Spring Barrel Tasting Weekend at Steppe Cellars

It should be a beautiful weekend in the Yakima Valley for Spring Barrel Tasting Weekend. Temperatures should be in the upper 60's with mostly sunny skies. The fruit trees are all in bloom and the valley looks beautiful.
At Steppe Cellars we will be tasting our Barbera wine from the barrel. This is a wine we will use as a component in one of our red blends. It will also be a future limited bottling for wine club members. This year we will have a reserved barrel tasting / vertical tasting of our Tempranillo/ Granache / Mouvedre. There is a $5 fee for this, which is waived for our wine club members as well as those who have purchased the Premier Pass. (Our reserved tasting fee is always waived with your purchase of Steppe wine.)

Lunch at the Winery Spring Barrel Weekend

Aaron from Guerra's Gourmet & Deli is preparing some great lunches for the spring barrel weekend. He has changed the menu a little this year adding a few more choices to the popular grilled asparagus. Here is what he has planned.

Guerra's at Steppe Cellars Spring Barrel Tasting April 24th - 25th:

• Tacos de barbacoa (slow roasted beef) marinated with Steppe Cellars Big Sage Red and Guerra's Gourmet seasoning

• Tacos de pollo (slow roasted chicken breast) marinated with Steppe's Semillon and Guerra's Gourmet seasoning

• Grilled asparagus

Condiments all prepared by Aaron (with a little wine to enhance flavors):

pico de gallo

roasted red salsa

tomatillo salsa

Meal: Choice of 3 tacos of barbacoa(marinated beef) or pollo (marinated chicken)), grilled asparagus, and drink (water/coke/diet coke) $10

Chips and his homemade Salsa $5

Grilled fresh local Asparagus $5/plate

His meals have always been a great hit spring barrel weekend. We hope you come out and join us for a picnic under the cherry trees away from the crowds.

Spring Dinner at the Winery is Sold Out

We are sold out of tickets for our spring dinner at the winery.

Beautiful Week

Spring is here!

Racking the Temprenillo Grenache & Mouvedre

We racked the Tempranillo, Granache & Mouvedre last week.  This means we took the wine out of the barrels, cleaned the barrels & then put the wine back in the barrels. Now a little more time in the barrel!

This week around the farm

Triticale

The grapes are still looking about the same

Apples - center bud (which will become the king bud) showing pink

Cherries are just about in full bloom. There are still some closed blossoms.

Frost control

This is a picture of the cherry blossoms tonight while we were out with frost control - adjusting water ~ so far there is still wind - so no need for wind machines yet.  Beautiful night sky - even if it is a bit chilly.  It's supposed to be a nice day tomorrow. Cherry trees are approaching full bloom.

It's been a cold week!

We have been needing to do a little frost protection. The picture with the ice on the apple tree shows one of the frost protection methods we have been using. When the temperature dips to a critical point for the fruit buds, we turn on the water. Calories are required to freeze water, so as it freezes, it actually releases a little heat. As long as we keep the water on, and making ice, a little heat will be released to the fruit bud. The one picture of the open cherry blossom shows a green ovary - which means it was not damaged by the cold weather. Still not much visible change to the Riesling grapes,but the alfalfa field is getting much more lush.
It was really cold and YUCKY weather for our first open weekend this season! Thank you to all of you who came out & visited! We are glad to have that spring storm behind us.

Closed Easter Sunday - April 4 -Opening Weekend

We will open for the season Friday April 2, and be open Saturday April 3, but will be closed Sunday, April 4. Both Friday and Saturday we will be open from 11:00 to 5:00. The following weekends we will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 to 5:00 each day.