooks the Elliott Bay waterfront

Bakery

in Seattle. Pike Place Market opened on August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers’ markets in the United States. The market is actually a place of business for small farmers, craftspeople and merchants. Pike Place was named after the central street, which runs northwest from Pike Street to Virginia Street, and remains one of Seattle’s most popular tourist destinations.

Lobsters in the market

Pike Place is built on the edge of a steep hill. It has several levels located below the main level, each consisting of a variety of unique shops such as antique dealers,

Uli’s in Pike Place

comic book and collectible shops, small family-owned restaurants, and one of the oldest head shops (tobacco) in Seattle. The upper street level contains fishmongers, fresh produce stands and craft stalls operating in the covered arcades.  The mission of the Market and it’s founding goal is: to allow consumers to “Meet the Producer”.

There are also residences within the Market. Nearly 500 residents live in 8 different buildings throughout the Market. The Pike Place Market receives 10 million visitors annually. Check out a list of all of the retailers by going to http://pikeplacemarket.org/

Seattle Aquarium

Seattle Aquarium: Off to the aquarium!!!!! The aquarium is located on the waterfront as

Seattle Aquarium

well. It is a public aquarium which opened in 1977 and is located on Pier 59 on the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle.

This was our first time seeing the Tufted Puffin in person. They were so cute and so much fun as they dove down in the water in front of us in a glass tank.

Marine Life at Seattle Aquarium

The aquarium is active in promoting marine conservation and educates over 800,000 visitors each year regarding the impact on marine life. The aquarium is also involved with marine life research. In June 2007, it opened an 18,000-square-foot expansion that

Front of Aquarium

includes a new 2,625-square-foot gift store and café and two new exhibits which are the Window on Washington Waters and the Crashing Waves. The Crashing Waves Exhibit is a 40-foot wave tank that is similar to the Washington shores from the intertidal zone to a depth of about 5 feet. The Window on Washington Waters is a 120,000-US-gallon tank . that replicates the coastal waters of Washington state from about 5 to 60 feet. It is home to native marine life such as: salmon, rockfish, and sea anemones. Several times per day visitors will see divers wearing special masks to converse with visitors from inside the tank. For more information please visit http://www.seattleaquarium.org/

Prices are as follows:

Adults (ages 13 & over) $21.95

Youth (ages 4-12) $14.95

Ages 3 & under are free

The Crab Pot – Don’t Mess

The Crab Pot

The Crab Pot Restaurant & Bar: Walking along the Pier there are so many restaurants to choose from.

Crab Pot Seattle

The Crab Pot sounded great and looked like a lot of fun. The menu includes: Salads, Seafeasts, Burgers, Sandwiches, Seafood and Chips, Grilled Seafood, Ribs and Chicken, Cioppino, Crab Combos, Seafood Market, Desserts and of course a Kids Menu. You must try the Seafeast!!! What is a Seafeast you ask? The Crab Pot takes a variety of fresh seafood, steamed with mouth-watering spices, and pours it out on the table on butcher paper, give you a mallet, bibs & let you go at it! It is for two or more people.

Sit back, put your apron on, grab a mallet and get ready for a greasy chin!!! There are several options for the Seafeast which include:

The Cove $15.95 per person Steamed clams, Pacific mussels, shrimp in the shell, andouille sausage, corn on the cob & red potatoes in their jackets

The Westport $25.95 per person Dungeness crab, snow crab, shrimp in the shell, steamed clams & Pacific mussels, andouille sausage, corn on the cob & red potatoes in their jackets

The Pacific Clambake $32.95 per person Steamed clams, oysters, Pacific mussels, dungeness crab, snow crab, shrimp in the shell, a salmon skewer, andouille sausage, corn on the cob & red potatoes in their jackets

The Alaskan $38.95 per person King crab, dungeness crab, snow crab, shrimp in the shell, steamed clams, Pacific mussels, andouille sausage, corn on the cob & red potatoes in their jackets

The Crab Pot Seattle

We ordered our food and took in the gorgeous views from the restaurant. We looked

The Seattle Waterfront

around and watched people hammer away at their food. When the waitress came out, she dumped the hot pot on the butcher table and a corn on the cob rolled off the table onto my son’s lap. That was pretty funny, as they were shocked that she dumped it out the food let alone corn rolling off the table. It’s pretty wild.

Seattle, WA:  (206) 624-1890 1301 Alaskan Way Pier 57, Seattle, WA

Spaghetti Factory

The Old Spaghetti Factory since we don’t have one on Kauai. Growing up in California, we would eat there often and we wanted to let our kids have the same experience. It is located at 2801 Elliott Ave near the Waterfront. We walked there from our hotel. It is such a family friendly restaurant and very affordable. Of course- I had to have their famous Mizithra Cheese. Mizithra is a traditional Greek cheese with Protected Designation of Origin. For thousands of years, Mizithra has been manufactured in Greece. It is manufactured from whey derived from sheep, goats, cows or mixtures of milks in the regions of Macedonia, Thrace, Thessalia, Sterea Hellas, Peloponissos, Ionian islands, Aegean island and Crete island.

“A meal at The Old Spaghetti Factory is more than a meal. It’s an experience. We invest meticulous attention to our décor, so our guests feel as though they’re stepping into another world. Every location is adorned with antique lighting, intricate stained glass displays and an old-fashioned trolley car that doubles as centerpiece display and dining hall. With our expansive kids’ menu, special treats and fun activities, we want families to feel as at home in our restaurant as they do in their own dining rooms.”

http://www.osf.com/our-story/

Westin Seattle

We stayed at the Westin Seattle located at 1900 5th Avenue. It was a perfect location to

View from room at Seattle Westin

get around town without having to rent a car. Being there in June, it was quite interesting that the sun did not set until very late. It was difficult for the kids to go to sleep because it was so bright in the hotel room. It seemed to be light until 9-10 p.m. The hotel had an indoor, heated pool and a sundeck, which offered a great view of Seattle. All of the rooms have huge windows and our room happened to have a view of the Space Needle. Pretty cool. Some of the local attractions include: Seattle Waterfront, Victoria Clipper, International District, Pioneer Square, Experience Music Project, Lake Union, Pacific Science Center, The Space Needle, Argosy Cruises, Underground Tour, Tillicum Village and Tours, Woodinville Wine Company, Muckleshoot Indian Casino, and Emerald Queen Casino. For more information on the Westin Seattle visit http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1055

Ferry ride to Bainbridge

Bainbridge Island: When visiting Seattle, pick an island to go and visit.

Ferry Boat

Bainbridge Island is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. This is the name of the island in Puget Sound on which the city is situated. The population is approximately 23,025.

CNN/Money and Money magazine named Bainbridge Island the second-best place to live in the United States in 2005.

The local newspapers are the weekly Bainbridge Island Review and the daily Kitsap Sun.

Inside the ferry

The roundtrip fares on the Washington State Ferries are quite inexpensive- adults are $7.70 and kids $6.20. The

Bainbridge Island

Washington State Ferries leave about every 40 minutes starting at 5:30 a.m. through 10 p.m. We chose to visit Bainbridge Island which is only a 35 minute ride each way. Bring a jacket- we were there in June and still froze when the wind kicked up. The island felt very safe as we walked around the various streets. We went to a local candy shop, ice cream parlor, ate lunch in town and visited the most beautiful park on the water. The kids

Candy Shop

ran around and played at the park for quite awhile. The island is very green with beautiful trees everywhere. It was nice, cool and breezy in June.

For more information about Washington State Ferries, visit http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/

$$ saving tips: When eating at the Crab Pot order the Seafeast for 2 and share with 4

Kids first laundry mat experience

people. It is a lot of food, plus they bring bread to the table again and again. We ordered one appetizer and the Seafeast for 2 and it was plenty of food for our family of four. The kids meals were are only $4.95 but our kids wanted to eat the seafood and experience the Seafeast.

Don’t bother renting a car! Seattle has so many options for public transportation. It is a very walk friendly city and as long as you stay downtown – you will be sure to get around just fine.

This is really funny. We had laundry to do and the hotel we stayed at only offered dry cleaning services. Laundry mats within hotels is kind of a thing of the past. Since the four of us were in a hotel room, we found a local laundry mat. The kids could not believe it!!! They had never even heard of a laundry mat much less been to one. They were nervous to leave our clothes there and walk around while we waited for the clothes to wash. We gave them the coins and asked them to go up to the counter to pay the attendant and then my daughter asked- why do we have to pay for soap and to wash our own clothes?? It was a learning experience indeed. Then they decided to have a little fun while pushing each other around in the laundry carts. Hey- it’s all about saving money!!!

5wheelsto5star was featured in the March 2014 issue of Destinations Travel Magazine