In 1999, Craig and Vicki Leuthold established Maryhill Winery and set out to produce premier wines in the Columbia River Gorge. The winery is located in Goldendale, Washington, with a tasting room in Spokane, Vancouver, and Woodinville.
Maryhill uses grapes from the Columbia Valley AVA (learn more about the AVAs in Washington State here). The estate vineyard is located on the Columbia Gorge in the southern part of the state where warm summer days and cool nights create an environment for grapes to flourish - including some varieties that are difficult to grow elsewhere in the state.
With a portfolio of more than 50 quality and affordable wines, we've been interested in visiting their Gorge location for wine tasting and for one of their music events. Given current events, we opted instead to visit the Woodinville tasting room located in the historic Hollywood Schoolhouse.
The tasting room is large with designated areas for retail wine shopping and tasting. A bistro menu is available with several options designed to complement the wine tasting experience - charcuterie boards, shareable plates, and a delicious sauteed shrimp dish.
The tasting flight is seven wines, two white (sauvignon blanc and chardonnay) and five red (merlot, syrah, malbec, Primitivo, and cabernet sauvignon. A review of our two favorites is below.
2017 Sauvignon Blanc
Peach and melon aromas with a trace of flint linger on the nose. On the palate, the wine shows flavors of honey, Asian, pear, and crushed coconut with a lively finish.
Personal tasting notes: We are not big white wine drinkers, but sometimes the menu and situation calls for it. And, if you're stocking up a wine cellar of any size, you need to have some white wines in the mix. This would be a solid and affordable choice.
Peach and pear were the prominent notes and flavors I enjoyed. Not the cloying sweet flavors, but crisp and bright, a tasty accompaniment to a conversation on the patio or a poached monkfish. Breezy, not dominating, pleasant. $17.
2017 Syrah
Warming aromas of floral huckleberry and smoky meat upfront lead into an elegant palate of ripe cherry, clove, and pipe tobacco with a velvety, lengthy finish.
I'm a big fan of the smoky, earthy flavors that this syrah delivered. It was pleasant and enjoyable, and if we didn't already have a couple of cases of syrah at home, we would have purchased a couple of bottles. $28
What we did buy, however, was a couple of bottles of the Primitivo. It was on the tasting flight and while I didn't rate it my favorite, I did like it. We didn't have any Primitivo in the cellar, so this was a nice addition. $32.
Also, they had a killer sale on their 2015 Zinfandel. This wasn't on the tasting menu, but we asked to give it a try. It had rich berry aromas with cherry and spicy flavors. We enjoy Zinfandel when we barbecue and at $130 for a case (12), this is priced for drinking any day of the week.
The Maryhill Winery tasting room is located at 14810 NE 145th Street #A in Woodinville (website here). Reservations are not required. The tasting room is open daily, noon-8 pm Monday-Thursday, until 9 pm on Friday and Saturday and until 7 pm on Sunday. The tasting fee is $20 per person, with the fee waived with purchase.
Drink responsibly. Have a designated driver (or take a cab or ride service) when doing wine tasting.
Other Woodinville wine tasting reviews that you might enjoy: