Tunnel Hill Winery welcomes you after your long car ride towards Lake Chelan from far-off places.
How tempting is it to pull in, order a glass pour of their wine, stretch your legs, let the kids out to run around, and relax in their beautifully manicured grounds?
This is marketing brilliance – they offer a small playground for car-weary kids to play while parents supervise them from a nearby picnic bench. What a great idea!
There are plenty of seating areas you can choose from, with several tables for groups of six.
We were greeted by Tunnel Hill Winery’s business manager, Michelle, who gave us a tour of the property. She educated us about the Evans family and their transformation from farmland to vineyard. She escorted us into the tasting room where a super friendly tasting room associate began our introduction to Tunnel Hill Winery’s wines.
Jen tasted the Pinot Noir Rosé and Carrie sampled the Estate Riesling. We also tried an intriguing “Camino,” an off-dry blend of Riesling and Gewurztraminer.
You can enter either doorway to go in for wine tasting refills, bathroom visits and an air conditioned break from Chelan’s hot summer weather.
Take your wine glass with you and go for a stroll around the lush winery property. If you are getting married next year, you might like to check out the possibility of getting married at Tunnel Hill Winery.
We meandered about, wine glasses in hand, exploring the ample pathways that led to the vineyard. There was so much to see here!
We admired the charming stone buildings on the property, made with stone from local rocks that were blasted out to make a tunnel for the roadway to Chelan. (You can read more about the Knapps Hill tunnel here).
If you make your way up to the pavilion at the top of the hill, you’re rewarded with this beautiful peek-a-boo view of Lake Chelan.
The Stone House is rentable for overnight guests – visit the Stone House page for details and a peek at the charming interior.
Jen went exploring and found a pergola-shaded pavilion with sitting area at the top of the hill.
The vineyard is planted on a steep sloping hill. You can read more about Tunnel Hill Winery’s estate vineyards on their website.
Tunnel Hill Winery has so many interesting things to explore! Here’s Carrie on the bridge over the little waterfall.
They also host a nice variety of events, from yoga and wine events to wine and cookie tastings, live music, barrel tastings, fall crush and harvest events, and wine dinners. Check their Events page for what’s happening next.
It was heavenly to just sit and relax in the shade with a glass of Tunnel Hill Winery’s Rosé.
We love this darling bench made out of a used wine barrel!
We totally had to try that adorable wine barrel bench out!
Jen is not much of a Riesling fan, so she continued her tasting with the Viognier. Just 146 cases were produced of this wine.
We spent so much time reveling in the beautifully manicured grounds outdoors, we almost neglected to mention that it’s super cozy and cute inside the Tunnel Hill Winery tasting room as well.
We ended up purchasing a couple of bottles of white wine to share with our lake house guests later that evening.
Besides their white wines, Tunnel Hill Winery also offers a Malbec, an estate Pinot Noir, their “Sacrilege” blend of Pinot Noir and Syrah, and an estate Syrah.
Tunnel Hill is located at 37 US-97 ALT, Chelan, WA 98816. Check their Facebook or website for current hours.
RESOURCES:
Tunnel Hill Winery Website
Tunnel Hill Winery on Facebook