Hard Row to Hoe Winery and Vineyards. Located in Lake Chelan, Washington.
Visit our small boutique winery on the north shore of Lake Chelan in picturesque Manson, Washington. Our southwest facing vineyard looks out over the lake and the peaks of the North Cascade mountains which provide the clear, glacial water to irrigate our vines.
At Hard Row we are dedicated to the production of ultra-premium wines from our estate grapes as well as from designated vineyards across Washington. We focus on seeking out unfamiliar varietals from lesser-known vineyards, as well as from our own Lake Chelan AVA, Washington's smallest appellation. Our wine making is an uncompromising style of traditional techniques, gentle handling, judicious use of oak and the production of truly unique wines.
Our name celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit of a man who ran a row boat taxi service on Lake Chelan in the 1930’s ferrying miners by rowboat to a brothel located at Point Lovely. Come visit and we’ll tell you all about it.
Hard Row to Hoe Vineyards is teaming up with Seattle Wine Gal and giving away a week's stay at The Lake House at Lake Chelan, WA! Experience Washington Wine Country at its best! Click here to register.
It is not unusual in remote mining areas to find a story about a local brothel, and Lake Chelan had its stories also.
Edgemont Lodge was built about 1924 a few miles uplake from Lucerne at Lightning Creek in an area called Point Lovely.
During the late 1930's construction was winding down at Grand Coulee Dam and a few of the Coulee Dam professional ladies moved to Edgemont Lodge to "serve" the miners from the newly operational Howe Sound Mine.
One story has it that a long-time Manson resident ran a rowboat taxi service from Lucerne to Point Lovely in support of the thriving enterprise.
We LOVE being in touch with our family of wine enthusiasts.
Feel the love and consider becoming a Fan of Hard Row to Hoe on Facebook. We have lots of other pictures and updates there. Click here to visit.
We'd love copies of the pictures you take in the tasting room or in other locations with a bottle of Hard Row wine. Send your pictures to jumpintheboat@hardrow.com.
"Come up and see me sometime"
- Mae West
You will most likely encounter the owners Don and/or Judy Phelps when you visit since they are usually on the premises tending to winemaking and the vineyard. There is plenty of room for picnics so treat yourself to a bottle of our delicious wine while relaxing on the lawn or deck.
Click here to download a map of the area wineries.
Directions from Chelan:
Follow Highway 150 towards Manson. Take a right at Mill Bay Casino on to Wapato Lake Rd., Ivan Morse Rd. is the second right. Look for our winery signs, we are at #300 Ivan Morse Rd.
Fax: 888-750-1047
jumpintheboat@hardrow.com
Send Us Mail
PO Box 159
Chelan, WA 98816
The heart of Hard Row to Hoe are its owners, Judy and Don Phelps.
Don, who manages the vineyard, has a Master's Degree in Civil Engineering from Washington State University specializing in water resources and works in his private practice in Chelan. Don is a Board member for the Columbia Cascade Winery Association.
Winemaker Judy Phelps has a Master of Science degree in Zoology from the University of Connecticut Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department. She retired from her corporate career in research and development at Pfizer, Inc. in 2006. Judy completed the Winemaking Certificate program at the University of California at Davis in July 2006. She is a past President of the Lake Chelan Wine Grape Growers association and still sits on the Board for that organization.
With an eye towards making wine in the Lake Chelan valley, Judy and Don began searching for the right property and bought a 25 acre orchard on Ivan Morse Road on the north shore of Lake Chelan in 2004. After updating the existing orchard buildings and purchasing state-of-the-art winery equipment, they were ready for their first commercial 'crush' on site in the fall of 2005.
The Lake Chelan climate, with its cool nights, hot days and lake-moderated winter temperature is an ideal area for growing wine grapes allowing for a longer hang time without over ripening. The vineyard is located on a southwest facing slope of the property and has been planted and maintained organically using sustainable growing practices. The soils here consist of well-drained gravel interspersed with large stones and small boulders, making it truly a hard row to hoe.
2005 was the first year of planting the first two acres of grapes, Cabernet Franc. In 2006 another 2 acres of grapes, Gewürztraminer and Riesling, were planted. In the 2007 growing season Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Malbec and Chenin Blanc were planted. The first estate bottling of the 2009 Nauti Buoy, a field blend of Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Pinot Gris, was in February of 2010.
If there was ever a Renaissance Man, it has got to be assistant winemaker Rudy Vargas; there is so much more to him than his role of assistant winemaker lets on. You probably know Rudy from behind the tasting room bar where he treats us to his brand of enthusiasm and love of wine. Rudy has a Fine Arts degree and brings his artistic sensibility to the tasting room experience.
Each visit, each sip of wine is a chance to explore and discover the art of winemaking. He’ll make sure that you appreciate, understand and experience the nuances of each varietal; that you ‘get’ the lemon in the Riesling, the peach in the Viognier, and won’t let you leave without sampling the Gewürztraminer paired with a piece of blue cheese and watch with delight as you experience the transformation of flavors in your mouth. His passion for wine is contagious!
