Get ready for a unique and delicious local wine experience at Trillium Creek Winery in Lakebay, WA.  http://www.trilliumcreekwinery.com/

Claude and Claudia Gahard, owners and winemakers, will welcome you wholeheartedly to their five acre vineyard, Alsatian Cottage Tasting room, and picnic area to taste the fruits of their labor.  They specialize in wines low in sulfites, a great fix for those who are sensitive to the sulfites found in most wines.  (Ever suffer from the post-wine headache?) 

They have nine wines available for tasting and sale: Meritage, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Muller Thurgau, Riesling, Merlot, Syrah Gris, Chardonnay, and Fruit Wine. 

Claude bottles about 18 to 20 cases of wine each week in the 1500 foot wine cellar on site.  Claudia tends the vineyard.  Together they enjoy hosting visitors.  Claude notes that coming out to taste is as much of a social thing as it is about the wine.  You can ask them questions, see where the wine is made, and really get to know the wines and the winemakers. 

The vineyard is also Salmon-Safe Certified (http://www.stewardshippartners.org/prog_salmon.html).  Salmon Safe is an Oregon-based certification program recognizing farm operations who adopt conservation practices that help restore native salmon habitat in Pacific Northwest rivers and streams. Salmon-Safe farms protect water quality, fish and wildlife habitat, and overall watershed health.

Open Tuesday thru Sunday and Holidays from 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., all are welcome.  Larger groups of up to around 20 can be accommodated, but call ahead so they can make arrangements.  They will even pick up boaters who dock at Longbranch Marina or Penrose State Park!  What a deal.

At a tasting you will also be able to enjoy award winning local cheeses from the Estrella Family Creamery.  At the 2010 American Cheese Society Annual Competition, Estrella Family Creamery out of Montesano (Grays Harbor County) won First in Class (smoked Italian styles) for their Weebles cheese.   They also won First in Class for their Caldwell Crick Chevrette (sheep or mixed milks).  A Second Place Award was given their Jalapeño Buttery (flavored, peppers).  

Ready to jump into the action?  As part of the Key Peninsula HarvestFest on October 2nd from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Trillium Creek will offer folks the chance to participate in a good ol' fashioned grape stomp!  (Ever watch the grape stopping episode from I Love Lucy?)  Here is your chance to take off your shoes, roll up your slacks, and jump in to help stomp grapes! 

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For more information on local food, farms, and events, visit our homepage at www.prideofpiercecounty.com.