I recently met up with my friend Zoe for a much needed afternoon of wine tasting and catching up. Our first stop of the day was Beaumont Cellars, in the Woodinville Junction. Our tasting room associate, Lori, was super friendly and eager to chat with us. Lori shared stories about the Beaumont Family’s winemaking process and about the many varieties of Washington wine that they make. If you look in the corner of this menu board, you see a toast from owner/winemaker Pete and his wife Katie. Pete and Katie are mentioned fondly each and every time we visit their Woodinville tasting room, and visitors get the feeling that much care and passion is behind their small-batch winemaking. Carrie and I are dying to make the trip to see their Quincy tasting room and winery.
I love stopping into Beaumont Cellars whenever I have a taste for Cabernet Franc. Their 2016 Reserve Cab Franc is unique to my palate because it has notes of strawberries and fajita spices. I think it would be fantastic at a Woodinville Wine Cab Franc vertical tasting party that we will host at my house this Spring. I will probably pair it with a charcuterie board filled with rich, soft cheeses and smoked meats, or a nice pasta dish.
Here I was tasting the 2016 Reserve Merlot. This was a very balanced wine that I think would pair with all kinds of food. It had a lovely aroma of vanilla and cedar. Like most of the Beaumont Cellars we have tried, it is also fruit-forward with notes of red berries. Delicious!
Another favorite of mine while visiting the Woodinville tasting room was Pete’s Crush Pad blend. While I typically reach for Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon or Rosé wines, Beaumont’s Crush Pad was incredible and I went back for more (while I could get my hands on it! It sold out!). It is a blend of Viognier and Reisling that was not too sweet and had a refreshing, citrusy quality. I think I might have tasted green apple as well. This is one white blend that I am very much looking forward to trying again this year, on the Woodinville patio, when the weather warms up.
Here Zoe is about to sip the 2015 reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, sourced from Red Mountain AVA. This would be perfectly paired with a grilled steak (ribeye!) because of the high tannins. I picked up the aroma of vanilla and berries, with notes of black cherry on the palate. Zoe really loved this and felt that she would pair it with mushroom risotto.
Woodinville Junction is one of my favorite places to stop for wine tasting because there always seems to be a fun event going on. This month, Beaumont is hosting two more Beat the Geek Trivia nights. These will be taking place Thursdays at 7:30 pm. Wine is not mandatory of course but will be available for purchase both by the glass or bottle.
Beaumont Cellars is also open a bit later into the evening than some of the other Woodinville tasting rooms. Thursday they are open from 4-9 pm, Friday 4-8 pm, Saturday from 12-8 pm and Sunday from 12-6. I know it might seem like a small thing, but when I am running friends around to as many amazing Woodinville tasting rooms as they can handle, the extra hour is so helpful.
You can find Beaumont Cellars at 19151 144th Ave. NE, Woodinville, WA 98072.
Have you tried their Petite Verdot yet? This is the bottle that I selected to purchase and take home with me because I know someone that it would make a perfect gift for. I would love to hear from you in the comments if you have tried it yourself, or if you have another favorite Beaumont Cellars wine that you would recommend we try!
Cheers!
~Jen
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