Planning a Winecation – Discover Lake Chelan Valley Washington’s newest AVA

Planning a Winecation is a task not to be over looked. I know this from experience I have traveled to Wine Country with a group of friends and arrived at a beautiful house we rented for the weekend with an outside pool over looking wine country, it looked great online. I could visualize us all around the pool, after tasting wine all day, soaking up the afternoon sun like a lizard, but wham we show up and to find the most frightening site you can imagine……Let’s just put it kindly we would not be staying here…..(a story for another time) my point is not to bash anyone, but to encourage you to have a back up lodging plan for your winecation.  After a few OMG’s, pictures and several phone calls later we got the last two rooms at a hotel in town..phew…the couple right behind us were told “sorry were sold out”.  For this winecation, lodging will be easy, we are staying at a friend’s home on Lake Chelan, so Lodging… check… Lodging options Lake Chelan.

Research and map out an itinerary of wineries you want to visit
It is a good idea to look over the wineries of the region you are traveling to and make an itinerary. It can be a bit overwhelming going to a region you have never visited before and trying to figure out where you are headed and should we stop at this or that winery. For instance one winery I have heard nothing but great things about in Chelan is Nefarious Cellars, they are now closed for the winter. I tried making an appointment with them but they are out of town so I will have to wait for another time to check these guys out.  If we had not done the research we would have wasted time trying to visit a closed winery, not a good use of time, so plan ahead.

This is why I have created this site to help winecationers get the inside tips on where to go, stay and eat. TIP: Search the ava site on Bing.com and research the wineries you want to visit, for this winecation we are headed to Lake Chelan Wine Valley.

Next plan your travels around winery tasting room operating hours. Some wineries close at 4pm some at 6pm, so plan around their hours. Some wineries are appointment only so at least the week before you travel email and ask for a time to taste their wines. Most will be very accommodating to your request, TIP: especially if you buy wine.  If you are in a large group call the wineries in advance and let them know you are coming.  Some wineries will provide a group tasting/tour, others will have your glasses ready, plus its courteous to the winery owners.

Kids in tow
This winecation weekend has our kids in tow so the number of wineries we will visit will be much lower than if we were traveling with just adults. For those bringing your kids, almost every winery has a kid sitter, really you say…yes ask for the winery dog. Give the kids a tennis ball and they will be well entertained by the Winery Dog while you taste. Option two, a DS or Ipod touch will work, sit them on a chair or bench in the winery.  The key to this is finding something for the kids to do as a reward for behaving while you all are tasting, could be ice cream, arcade, waterslides, swimming pool back at the hotel, there is usually something in every region to do for kids.

Lake Chelan Washington’s Newest AVA as of April 2009
In 1998 Steve Kludt and Bob Christopher replanted apple orchards to grapes inside of the Lake Chelan AVA. Other vineyards followed soon after. In 2000 the Kludt family had the first bonded winery in the valley. By 2004, 90 acres of vineyard was in the ground and at least 5 wineries were open and selling their products. Today the Lake Chelan Wine Valley has 260 acres of vines, with this number increasing continual each year, and 14 boutique style wineries and more on the way.

Chelan Wineries we are planning on visiting
There are currently 14 wineries in the Lake Chelan Wine Valley, so with kids in tow and a limited time to taste wine, I have researched where we are headed and narrowed it down to 10 wineries and of these I will probably drop 2-3 more. Planning to visit most of them Saturday and a few on Sunday.

It not just great wine we are after
It’s not all about the wine tasting when visiting wineries, it’s more about the sensory experiences; the conversations, the tasting of the varietals of the region, visually taking in the beautiful views,  examining the architecture and landscaping of the winery, tasting the local food paired with the wines of the day, learning about the region and most importantly laughing with friends, it’s a great experience.

Get out and enjoy the adventure of a winecation, it’s an experience…..on top of wine tasting there are a 100 things left to do in Lake Chelan Wine Country

Hard Row to Hoe Vineyards
(509) 687-3000

300 Ivan Morse Road, Manson . 1/2 mile behind Milll Bay Casino, off Wapato Lake Rd.   Love this label it has been on the list for a while going to taste the Syrah Zin and Shame less Hussy

Chelan Estate Winery (509) 682-5454 755 South Lakeshore Road, Chelan

Four Lakes Winery (509) 682-9028 223 Howard Flats Road, Chelan Going to see the Beautiful view of Chelan area from winery

Karma Vineyards & Cave (509) 669-5753 1681 S. Lakeshore Road, Chelan hours 12-8pm Food yes, Champagne in Chelan?  We all need a boost in good Karma.

Lake Chelan Winery (509) 687-9463 3519 Highway 150, Chelan Weekly Wine Club Socials begin October 30th from 5-7pm!! Socials we be held every weekend.

Rio Vista Wines (509) 682-9713 for hours *On weekdays, please call 509-682-9713 to let us know you’re coming.* 22415 Highway 97 Only 10 minutes north of Chelan on Highway 97. Go 1/2 mile past milepost 243, turn right at mailboxes, then follow signs. I have to check this winery out just because they are unique; Rio Vista Wines is the only winery you can get to by boat as well as car.  And the wine might be good too, plus they have play stuff for kids.

Tsillan Cellars (509) 682-9463 3875 Highway 97-A, Chelan

Tunnel Hill Winery (509) 682-5695 37 Highway 97-A, Chelan Yes underground cellar

Vin du Lac Winery (509) 682-2882 105 Highway 150, Chelan Winecation Bonus, just so happens that they are partying at Vin du Lac this weekend, usually means wine is flowing, food and music. Open House & Malbec Release Party Nov. 7, 2009, 2:30-5:00pm

Wapato Point Cellars (509) 687-4000 200 Quetilquasoon Road, Manson