While the weather is still nice this summer and early autumn, we’ve tried to enjoy as many wine tasting patios as possible before the rains come. On several occasions, we’ve been delighted to meet other tasters’ dogs or the winery’s dog-in-residence. We saw relaxed, calm, leashed and well behaved dogs, all who were happy to accept our petting!
While my own dogs (two big, licky flatcoat retrievers) are too large, mischievous and wiggly to bring to any patios or tasting rooms, I’ve been interested to learn which tasting rooms welcome dogs and which do not. I’m sure it’s a complicated issue for the wineries – To kindly allow some customers to bring their dogs inside might scare away other customers who are allergic to dogs or afraid of them. And there are city and county laws to consider.
Most tasting rooms don’t serve food, so that’s not part of the consideration in many situations. We’ve learned that some strip mall landlords allow dogs on property and others don’t. Tasting rooms in unincorporated King County allow dogs; others in the city limits of Woodinville cannot. We were not able to bring little Lola to Tsillan Cellars or Skylite Cellars (though the employees were super nice about their “No.”) She was welcomed on the patio at The Commons where we ate a nice lunch before heading out to do some wine tasting with her in tow.
So here are some of our current favorite places in Woodinville to bring a small friendly leashed dog:
Gorman Winery enthusiastically welcomes well-behaved leashed dogs. We couldn’t resist staging a shot of their “Bully” wine next to Lola, a French Bulldog!
At Zerba Cellars, you’ll be greeted by this alert and friendly poodle named Chivas.
At Chandler Reach, we were delighted to meet this Golden Retriever named Cooper. The tasting room hostesses came over to give him a few good skritchings too.
Sky River Mead has some darling elderly resident dogs who will accept some pats and then wander off for a nap.
The trails and outdoor areas at JM Cellars are dog friendly. I’ve heard there’s a resident dog on site but haven’t gotten to meet them yet!
Also, for beer drinkers, I’ve seen lots of dogs enjoying the patio at Fish Brewing Taproom.
-Carrie
