Weekly Washington Winery – Matthews
Hi Friends, can you believe Summer is almost here already! Man, time really does seem to go faster and faster the older I get. But back to Summer. One of our family’s favorite summer activities is, you guessed it: WINE TASTING! And yes, I said our family, that is kids included. Most of the time when I tell people this they kind of look at me sideways and ask “Really? With your kids?” I will say that the first few times that we took the kids we weren’t quite sure what to expect, but to our surprise it has always been a complete success. Lucky for us, here in the PNW we have hundreds of amazing wineries at our fingertips, so of course we have to take advantage.
I thought that since the idea of taking the family wine tasting seemed so foreign to so many of you, I would take you along with us this year. So over the next few months I will be highlighting a different Washington Winery for you. I will cover all of your questions. From how kid friendly they are, to the style of wine they produce and the prices that they sell it at. Along the way please let me know if there is anything that I haven’t covered that you would be interested to know. So, here we go. Cheers!
MATTHEWS WINERY
“Where Washington Wine Meets Woodinville Farming”
Let me just start by saying this is by far my favorite tasting room in Woodinville. Not only to the have great wine, but the property they have is just incredible. To say that they are family friendly is and absolute understatement. As member of their wine club we have taken advantage of almost all that this winery has to offer, and that is a lot.
Kid Friendliness
I’m just going to put this out there; I do not think that there is a more kid friendly tasting room in Woodinville, Wa. This is probably because the family who owns Matthew’s has small children. Their property is laid out perfectly for families. Outside their tasting room they have a huge open lawn with seating that backs up to a small stream. Our kids love to get their feet wet and explore in the water. Beyond this, they host a ton of children’s events, from Movie Nights, showcasing children’s movies with pizza (and wine for the parents) to an annual Bubble Man performance on their lawn. You can tell that a lot of thought has been put into making families feel welcome here.
The Wine
Matthews Winery prides itself in their Bordeaux style wines. Their most popular wine (and rightly so) is their Claret. They also do some single varietal, as well as white wines and a rose. Right now, I am loving their rose, it really is a perfect summer wine.
Their prices are very reasonable. A tasting is $15 and I believe will get you 4 or 5 tastings of your choice from their selection. Bottle prices are reasonable as well. You can get a bottle starting around the mid $20’s.
The Tasting Room
If you are a fan of Joanna Gaines, then you are going to love Matthews tasting room. It is like they stole a room right off of an episode of Fixer Upper. They really do embrace the modern farmhouse style, which is perfect since they have a farm on site. The tasting room itself is spacious and can accommodate large groups and families. The area is on the louder side, so no one is going to even notice the extra sound that your kids might make.
The tasting room expands to an outdoor patio that is partially cover and enclosed with large heat lamps as well. This way, even on a busy, cooler day (because we do get a lot of these in the PNW) there is still plenty of comfortable space.
You can also take advantage of the outdoor lawn that I talked about previously, which on the weekends has it own tasting counter. There is plenty of seating scattered around for any size group, and a cornhole set for those that are feeling a little competitive while they sip.
Then there is the farm. This is where they grow their own produce, that they use for their farm to table events that they hold quarterly. You can stroll through the farm and check out the produce that is in season. Our kids love to walk through here and check out all the flowers.
What To Pack
You really don’t need to bring anything with you to Matthews. They have some snacks available for purchase in the tasting room and on event days they usually have a food truck on site. That being said, we usually do bring our own snacks, especially for the kids. As much as I love seeing my kids devour a $7 jar of pickles in 5 minutes; I just feel better about bringing some of their favorite snacks from home. We also will bring their water bottles, so that we are not having to continuously refill tiny cups of water for them.
Lastly, we bring water proof shoes. It never fails when we are at Matthew’s that our kids want to put their feet in the water, and I can’t tell you how many times they have come to me crying with wet sneakers. So we have learned, always bring either their rain boots or Native’s (or Croc’s) depending on the weather. That way we are not have to tend to soggy feet while trying to enjoy a few sips of wine.
I hope that this highlight of Matthews Winery has inspired you to maybe try something a little different and new with your family. Just because we have kids doesn’t mean that we are doomed to only kids activities on the weekends; it is okay for us parents to have a little fun too. If you have any questions or have a winery that you think should be highlighted next please let me know. I’m always up for a new winery adventure.
Wanna check out Matthews Winery for your self? Check out their website here! Cheers!
Stasha Pistole
June 14, 2018 at 6:16 pmI just teared up reading this (but, that’s easy for me to do)! I am a mother of 3 children, 17, 14 and 11 are their ages. I got back into the work force after being a stay at home mom for years. Guess what? I work at Matthews Winery! I think your post captures everything I love about Matthews too. It’s a great place to work and a fabulous place to visit. It hits all my favorite things, nature, wine, family and community. Thanks for visiting us and next time you are here ask for Stasha, I would love to meet you. 🙂
keziah
June 14, 2018 at 7:35 pmOh what a fun job. I will definitely ask for you next time we are in (which is quite often:) It really is such an inviting place that my whole family loves.