Yakima Valley Wineries Return to Bellingham

It’s not often that a group of wineries comes to Bellingham. But on July 23, you’ll get an opportunity to meet with several winemakers and winery representatives from the Yakima Valley and participate in a public tasting of their wines at the Hotel Bellwether.

The best thing about an event of this kind is that the wineries come to you. There’s nothing to worry about in terms of planning a trip, setting up appointments or blocking out a significant amount of time to travel.

The tasting will take place under one roof, allowing you to maximize your enjoyment of Yakima Valley wines and meet a number of people in the wine industry who will be on hand to answer questions.

Wineries scheduled to attend include Kestral Vintners, Fidelitas Winery, Thurston Wolfe, Chinook, Wineglass Cellars, and Alexandria Nicole, among many others.

The public tasting will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 pm and will include several wine samples from each winery and light appetizers. Tickets can be purchased online for $35 per person at www.wineyakimavalley.org.

Another great way to sample a variety of wines in one setting is to attend a local wine class. I’ll be teaching Beginning Wine Tasting at Bellingham Technical College on July 21 from 5:00 to 7:30 pm. During the class we’ll sample six different wines from around the world and discuss tasting techniques, basic terminology and what to look for when purchasing wine. Register by phoning 752-8350 or go to www.btc.ctc.edu.