Willow Crest Winery

Our second stop of the day and the lady helping us with wine tasting was by far the sweetest we had all day! At the end of the day we went back there to get a bottle of their 2011 estate Pinot Gris. The yummiest almond roca dessert wine too, definitely a must go!

Very nice tasting room with a wonderful host. Excellent!

Seriously, the best red wines I have ever had! Visiting this winery has finally forced me to give in to buying an aerator just to enjoy their wine properly.
Their riesling is not as sweet as most, and that can be a refreshing change if you want a white wine that’s not so sweet yet still smooth and tasty. A couple of their red wines were quite peppery but not necessarily spicy which I think can be quite enjoyable with a good plate of pasta.
The 2009 merlot is perfect RIGHT NOW! So if you can, I highly recommend going to try it. It has aged just long enough and it so smooth and full bodied and fragrant. I can’t wait to drink it this week (once I get that aerator).
The staff was extremely friendly and the building was well air-​conditioned. There is also a nice patio, but we avoided it since it was so warm. They have a small variety of salami and cheeses in a case as well as some grilling pellets (which I had never seen before). I believe their hours are 10am — 6pm; this info was not on their website which could definitely use some work.

I almost passed this winery up when we visited Vintner’s Village as it was just a wee bit off to the side. But I am glad I did not. Great tasting, the Sirah and the Cab Franc were really good. Added a couple of those to our collective. Friendly tasting room staff and a cute patio. Make sure to give this place a try.

Definitely worth a visit. Of all the wineries in the plaza, this was arguably the favorite. Four selections sparkled for my daughter and me, all whites. Our palettes don’t seem to have an affinity for the more tannic and silty reds in this region. The 2009 Reserve Pinot Gris hit a high note with lush cream and fruit, but a balanced acidity. Ditto for the 2010 Lemberger Rose, a very dry effort with a long fruit finish. Extremely refreshing, but with character. Like all the rest of the bottles in the plaza, WC’s are well-​priced and quite affordable – from $ 10-​$ 18 for whites; most reds top out at $ 20-​$ 24 – and their whites happen to offer the best quality and value for your money.

Willow Crest has been at the top of our Prosser winery agenda since we first visited. It’s not a matter of «if» we’re going to Willow Crest, it’s a matter of where it will be on our schedule. The tasting room is located in the winery mecca on Merlot Drive. They offer a complimentary tasting for 6 tastes and $ 3 for limited production wines. It’s a smaller tasting room with a nice patio on the side of the building where you can sit with a glass of wine and enjoy the sunshine. Their whites and reds are top notch, and my boyfriend is crazy about their port. He buys the port as soon as we walk in the door. I had one of the best Pinot Gris wines here. The whites all had a bright, sparkly effervescence about them. I loved the Cabernet Franc with the immediate taste of light berries and slightly spicy aftertaste. Yum! Between the three of us, we walked out with bottles of white, red and port.