I had never been to this winery and I thought a visit was long overdue. Did you know that Silver Lake is one of Washington's largest locally owned wineries? It is owned by about 1,200 shareholders who have come together to make Silver Lake Winery what it is today. I had no idea! In the past fifteen years the winery has grown from 2,000 cases to more than 50,000 cases of hand crafted wine annually.
I had the extraordinary opportunity to actually meet both wine makers! William (Bill) Ammons and James St. Clair. Ok, no offense to Bill but "St. Clair", what a cool last name! Bill was one of the most down to earth wine makers I have met to date. He is phenomenal and of course extremely knowledgeable and very accommodating. Bill made me feel so welcome and took me up to the vineyards so I could see the facilities and the Harvester. Have you ever seen a grape harvester? It’s a pretty impressive beast of a machine. In short, a grape harvester is a tall machine that straddles the trellis and uses special fingers (or rods) to shake the grapes off the vine.
James St. Clair. I know I said he had an awesome last name but HE is amazing! (Why isn't he on the website? I think he needs a presence on the website!) If James could be a teacher, he would rock at it! James is so passionate and brilliant! As winemaker and viticulturist, I am sure he knows almost everything that has to do with grapes and the wine making process. And guess what he did for me? GUESS! He straight tapped the fermentation tanks and let me drink from it. Is that not the BEST thing you ever heard? That was pretty EPIC! Last question for the guessing game, can you guess what the grand finale to my visit with James St. Clair? Off the clock of course . . . .cracking open some Coors!
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| This is how James rolls! LOL |
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| Tapping the tanks! |
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| Aw Snap! Things just got REAL check out James giving us the what for when asked about sugar and red wine |
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| Thing one |
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| Just a cool truck they had on their property |
Grounds/Facility:
The Zillah tasting room is located in a building that used to house Covey Run winery. Very beautiful, well manicured, and hint of rustic. There is plenty of space for events and the tasting room manager, puts on a ton of events there. The most recent one was eat, drink , and be girly! I would have loved to attend the event as it sounded like fun! I love everything..well almost everything girly :) So I was a little lame and was shirking my photographic duties as I didn't get pictures of the grounds or the tasting room! UGH! BUT! Meridith was kind enough to send me some, these are not my pictures
Rating: 5
Service
I had the opportunity to be waited on by the tasting room manager, Meridith Vinansky. She seemed to be very knowledgeable and professional. All of the guests in the tasting room appeared to be having a wonderful time. I said it before, and I'll say it again, smaller tasting rooms always offer a more personal and intimate experience.
Rating: 4
Food/Wine
Silver Lake has four lines: Girly Girl, Glen Fiona, Leone (all Italian Varietal), and of course the Silver Lake line. I have never seen the girl girl wines and I tried the Girl Girl Merlot and it was PHENOMENAL! LOVE! If you have not had a chance to try it, go out and get a bottle right now! No joke!
Rating: 5
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| Previous Silver Lake Labels |
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| The first Silver Lake Label |
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| This this is my favorite label |
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| This bottle is gorgeous and highly top secret wine! I can't wait to get my paws on some....ah hem..cough cough Bill, send over a bottle! |
I love this winery even more now that I have met the wine makers and have learned more about how they make the wines. Silver Lake is a definite must see on your wine tour!
Cheers,
Melanie
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