My friend Rebecca is a busy working mom – a teacher with an active family life and busy social life. So she hasn’t had a lot of opportunities to just go out and check out Woodinville tasting rooms, though she loves drinking wine (perhaps, dare I say, even more than I do!)
We managed to miraculously make time for each other on a recent Saturday – I was delighted! Her husband and son were skiing together that day, and my boyfriend was visiting his parents, so all that was left to arrange was a babysitter for Rebecca’s darling daughter for a couple of hours. We wouldn’t have much time after lunch to fit in very many tastings, so I prioritized a visit to Davenport Cellars in Woodinville’s Warehouse District.
I hadn’t been here personally yet – Jen visited and wrote a post back in December 2017. I’ve been chatting with the very friendly and enthusiastic Nancy Croisier on Twitter and she’s kept encouraging me to stop by and visit Davenport Cellars. I wanted Rebecca to see a family-friendly tasting room just for future reference in case she wanted to bring her husband and kids along some weekend. Also, I wanted her first tasting room experience to be friendly, welcoming and enjoyable and trusted this place would be all three!
We had just eaten lunch at Bistro at Hollywood Schoolhouse, so we weren’t able to partake in Davenport Cellars’ menu offerings, sadly.
Davenport Cellars is a wine tasting room, a restaurant AND a rentable event space! It’s kid-friendly (I think I saw some coloring books, games and entertainment items) and dog-friendly. I love that they have such an expansive menu: Besides the usual charcuterie/antipasto, flatbreads, cheese and olives; they offer soup, salads, sandwiches and a hummus plate.
We began our wine tasting experience with the 2015 Fume Blanc and continued to the 2015 Semillon. I’m excited to add some white wines to my repertoire of what I put out for guests at my parties.
I really enjoyed the chance to taste some different types of wine – I’d been trying quite a few Rieslings, Malbecs, Tempranillos and Viogniers on my tasting adventures lately. I was particularly intrigued by the Fume Blanc and Petit Sirah and Semillon. I had to get online later and look up how a Fume Blanc is different than Sauvignon Blanc – oh, it’s drier! Sheila writes that “The differences between our Sauvignon Blanc and Fume Blanc are stainless steel vs French oak barrel fermentations and aging. Both are technically dry.”
I also had to look up why Petit Sirah is spelled that way instead of Petit Syrah, and now I feel stupid! It’s made from a completely different grape!
Next we moved onto the 2011 R.H.D., a Merlot-dominant Bordeaux blend. R.H.D. stands for Rhodolphus Henry Davenport, a family name on Sheila’s side. (Her father’s initials – he’s the fourth in the family with that name!)
Davenport’s owners are Sheila and Jeff Jirka. I was glad to get to meet Sheila, who was busy petting someone’s happy dog they’d brought into this dog-friendly tasting room. Meanwhile, Nancy kept educating us about Davenport’s wines. They’re a small boutique winery that produces just under 800 cases of wine per year.
Our next tasting was the Petit Sirah from Yakima Valley. I definitely need to learn more about this type of wine.
Then, Nancy surprised us with a bonus pour of their Meritage Rouge, a 50/50 blend of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Sold! I bought a bottle to bring home, thinking that it tasted so good I’d better hide it away so I didn’t accidentally share it with party guests!
We had to say our goodbyes and move on to our next tasting, over at The Woodhouse Wine Estates. Thanks Nancy, Phil and Sheila for making my friend Rebecca’s first Woodinville wine tasting so fun and special!
-Carrie
Davenport Cellars is open on Saturdays and Sundays, generally noon through 5pm. They’re located at 19495 144th Ave NE, Suite A-160, Woodinville, WA 98072.
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