Chateau Lill sent a wave of excitement through the Woodinville wine community recently when they announced that they have opened their property for patio wine tasting. We immediately booked a reservation so we could go experience it for ourselves!
When you arrive at the Chateau, you will be instantly impressed with how beautiful this estate truly is. There are no indoor tastings allowed right now due to current Washington State restrictions, but as you arrive, you do have a brief moment to enjoy this view before heading outside. There are nice bathrooms open to guests inside on the lower floor of the building. Also noteworthy, the property is dog friendly.
Each outdoor wine tasting includes a shareable artisan cheese tray from a local Woodinville restaurant or catering company, your wine tasting and a stemless logo wine glass that you can take home. This cheese tray was delicious and Kaiti and I had zero trouble enjoying it.
We were fortunate to have had an opportunity to meet and chat with DeLille Cellars founding member Greg Lill and his wife Stacy while we visited. We learned that the Lill Baby, Lill Sister and Lill Brother wines were a new project for this award winning producer of renowned Washington State Bordeaux and Rhone style wines. Lill told us that after almost 30 years in the wine making business, he decided not to add these additional wines to the DeLille Wines and Chateau Lill production lines. Instead, he reached out to his friends in the Woodinville wine business and partnered with winemakers such as Chris Sparkman, Chris Gorman and others to craft new wines that are exclusively available at the chateau or on the website.
As a guest at Chateau Lill, you can explore the beautiful grounds for your wine tasting experience. This leaves plenty of socially distant space to enjoy with family and a few friends.
We wandered over to look at these adorable alpaca who were curious about us as we were about them! I seriously cannot stop smiling whenever I look at this picture… I want one!
Kaiti was all smiles in our private corner on the patio. There was a space heater behind us and a table top fireplace for the perfect ambiance.
This 2019 Lill Sister Chardonnay wowed us! It was such a delicious Chardonnay with a creamy full body and a balanced finish with notes of lemon and vanilla. It’s sourced from Royal Slope Vineyard and produced by Chris Sparkman from Sparkman Cellars.
This Cashmere Chardonnay had rich aromas of butterscotch and notes of vanilla with a long, smooth finish. This one is known to have somewhat of a cult following so if you love Chardonnay, add it to your holiday wine list!
Jen and Carrie enjoying the holiday lights outside of Woodinville’s Chateau Lill
Carrie and I stood outside the grand entrance to the Chateau and posed for a quick photograph. It was strange to reminisce on our visit from 2018, when we first toured this incredible property. Things now are so different, with masks and distance, etc. It made me really appreciate the creative direction behind the decision to open up Chateau Lill for tastings, because something joyful is being created from a struggle. That, for me is the ultimate lesson to be learned during this extremely trying time.
The Chateau is open for wine tastings Friday, Saturday and Sunday and you can book reservations here. Reservations are not required, but we would highly recommend them because as word geta around about this exciting opportunity to visit Chateau Lill, we have a strong feeling that it is going to be packed!
Chateau Lill is located in Woodinville, at 14208 Woodinville-Redmond Rd.
For more info, check out these resources:
Cheers and please be sure to let us know in the comment section what you think after you visit Chateau Lill!
~ Jen
