Food, Fitness, & Fun in All 50 States

Our final outing to celebrate our 5 year anniversary was to the beautiful grounds of Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery on August 2nd. When I found out it was only a couple of miles from our house in Woodinville, WA (outskirts of Seattle) I knew we had to go tour the facility and sample some wine! And what a better occasion than our anniversary? Chateau Ste. Michelle is known for their Riesling wines, and makes my very favorite wine – their Riesling Harvest Select. So yummy! (If you like sweet white wine).

We started the morning with their Garden Tour which is $10 per person. It was definitely cool to walk all through the grounds and learn about its history and the landscaping. But if your aren’t really into plants (we aren’t), this might not be the tour for you. I thought it would be more of a vineyard type tour, but it wasn’t. It was specifically a tour to learn about the trees and flowers, etc. Still very interesting though. The Master Gardener was super sweet and passionate about her job. She knew everything about the property and its history and was able to answer everybody’s questions. The grounds are kept immaculate. It felt very homey and welcoming, just like you would imagine a vineyard estate to feel. Part of the tour walked us through some of the old buildings which was very neat too.

And we got to meet the chateau’s resident peacock!

The tour ended in the gift shop where we were all given a sample of wine and a 10% discount coupon. Once we finished that tour (less than an hour), we headed back to the main building for our next tour…the Winery Tour and Tasting. They offer this one every day several times a day for free. It is a pretty short and sweet tour. Not super exciting, but nice. They go over the brief history of Columbia Valley and the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery. We were able to see into the bottling facility and learned a bit about the aging process. And the best part?! Of course the ending in the tasting room with 3 samples! Yay! Yay! Yay! It was definitely a nice way to spend our morning. And if you are ever in the area it is a nice little tour and tasting. I would recommend bringing a picnic and a book and relaxing with a bottle of wine on their beautiful estate after your tour though! Or maybe even attending one of their concerts that they hold in the summer time. We heard they are pretty cool too.

Skyler and I had a wonderful anniversary weekend! Whale Watching in San Juan was definitely our favorite, but Deception Pass and Chateau Ste. Michelle were both great as well! Once we finished up with the wine tasting we headed back to our apartment for an afternoon of sunbathing by the pool and then grilling out steaks for dinner that night. It was definitely a much needed romantic weekend of fun and relaxation!