Washington wineries to visit

Cross posted from Wine Lovers Forum.
I'll be traveling to Fort Lewis, WA from October 10-16 to welcome my son's brigade home from 15 months in Iraq. While there I would like to visit a few wineries, preferably within a 2 hour drive of Ft. Lewis and would like some recommendations. Incidentally, an offline for Saturday, 10/13 is being planned in the Offlines Forum HERE.

No advice to offer on wineries to visit Howie, but Debbie and I are thrilled to hear about your son coming home!

Cross posted from Wine Lovers Forum.
I'll be traveling to Fort Lewis, WA from October 10-16 to welcome my son's brigade home from 15 months in Iraq. While there I would like to visit a few wineries, preferably within a 2 hour drive of Ft. Lewis and would like some recommendations. Incidentally, an offline for Saturday, 10/13 is being planned in the Offlines Forum HERE.

Well, you're not really in luck, Howie, in terms of where the grapes actually grow, but you can visit a couple of wineries where the stuff is made.

Most of the grapes (that people pay attention to) are grown over in Eastern WA, on the other side of the Cascades, and they are about three hours away. But there are wineries, such as Chateau Ste. Michelle, within your reach. They are located just north east of Seattle, around a town called Woodinville.

On the other hand, if you want individualistic and funky, there are places on the Peninsula within easier reach (got to Tacoma and turn left ), and up around Bainbridge Island. You might actually enjoy that trip more, because it's definitely not mega-corporatae like CSM, and you'll be able to find things like Huxelrebe and Scheurebe, and perhaps other even more arcane varieties. And besides, everybody who goes up to that part of the state should at least sample the Peninsula and the Puget Sound.

Thanks Mike & Debbie and Hoke. The trip up the Puget Sound sounds like my kind of journey. I believe some Scheurebe is grown in the Finger Lakes, but I've never tried it.

Howie,

Don't necessarily give up on Woodinville. The big guns are there, but there are also a handful of small wineries that are fun to visit. I've been away for a while and the names are escaping me, but the signs are all over directing you to the various places. But http://www.washingtonwine.org can give you a lot more details about what's there.

[Jenise]

Agreeing with what Laura said. A guy you'd really love to meet is the owner/winemaker of Chatter Creek wines. Long ago, Gordy got a job driving a hooch delivery truck. And until then, he knew wine came in three colors, and that was about it. But he's the curious-mind type who has to know everything about everything, so if he was going to deliver wine he was going to taste it, and once he tasted it and realized it could be special he had to know how it was made, and once he learned that he had to try to make some, and now he has a winery and makes some nice stuff. I think you could kill a few hours with him.

Thanks Laura and Jenise. I received info on Woodinville in a PM also and Gordy sounds like somebody I may have a few things in common with. I'm really looking forward to this trip. and visiting the wineries with two of my sons.

[James Roscoe]

I didn't know there were any wineries in D.C. Howie, but look me up if you are in the area.