Holiday Dinner & Wine Pairing

To compliment a traditional holiday dinner as a whole with all it's side dishes we suggest uncorking a bottle of Steppe Cellars 2006 Dry Riesling and 2007 Dry Syrah Rose. The Dry Riesling with its crisp acidity and aromatic peach and pear bouquet will pair well with the salty and cream based foods such as mashed potatoes and gravy. The Dry Rose will bring out the roasty and nutty flavors in the turkey and play off any dried fruit in the dishes with its lovely jammy cherry flavors.

Winemakers Dinner Dec.3 at Chez Shea

Please join Steppe Cellars winemaker,
Anke Freimuth-Wildman,
for an intimate winemaker dinner at Chez Shea.
Thursday, December 3
Call 206-467-9990 for reservations!
This will be a wonderful 4 course meal paired with Steppe Cellars' wines.

For the complete menu visit the link below.
Steppe Cellars Winemaker Dinner Menu at Chez Shea

Our Winter Schedule

Our tasting room will be closed for the winter from November through March. We will open back up in April. We will also be open for the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving and for Red Wine and Chocolate in February. If you need to visit us during the winter months, please send us an email. You can do this easily through the contact us page on our website.

Thanksgiving at Steppe Cellars

The Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving, we will be open with a fire crackling, grapevine wreath making, hot cider for the designated drivers, some great snacks for all, and some of our new releases for the wine tasters - including our newly released magnum bottles of the 2006 reds.
We will also have a few small items for those looking to do a little holiday shopping while wine tasting. Muskrat Pottery will have their work on display. We have just a few of the grape varietal posters still available, and there will be some of the European glass ornaments for sale. In addition we have wine gift bags, aroma wheels and a few other wine-related gift items.

Last Pressing for 2009 Wines

We finished up with the last press for 2009 last night. The last of the Cabernet Sauvignon (from Lone Spring Ranch) was pressed with a beautiful sunset as we started clean up. The Riesling is starting its long cool fermentation, to ensure the retention of its bright fruit flavors, while the reds are in the barrel beginning the malolactic fermentation. The primary fermentation is finished for the reds. Now malic acid will be converted to lactic acid. The lactic acid helps to provide part of the taste and mouthfeel we love in the reds.

Events for October

There is a lot going on this month at the winery. Crush is always a fun time of year. It is exciting to see the grapes coming in. One of the harvest traditions we have at Steppe Cellars is our Federweisser und Zwiebelkuchen. If you stop by on October 10 (always the second Saturday of October) - you will be able to taste the just fermenting grape juice and have a slice of the onion tart. It is a great combination, and something that is done in Germany at this time of year. We will also be hosting a harvest dinner party at the winery on October 17. -- Visit our website and the "contact us" section to request tickets.

Crush

September has been a busy month as we are in full swing with harvest. The grapes from the crush of the day are always out for everyone who stops by to sample. We have also enjoyed showing everyone the process of taking the grapes off the stems and pressing them. Some visitors have even gotten some hands on experience with crush. If you do stop by and are interested in seeing the process, be sure to let us know. This is a great time of year to visit the wineries. The smells from harvest are wonderful.

Case of the Blues

Drop by and see us at Yakima's Case of the Blues. It should be a great evening of music, food , and wine.

The veggie garden

When you come over for a visit, plan on a picnic. We have cheese and crackers for sale in the tasting room --- and now a few fresh veggies from the garden. The tomatoes are coming on strong. A cracker some cheese and a little fresh basil --- along with a glass of wine and some great views -- a great way to spend some time in the Yakima Valley!
Any donations you make for the fresh produce will go to support Project Hope.

Beautiful Weather

It is just beautiful in the Yakima Valley this weekend. A welcome relief from the hot temperatures the past couple of weekends!

More Pictures from Spring Barrel

Thank you Kristin and Les for sending us your pictures. We really enjoyed visiting with you and all your friends!

The Cherries are Ripe

The Cherries are beautiful. When you come over this weekend, be sure to bring a bag so you can take a few cherries home with you.

Grapes just finishing bloom

The Riesling grapes have just finished bloom. If you stop by the winery, you are welcome to take a walk through the vineyard and look at the little clusters of grapes.

Memorial Weekend

It looks like it will be a beautiful weekend!

Spring has arrived in the Shrub Steppe

Pictures from Winemaker's Dinner

Roger and Joreen from Bon Vinos prepared an absolutely fantastic meal!










The pairings with the wine were great - and we all
enjoyed listening to Anke and Roger tell about the food and the wine.

















We had a great time visiting with all of you - and will definitely plan on doing this again!

Guerra's Gourmet ~ Thank you!

Aaron did a great job with his grilled brats and asparagus. His fresh salsa was wonderful!

Guerra's Gourmet serving lunch Barrel tasting weekend

Guerra's Gourmet will be back at Steppe Cellars this barrel tasting weekend. Aaron will grill up gourmet brats (with sauteed onions and peppers) on a roll along with grilled aspargus and a drink (water, coke, diet coke) for $10 and condiments included.

He will also serve chips with fresh salsa. He will have a salsa he has created that will partner with our Big Sage Red wine and a green tomatillo salsa that will partner with the Gewurztraminer for $5. You will be able to purchase glass pours of our wines to have along his special salsas.

Bon Vinos Winemakers Dinner almost sold out

We are almost sold out of tickets for the Winemaker's Dinner - only have 9 left. E-mail (steppecellars@steppecellars.com) , or call us (509-837-8281)if you want to purchase your tickets.

Pre-barrel tasting weekend

It was great visiting with everyone last weekend. So nice to finally have beautiful spring weather. We will be barrel tasting the Tempranillo and Malbec again next weekend.

Closed Sunday, April 12

We will be closed Sunday April 12. If you are planning on wine tasting this weekend, please stop by to see us on Friday the 10th, or Saturday the 11th.

Winemaker's Dinner April 25 at the winery

Steppe Cellars
&
Bon Vino’s Bistro & Bakery

Invite you to join us for a Winemaker’s Dinner
Spring Barrel Tasting Weekend

When: Saturday, April 25th – 6:30pm
Where: Steppe Cellars Winery
1991 Chaffee Road – Sunnyside, WA
Tickets: $60
Questions & Contact:
steppecellars@steppecellars.com http://www.steppecellars.com/ 509-830-8891

Dinner Menu

Appetizer
Grilled Shrimp with Citric Sauce and Wild Rice
2006 Semillon

Salad
Mixed Greens with Dried Fruit and a light touch of the House Balsamic Dressing topped with Gorgonzola Cheese
2007 Gewürztraminer

Main Course
Served with Bread & Butter
Grilled Pork Tenderloin or Grilled California Chicken with Tart Cherry Sauce
Linguini Pasta Fresca with Northern Woods Wild Mushrooms
Blanched Asparaguses with Rosemary and Aged Reduction Balsamic
2006 Cabernet Sauvignon

Dessert
Merlot Chocolate Ganache Torte
2006 Tempranillo Grenache

Spring Barrel Weekend

We are in the process of getting all of our spring barrel tasting activities lined up. A winemaker's dinner is planned for Saturday the 25th, and we are working on some great picnic foods to have for those first spring picnics. More to come.

March 14 Wine Tasting at DeLaurenti

Steppe Cellars will be sampling some of our wine at DeLaurenti Specialty Wine and Food Shop in Seattle. We will be there Saturday March 14.

Winemaker Dinner at Portage

Portage is featuring Steppe Cellars for their Fat Tuesday celebration. Portage is a French Restaurant located on Queen Anne hill in Seattle. Great food and wine pairings. This is a ticketed event. www.portagerestaurant.com

Wine Bar at Bon Vinos

Bon Vinos is featuring Steppe Cellars wine along with tapas every Thursday - Saturday from 4:00 -6:00. Anke and Roger have worked together to come up with some terrific pairings.

Wine,Chocolate, and great conversation

What a lot of fun this past weekend was. We had such a great time visiting with everyone - catching up with all of you whom we have met before and meeting so many new people. ~ And the chocolate pairings Anke planned we think were great. The dark chocolate was 70% cocoa and when paired with the blueberries it really brought out a lot of flavors in both the chocolate and the wine. The other surprise pairing was the salty cracker with the chili chocolate. It was a nice compliment to the wine -not too sweet with the red wines.

Red Wine and Chocolate

This February 14, 15 and 16 wineries around the Yakima Valley will be celebrating the Valentine's Day weekend with Red Wine and Chocolate. At Steppe Cellars, we will have several different chocolate fondues for you to sample and pair with wine. Each chocolate fondue will be set up at a sensory station. You will be able to try to identify the smells and the tastes that make that particular chocolate different from the others. At the same time you can try identifying the aromas in the various red wines we will be sampling and decide for yourself which wines you feel pair best with which chocolates.
It should be a lot of fun. There are no "right" or "wrong" pairings - just some great chocolate to go along with some great wine.
We hope to see you there.