A panel of winemakers, viticulturists, wine buyers, writers and restaurateurs from the west coat met for the annual Cascadia International Wine Competition in April. One of the judges was Erin Kirschenmann, managing editor of Wine Business Monthly magazine.

“The Cascadia International Wine Competition was a great opportunity to taste the incredible range of Pacific Northwest wines..” Kirschenmann said. “It’s wonderful to see the Pacific Northwest wine industry to continue to build on itself, producing wines of ever-higher quality by those who are truly passionate about their regions.”

Hard Row to Hoe is proud to announce that we were honored with the following awards:

Double gold medal- Hard Row to Hoe Vineyards 2018 Happy Ending White Dessert Wine, Lake Chelan

Gold medal- Hard Row to Hoe Vineyards 2016 Petite Sirah, Red Mountain

Silver medal- Hard Row to Hoe Vineyards 2016 S&M, Lake Chelan

Read more about the competition here.

In this enlightening article, owner and winemaker Judy Phelps explains the origins of the Lake Chelan AVA. The mountains, the crystal-clear turquoise waters of Lake Chelan, rolling hills of apple orchards and vineyards provide a gorgeous backdrop as visitors travel around the valley. Explore the history of our wonderful Lake Chelan American Viticultural Area here.

As if you need more reasons to visit Lake Chelan AVA and Hard Row to Hoe Vineyards.

“People are here on vacation, so when they go out wine tasting, we want to offer a laid-back experience. Naughty nuances helps break the ice for people” -winemaker Judy Phelps.

Find the Seattle Times article here and we’ll see you at the winery for some fun soon!

Do you follow us on Twitter? It is a great place to get current information on what is going on at the winery. Follow us (@HardRow) and other notable twitter accounts written by women. Here is a great list to get started with written by Amber LeBeau, find her on twitter @SpitbucketBlog.

Sustainable Wenatchee is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating and promoting a culture of environmental stewardship. They asked us to write a guest post about our Salmon Safe and Sustainable vineyard practices. Read it here.

Scores for some of our 2016 red wines have been published by Rand Sealey’s Review of Washington Wines in the February edition. Burning Desire Cabernet Franc 19/20 points, Cabernet Sauvignon 19+/20 points, S&M 19/20 Points and Bordello Blanc 18.5+/20 points. Subscription required to read online Review of Washington Wine

We are so excited and honored to be named on Margo Savell’s wine blog “Write for Wine” as one of her Top Favorite Washington Wineries, for the fourth year in a row! Read the whole list.

Margot Savell writes about Washington State wine in her blog ‘Write for Wine: It’s Wine O’Clock Somwhere’. She has been writing about wine since 1997 and really knows her stuff. She only writes about wines she loves and here she weights in on our 2016 Burning Desire Cabernet Franc as ‘one of her favorite Washington State Cab Franc”. Read the review here.

Recently our winemaker Judy Phelps talked to Lake Chelan Now about harvest-time at Lake Chelan . Listen here

We were named one of the 11 best crush experiences in the West by Sunset. Come and visit in October, when we harvest the grapes and make the wine. Always a fun experience. Read about it here.

We have to brag about the great scores received for our 2016 red wines from Jeb Dunnuck who says of Hard Row to Hoe : "This estate makes a bevy of beautiful wines from the Lake Chelan AVA".  93-95 pts for Estate Burning Desire Cabernet Franc, 91-94 pts Lake Chelan Syrah, 91 pts Barbera, 91 pts Lake Chelan Pinot Noir, 90 pts  Estate Tempranillo and 88 pts Primitivo.  Our winemaking team is crushing it! Read reviews at jebdunnuck.com ( subscription required). Of the Cab Franc, Mr. Dunnunck says "It's possibly the finest wine I've tasted from this appellation" and of the Pinot Noir "You don't find many noteworthy Pinot Noirs from Washington, but this is one of them"