Tasting Wine and Making Friends at Gard Vintners

On a cloudy, dreary Saturday in February, my friend Serret and I decided it would be infinitely more pleasurable to go wine tasting in Woodinville than to sit at our homes doing laundry and chores. My boyfriend was visiting his parents and hers was on a trip with his band, so we took advantage of the opportunity to have a Girls Day.

I was personally excited to head into Woodinville’s Warehouse District. Jen and I have been busy or traveling on weekends, and weekends are when the warehouse tasting rooms are most likely to be open. Now was my chance to check out the action!

We’d been warmly invited to visit Gard Vintners, so that was our first stop! It’s located at The Junction.

We met the most delightful ladies – Christina, the tasting room manager, and her assistant, Patricia (shown here chatting with Carrie). Both ladies were very upbeat, welcoming, friendly, energetic and fun to talk to.

We habitually ask if the tasting room is dog friendly. This time the answer was an enthusiastic “Yes! Bring all the dogs!”

Gard Vintners‘ labels and tasting room wine glasses feature their charming estate farmyard logo.

The logo shows a picturesque barn because the Lawrence family has been farming for years. “Gard” means “Farm” in Norwegian.

The grapes are grown at the Lawrence estate vineyard near Royal City, Washington. Gard planted their first grapes in 2003 and started the winery in 2006.

Christina told us the story of the winery and the Lawrence family (Josh and Lisa) who started it. This darling photo of the family hangs proudly in the tasting room.

This photo shows the Lawrences with their winemaker, Aryn Morell. Aryn Morell has made wines for Matthews/Tenor and several other wineries as well.

There are also tasting rooms for Gard wines in Ellensburg and Walla Walla, by the way.

Here’s the little shop area at Gard Vintners, where you can shop for Glassybaby drinkers and wine accessories, and grab informational flyers on Gard’s many upcoming events.

We inquired if the Gard Vintners Woodinville tasting room is available for event rentals – Yes, it is! The capacity is around 40 to 50 people.

Here’s info on how to rent the space for your event!

You can find more information on upcoming events at the Woodinville location as well as events the parent winery is participating in here.

Quite a few fun events take place here regularly, such as Yoga + Wine, which takes place on Sundays usually. The tasting room is rearranged to make room for yoga mats, and afterwards, all the participants drink a little wine. Now that’s one way to finally get me to take a yoga class!

Other events we wanted to let you know about include paint and sip type events, happy hours and specials on glass pours on Mondays.

Our wine tasting began with Gard’s 2016 Freyja white wine for Serret, and the 2016 reserve Rose for me. The Rose is a 100% Grenache, and Frejya is a blend of 63% Viognier and 37% Roussanne – how delightfully unique!

Next, Serret tasted the 2014 Reserve Viognier. It’s a 100% viognier from Lawrence Vineyards.

My next tasting was the 2014 Reserve Roussanne. Roussannes are definitely growing on me, but I need to learn more about them and taste more of them. I still habitually order a Pinot Gris/Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc at restaurants instead of something more interesting like a Viognier or Roussanne.

So I was grateful for another opportunity to try a Roussanne. I can’t yet taste the difference between that and a straight Viognier. I’m sure I’ll learn as time passes and I try more tastes of both kinds!

While Serret took photographs of the space, I tasted the 2014 Reserve Riesling. I knew my guests would enjoy this refreshing, crisp wine at an upcoming party I’m hosting, so I put a bottle aside to purchase on our way out later.

I also snuck a sip of Serret’s next taste (shame on me!), the 2014 Pinot Gris. It seemed a bit sweet for a Pinot Gris, but that made it even more delicious.

Serret opted to try the 2013 Grand Klasse Reserve Syrah. I skipped out since I’m still working on my palate and syrah isn’t my favorite wine to taste yet.

Serret took a break from photographing and sat enjoying her Syrah pour.

While Serret uncomplainingly tried the syrah for the team, I tasted the 2013 Grand Klasse Reserve Cabernet. I instantly was hooked, and bought it to bring home and NOT share it at a party.

Our final tasting was the 2013 Riesling Ice Wine. I am delighted that Gard produces an ice wine – they are generally too sweet for me, but I have relatives who will be overjoyed to be gifted a bottle of this from time to time.

We are not wine reviewers or wine critics, but I do want to point out that this ice wine was definitely delicious and not sickly sweet or syrupy.

We inquired about upcoming wine releases. Christina said that in February they’d release the 2014 Malbec and 2014 Riesling Ice Wine, which would be wine club only releases for the first couple months.

We’ll have to come back soon and try more of their reds, like the 2014 Merlot, 2014 Vaucluse, the Grand Klasse Cabernet Sauvignon, and the 2014 Don Isidro! Vaucluse is named after a region in France, and Don Isidro is the name of the Lawrence vineyard manager.

I can’t overstate how wonderful it was to meet Christina and learn about wine from her. She has a degree in Global Wine Studies from Central Washington University

And somehow she found the time to become a yoga instructor as well!