Samson Estates Winery

Samson Estates Winery brings a fresh face and a willingness to think outside the traditional barrel. He makes judicious use of oak not wanting tasters with a woody taste in their mouths. He is part of a small but growing minority of winemakers who want to preserve the taste of the grape and not confuse it with wood.

He’s also a big-time producer of fruit wines, with Samson Estates’ raspberry wine outselling its other award-winning wines, including chardonnay, other fruit wines, dessert wines, riesling, merlot, a red-blend Meritage, and even a wine called “Oro,” which is made from fermented hazelnuts. With a family history of farming, Rob grew up surrounded by 200 acres of raspberries. In fact, the family farm is the source of the berries for Samson Estates’ raspberry wine. For the number-crunchers among us, let the record show that an astounding 3 pounds of raspberries go into producing one bottle of raspberry wine. No wonder it tastes like biting into a big handful of fresh raspberries picked at their zenith. This is not your grandma’s fruit wine. By the way, Rob’s father, Sam, still tends to the 200-plus acres of fruit, and Rob honors his dad in the winery’s name: Sam-son.

People want alternatives and they want good value, too. How’s this for value? Most of the Samson Estates wines sell for around $10 a bottle. Its most expensive wine is its delicious red Meritage, which sells for $19 a bottle. That’s still way below the amount you would shell out for a similar quality of wine found in Woodinville or Walla Walla.

Bring a friend and split a carafe of wine near the cozy fireplace or, weather permitting, sit outside on the comfortable deck chairs and enjoy stunning views of the Twin Sisters Mountain in the distance. To paraphrase the Beatles, “Raspberry fields forever.”

Directions: From I-5 take exit 255 and head east onto SR-542 [Mt. Baker Hwy] 4.7 miles. Turn left onto Everson-Goshen Rd and proceed 6 miles. Turn right onto SR-544 [Everson-Goshen Rd] and continue 1 mile. Turn left onto Van Dyk Rd for about 1 mile and arrive at Samson Estates Winery at 1861 Van Dyk Rd.

Addresses

• Northwest Washington WineTrail

  Winery/Tasting Room

  1861 Van Dyk Road, Everson, WA 98199
  Hours: Daily 11–6 from June through September; 11–5 Friday through Sunday from October through May; 11–3 Wednesday and Thursday, 11-5 Friday through Sunday, December through December 23, or by appointment. Closed December 24 through December 26 and December 31
  48.909585-122.389192