Snoqualmie Vineyards

Snoqualmie Winery, a subsidiary of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, is conveniently located off I-82 in Prosser. The Snoqualmie Winery visitor center, with its rustic timbered facade and beautiful landscaping, features stylish deck chairs and tables set against a manmade waterfall. The tasting room itself reflects the “simplicity and uncomplicated goal of making approachable, food-friendly wines.” You might not expect to find a Cascade-style timber lodge situated in a farming community like Prosser, where pickup trucks outnumber cars, but somehow it works. Perhaps it’s because of the friendliness of the pouring staff at Snoqualmie or the simple elegance of the building itself, but in the end it is the wine that wins your heart. Snoqualmie’s goal is to produce quality, approachable wines at an affordable price.

Be prepared to go au naturel at this tasting room. No, we’re not talking about a nudist wine colony here (although that does conjure up an idea for a new business venture). Rather, “naked” refers to Snoqualmie’s line of organic wines such as Naked Riesling, Naked Gewürztraminer, Naked Merlot and Naked Cabernet Sauvignon. In addition to the Naked wine label, Snoqualmie also produces a Columbia Valley portfolio expressing the unique varietal character of Northwest wines. Priced at around $10 a bottle, these great value wines are the perfect solution for family picnics or tonight’s chicken dinner.

But wait, there’s more!

Winemaker Joy Anderson reserves the best of the best in terms of select grapes for Snoqualmie Vineyards Reserve Wines. More elegant, more complex but still sporting an attractive price point (low to mid-20s) these Reserves showcase the terroir of the Columbia Valley’s merlot, cabernet sauvignon and syrah. They also demonstrate that Joy is an accomplished winemaker with a skilled team in the background (it takes a village when it comes to Snoqualmie Vineyard’s large-scale production). That’s the naked truth.

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  Snoqualmie Vineyards was featured in WineTrails of Washington as part of the Prosser WineTrail South on page 360!