Jen and I had both been to music events and wine tastings at Cave B Estate Winery’s tasting room here in Woodinville, back before we knew each other. But for both of us, it had been a few years since we were here. We were curious and eager to come check it out!
We were charmed by the tasting room associate, Meghan, who was super helpful and friendly. She mentioned that you can mix and match flights here. Because their tasting room menu is so broad, it’s easy for red wine drinkers to bring their white wine drinking friends here so everyone can find something to enjoy.
We’ve tasted quite a bit of Washington State Roussanne lately, and wanted to mention that Cave B’s is one of our very favorites! This was our first pour, a 2016 Roussanne blended with 10% Viognier. It was floral and delicate; Jen tasted honey.
Our second pour was the 2016 Viognier, an “easy summer sipper” as Meghan put it. It’s made with 15% Roussanne. It tasted floral and fruity to me, perhaps with a bit of grapefruit.
We didn’t have time to taste the Chenin Blanc but I bought one for home anyway for an upcoming party I was throwing. Meghan says “If you like gin and tonic, you will like Chenin Blanc, it’s crisp and citrusy.”
While sipping our wine, we explored the tasting room a bit. On the left hand side of the tasting room is this wine bottle shop area and a second tasting room bar for when it gets busy on weekends.
We really got a kick out of the hilarious wine-themed signs and gifts for sale in the tasting room’s shop area.
You can purchase wine glasses engraved with the Cave B logo here as well.
There are some choice wine sign selections for moms, plus some art and jewelry.
This was Jen’s favorite of all the wine signs!
As we shopped, we chatted with Meghan about wine, and where she likes to go tasting besides Cave B. She recommended the J. Bookwalter tasting room here in Woodinville.
You probably already guessed that we were excited to try Cave B’s Rosé, especially on a warm sunny early summer day.
Jen took her Rosé outside to enjoy on a bench surrounded by beautiful floral landscaping. It was a 2017 dry Rosé, an intriguing blend of 50% Merlot, 40% Tempranillo and 10% Malbec.
I like Adirondack chairs myself, and took a moment to sit back and enjoy my wine.
We loved having the tasting room to ourselves (not that we don’t like chatting with other wine tasters). One of the benefits of coming wine tasting on a weekday instead of busy weekends! This tasting room is super popular on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays!
Jen teased me because beforehand, I’d vowed to only buy one bottle to take home. Of course, after tasting Cave B’s incredible wines, I was plotting how many whites and how many reds to take home to my cellar!
Next we tried the 2015 Sangiovese, my favorite red of the day. It smelled really good, like berries. Jen said it was spicy, and liked it also. We both brought a bottle of Sangiovese back to our home cellars.
Guests to the tasting room can pick up their tasting at the bar and carry it out to enjoy on this beautiful shaded patio. You can sit here while listening to weekend music performances, too.
The patio part of the tasting room is dog-friendly.
The patio wraps around to the former Genoa tasting room property.
We continued our tasting with some of Cave B’s red wines. We’ve been learning a lot about Malbecs lately, so we selected that as one of our pours from their large tasting menu. It’s a 100% Malbec, and they recommend serving it with short ribs, steak, or pot roast.
The next red wine we tasted was the 2015 Barbera. It’s a 100% Barbera, reminiscent of a Pinot Noir. I found it a bit tannic. I’m going to try more Barberas and work on my palate so I understand this type of wine better!
The Cave B Woodinville wine tasting room is located at 14356 Redmond-Woodinville Rd NE, Redmond, WA 98052. Their Summer hours are 11am to 6pm Thursday through Sunday, 2pm to 6pm on Mondays, and they’re closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Note that on Fridays, they offer $5 wine pours!
-Carrie
RESOURCES:
Cave B Estate Winery on Facebook
Cave B Estate Winery Woodinville Tasting Room on Facebook