16 Apr Virtual Vineyard Tasting and Tour series

If you are getting creative with your evening social plans, you are not alone.  People all over the world are creating and enjoying virtual connections for workouts, concerts and happy hours.

Wine Yakima Valley is bringing growers to the virtual world of wine with a Vineyard tour and tasting series.  Yakima Valley grape growers will transport you from your living room to the vineyards offering the perfect combination of enjoying great wine while seeing, learning, and tasting a day in the life of growing wine grapes in Washington State.

“We want to create an opportunity to stay connected with clients and friends to maintain some sort of normalcy,” says Kerry Shiels, winemaker of Côte Bonneville Winery and co-owner of DuBrul Vineyard.  “In addition to drinking great wines, we are actively growing and managing the 2020 vintage, so why not share these experiences over a glass of wine?”

The tastings feature three vineyard locations throughout the Yakima Valley AVA (American Viticulture Area). Red Willow Vineyard on the west side of the AVA, DuBrul Vineyard located in the center of the Valley and Quintessence Vineyard sited on Red Mountain, the eastern side of the appellation. Guests will have an opportunity to see in real time what the vines look like and offer side by side comparisons to the other vineyards throughout the Valley. Which vineyard is furthest along in vine development, and why?

This is a rare opportunity for consumers, these types of events are generally offered exclusively to wine trade.

Tastings will be held Thursdays at 5:30 pm (PST) running from April 30 – May 14, 2020.

Virtual Vineyard Tour and Tasting Schedule:
April 30, 5:30-6:30pm.  Jonathan Sauer of Red Willow Vineyard will highlight the story of Red Willow, show us what the vines are doing and explain how the grapes are grown for the 2016 Owen Roe Chapel Block Syrah. Winemaker David O’Reilly will discuss the wine and explain why he chooses fruit from Red Willow.

Thursday, May 7, 5:30-6:30pm, Kerry Shiels of DuBrul Vineyard will discuss the vineyard aspects that go into producing Côte Bonneville’s 2014 Carriage House (red blend). In addition to being hands on in the vineyard, Kerry is also the winemaker for Côte Bonneville. She will take you through the vineyard and its current growth status and explain how she grows the grapes for this popular Bordeaux Blend.

Thursday, May 14, Marshall Edwards will take a deep dive into what it takes to grow exceptional wine grapes at Quintessence Vineyards located on Red Mountain. Marshall will be showcasing Mark Ryan Winery’s 2017 Dead Horse Cabernet Sauvignon. Joining this tour and tasting will be Mike Macmorran, winemaker for Mark Ryan Winery to discuss the wine and why he uses Yakima Valley fruit.

Be sure to grab your Virtual Vineyard 3-pack prior to the tastings so you can enjoy the featured wine while learning about the vineyard it came from. To order your wine, call Brad Baldwin at Stems wine shop, 509 307 2006. The 3-pack bundle is $211 including tax and shipping.

Join in on one or all of these tastings. If you have the wine you can taste the flavors during the discussion, but if you want to join just to learn, that works too.

Join us for any or all of these tastings. Register here. Webinar platform will be Zoom. Check back for the meeting and log in credentials.

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Hashtag: #virtualvineyardtour
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