Taste Washington 2016: The Super Bowl of Wine Events

Screen Shot 2016-03-20 at 3.54.42 PMAs far back as we can remember, we’ve always called Taste Washington “the Super Bowl of Wine Events” because it is the country’s largest single-region wine and food event. Period.

We love to go every year and encourage you to run, don’t walk, to get your tickets for the activities being held March 31-April 3.

In this 19th year, an expanded lineup features:

More than 225 wineries will be pouring at the Grand Tasting and 70 restaurants will be serving tasty bites. We highly recommend that you develop a plan before you enter the doors. Because once there, you will be hit with an explosion of taste potentials — and it can be overwhelming.

For example, one year we decided to only taste wines made from Cabernet Franc, as a standalone varietal. Another year, we decided to visit booths of some of our tried and favorite wineries plus five new ones.

But we always leave room for some flexibility; chances are something will catch our eye as we walk through the aisles, and we’ll make an on-the-spot decision to deviate from the plan.

Note: We recommend tasting and spitting wine (or pouring it into the buckets at each booth) at this major event, but if you think you might want more than a sip or two, many hotels in the area are offering special weekend packages. Otherwise, be sure to have a designated driver, or take cabs or local transit home.

Of the 225+ wineries pouring at the Grand Tasting, here is our long list of 50 of our favorites (in alphabetical order):

  1. Alexandria Nicole Cellars
  2. Amavi Cellars
  3. Ambassador Wines of Washington
  4. Andrew Will
  5. Avennia
  6. Barrister Winery
  7. Bartholomew Winery
  8. Betz Family Winery
  9. Buty Winery
  10. Canvasback
  11. Chateau Ste. Michelle
  12. Columbia Crest
  13. Cooper Wine Company
  14. Cote Bonneville
  15. Darby
  16. DeLille Cellars
  17. DiStefano
  18. Double Canyon
  19. Doubleback
  20. Dunham Cellars
  21. EFESTE
  22. Fidelitas
  23. Fielding Hills
  24. FIGGINS
  25. Force Majeure Vineyards
  26. Forgeron Cellars
  27. Gard
  28. Gorman Winery
  29. Guardian Cellars
  30. JM Cellars
  31. L’Ecole No 41
  32. Lauren Ashton Cellars
  33. Long Shadows Vintners
  34. Mark Ryan
  35. Matthews & Tenor Wines
  36. Mercer Estates
  37. Obelisco Estate Wines
  38. Otis Kenyon
  39. Savage Grace
  40. Sinclair Estate VIneyards
  41. Sparkman Cellars
  42. Stevens
  43. Stottle Winery
  44. Three Rivers
  45. Upchurch Vineyard
  46. Walla Walla Vintners
  47. Waterbrook
  48. William Church
  49. Woodinville Wine Cellars
  50. Woodward Canyon

Of course, we won’t be able to visit all of them, but we will shorten the list and make up our plan in the next week or two. We hope to see you there!

Cheers!
Margot and Dave

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About Margot

Margot started writing about wine decades ago as a national journalist in Canada and the U.S. She and Dave created this website in 2007. Originally, the website introduced people to wines in Washington state, the second-largest wine region in the U.S. But over the years, the site expanded to feature other wine regions in the U.S., Canada, and in the world. If you like to read about standout wine and winery stories, then Write for Wine is for you.