Hedges is one of the Washington wines I see often (and buy often) at our Costco, so I was eager to visit the Hedges winery at the Hedges Family Estate in the Red Mountain area of Tri-Cities Washington as part of a FAM trip for the TBEX conference. This was my first time at a TBEX conference and it’s a Travel Blogger conference that’s been around for over 10 years. A FAM trip is a “famliarization trip” usually put on by a destination to give writers/bloggers/influencers a chance to learn about a place.
So what is a bit of the background story on Hedges Wine?
One thing I learned about Hedges wine is that it’s a biodynamic winery and I think we’ll hear this word more and more in the wine world. I don’t totally understand the practice and I don’t know a lot about wine, but it seems like it’s sort of like organic farming and I learned a little more about it in this article. I like the idea of being intentional with farming and how we grow the food we eat so it sounds pretty intriguing to me. You can book a tasting at winery to learn more about biodynamics if you are 21+ years old as well.
The winery is beautiful and there are tasting experiences for members of the Hedges Wine club. My group sampled wines, experimented with blending our own unique glass of wine and had a fantastic lunch. We wandered through the vineyard, checked out the hen house and all the chickens, explored the estate and the wine cave as well as the stunning kitchen and then took a wagon ride with Red Mountain Trails through the vineyards.
We met Tom and Ann-Marie Hedges the owners and founders of the Hedges Family Estate winery and they had just come back from a visit to Arizona. They were friendly and fun to chat to and it was neat to find out that they actually live upstairs from the wine tasting room- it seems like such a dreamy home. We also met Sarah Hedges Goedhart, their daughter and head winemaker. I love that this winery has deep family roots.
What is the area around the Hedges winery like?
I stayed at the Lodge at Columbia Point about a 15 minute drive away from the winery. I was really tempted to come back on my way home to pick up some of the bottles you can only buy at the winery but I ran out of time. There are a few other wineries nearby that I recognized from local Seattle restaurants and I think a visit back to the Tri-Cities might be a great trip for our whole family if we need a staycation closer to home, especially because of the wineries, good food and outdoor adventure activities available in the area too.
Are you curious about Washington Wine?
I learned about another local winery recently too. It’s really incredible how much wine comes from our state.
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)