Portteus Vineyards & Winery

We had a blast at Portteus. Matt took great care of us, and we loved the wine. In particular the old vine cab was fantastic. We also loved the merlot. We brought it to a party and it was a huge hit.

This was one of the stops on our wine tasting tour of Zillah.
Although we saw many cows along the road side as we were driving, Portteus was the only winery in Zillah we visited where the smell of manure was noticeable and quite strong. Nevertheless, the tasting area was insulated from the outside so the smell wasn’t a problem.
Portteus doesn’t charge a tasting fee which is awesome. However, during the 15 minutes we were there, they gave a spiel about how tips were gladly accepted about three times. It was pretty annoying. They should either just charge a small tasting fee or have the tip jars in plain sight and let people notice the jars on their own. Begging for tip money every few minutes is not a good strategy.
On the plus side, they had plenty of wines to taste, and most of the wines were really good. Our favorite was the Petit Verdot. We also liked that they let us taste several of their reserve wines.
We both enjoyed our wine tasting experience at Portteus, although I think they could improve their wine tasting by implementing a modest tasting fee (waived with the purchase of a bottle) instead of repeatedly asking for tips.

I have visited this vineyard on several occasions over the years and highly recommend it to anyone touring the area. My particular taste for red wines is never disappointed by my old favorites from Portteus and the new offerings I sample when I visit never fail to impress! The Yakima region produces a favorable earthy spice to many of the wines I enjoy from area and Portteus is my favorite of them all! I enjoy the Portteus staff and family more with each encounter and their knowledge, whit, and tangible joy for life are always a refreshment that pairs superbly with their fabulous wines!

Had a great time here! Service was wonderful and a great atmosphere!

I’m in the minority here clearly but so many better options. They were tasting something, Ike 25 wines, where do you even start and none were spectacular… some were meh. Hate to diss a labor of love but the collection was overwhelming and nine felt special.
I think they do grow grapes for other producers.

When you think about all the wineries you visit on a quest for the best in a region, you most likely will always remember a place that encompasses these two combinations: excellent wines served by an incredible host.
We had such an experience when we visited Portteus.
Matt, our incredible host with his extensive knowledge of the wine and the region, easily allowed the wines to sell themselves… and they did.
If you have a short amount of time to tour through the amazing wineries of Yakima Valley, I would say Portteus absolutely should NOT be missed. The caliber of their
extensive wine list truly represents the best of the region.
The Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve are all above and beyond anything we tasted while on our quest for exceptional in Yakima Valley, yet another favorite, Rouge 66 represents a great everyday wine.
Beyond the tasting room experience, calls made to the winery since our visit have all been handled with both prompt return calls with utmost courtesy.
As a previous business owner, the type of customer respect & service we have received from this establishment gives them a gold star in our book. Portteus should be a model for industry standards.

Great winery! Loved the staff. He «tested» us with our tasting… Here, taste this… what do you think it is? Absolutely awesome! The wines are spectacular, I always make sure I stop here every time I’m in the area

We were on our 4^th annual winery weekend, and enjoyed this winery this weekend!
They had the most selection of wines that I have tasted in one location.

This is our favorite winery in the whole world. Not all the wine is great though several are but there is a great variety to choose from and the price points vary from quite inexpensive to more expensive but reasonably priced for the quality. From the first visit almost 25 years go until now we have always appreciated friendly, knowledgeable servers, mostly in the family. It is a little out of the way but well worth the drive.

We just returned from a great weekend of wine tasting in the Yakima Valley and Portteus Vineyards & Winery was far and away our favorite, both in terms of the tasting experience and the wines. We left the winery on Saturday with a case and would have returned for another on Sunday if we had time.
Unlike many of the area wineries, there is a little bit of a drive through the vineyard to get to the winery… but don’t worry… it is definitely worth it.
Upon arrival we were greeted by Matt, who explained the tasting process and went over their wide variety of wines. If you prefer ornate tasting rooms and a pretentious sommelier who just arrived from France, maybe cross this off your list. If you enjoy a casual tasting experience and a host that is engaging and very entertaining, this is your place.
Now to the wines. I think there is a tasting fee, but it is waived with a purchase (I wasn’t really listening because I knew we would be leaving with wine). I would guess they had about 18 wines to taste, with a few whites but predominantly reds. Prices range from around $ 10 to $ 35. All of the wines we tasted were excellent, but it is when you start tasting their nicer reds that this winery really stands out. I liked the Sangiovese and the Reserve Cab. For something unique, their Late Harvest Zinfandel was great. Think Late Harvest Reisling, but made with Zinfandel. My favorite wine wasn’t even on the tasting list, but Matt offered it up around minute 45. They have an Old Vine Cab that was great! I think it normally runs around $ 35, but that day it was only $ 20. Arguably the best $ 20 bottle of wine I have ever purchased.
An hour after our arrival we left with a case of wine and thoroughly satisfied with the experience. If you are coming to Yakima and like good reds, this place is an absolute must.

Oh all the wineries we went to today, this place was by far the best. They had about 20 different wine varietals/​blends to taste and at no cost. The staff was very friendly and attentive. I liked quite a few of their wines. My favorites were the 2 blends they have and they Estate blend. One of the cabs they have is really good too. We came here around closing time and so we had to hurry up and make our purchases. I would recommend coming here when you have a good amount of time since you can taste and re-​taste all the wine you would like.
They have price points for all people which is great so everyone cane find something that they like and are comfortable with.
The do give small pours so I recommend just doing your own tasting.

I’m surprised this winery doesn’t have 5 stars yet.
We were traveling in OR and WA for two weeks, and this place was a real gem! First, if you are a spoiled red wine drinker as we are, that is a number one place to go: most of the wines they make are good solid reds having a nice aroma, good middle and a smooth and a silky finish (average alc percentage is about 12.5 — max 14%). There are some blends as well as the classy Cabs, Syrah etc.
The only thing we wish they had is the membership which we forgot to ask about, and I could not find any info on their website.
Definitely recommend!

Just got back from what turned out to be an amazing private, no-​fee tasting with Brian, who is a member of the Portteus family. The winery began in 1982 and is the 13^th or 14^th oldest in the state! Two things to keep in mind if you’d like to go:
1) Allow plenty of time. They’re about 10 minutes from the main road, and if there’s more than a couple of inches of snow on the ground, you may not make it all the way in.
2) The tasting room is absolutely unpretentious and doubles as a storage cellar. Dress warmly. Our kids were able to get comfortable on a partially empty palette.
Brian is a younger guy, but extremely friendly, knowledgeable about his winery and the business in general. It was an education for us. I enjoyed the Sangiovese, and they’re also one of the few WA wineries who produces Zinfandels. We even got to try the reserves and wound up buying the $ 29 2010 Merlot Reserve. If you plan to do some tasting in the Zillah area, you may want to save this as your last tasting since they are open until 5:00 daily.

why don’t any jokes start with, «so two ladies walk into a wine tasting room…»?
well two ladies walked onto a vineyard and into the wine tasting room to be greeted by Matt at Portteus Winery bright and early at 10 AM! this was our first stop on our wine tasting adventure and Matt turned out to be the perfect host for us– educating us about the Rattlesnake hills wineries, the wine, and pretty much anything we asked him.
as for the tasting there are two types of tastings. there is one section that is free and there are a lot of tastings. then the second section are the reserves that costs $ 5 but with your money back if you buy the wines. we drank them all — maybe that’s why i can’t remember how many we tried ;) try the reserves — they are so good!!! of course they cost more but just give it a taste. i really enjoyed their reds, and ended up getting one of the cheaper, everyday wines and a Merlot reserve i’ll save.
for the selection, the price, the experience, just come on in.
* you can also bring your kids along.

So lucky to stumble on this family run winery in Zillah with big, bold spicy reds. We were the only ones tasting on New Years Eve (day) and we were impressed with the wines and the hospitable, low-​key experience we had chatting about the wine.
We throught this stop would be a quick hitter, but we lingered. We really enjoyed the wine, the easy-​going wine does not have to be fancy vibe, and were impressed with some of the bolder wines they make and are on sale in the tasting room that are not currently on distribution elsewhere. They also have a pretty great $ 10 bottle, Rattlesnake Red, that is distributed more widely, and was a solid good value red.

We didn’t really have any agenda other than hitting a few wineries and working our way north, so being at the literal end of the road Portteus was the logical place to start our Zillah winery expedition.
Matt greeted us as we walked into the tasting room/​barn and ushered us to the counter, where the wine selection is sufficient enough to make you wonder how good their wines can really be given the breadth of options.
Really pretty good as it turns out. And with complimentary tastes of as many as you care to try, you might very well start and end your day at Portteus. I’m not a wine guy, but I know what I like and I found a few that had to come home with me, namely the Cab Franc and Zin. They do have some really nice reserve wines available that were a little out of my target price range, but I found their off the shelf vintages to be quite pleasing for the price.
It’s certainly worth the trek down the road if you’re doing a little winery hopping in the Yakima valley.
According to the three-​point grading system we devised the afternoon, Portteus gets high marks for the wine and for the tasting room attendant, with low average marks for tasting room ambiance — the place just kinda feels like a barn with a wine bar in it. We found this to be true elsewhere, but with more bar and less barn.

The tasting room is in an absolute beautiful setting, rivaling Col Solare. Portteus is a must see winery in the area, for the wine and setting. While we were visiting we were treated to a spontaneous performance by Dave and the Dalmations, a Seattle acapella group that frequent the winery (we were told).
We really enjoyed the ’09 Reserve Petite Sirah and picked up a couple bottles. They have some unique and creative wines that are nice to try, and while we appreciated some of them we weren’t quite ready to buy a bottle. Granted, we are novices when it comes to wine.
Overall, so glad we visited. Would have hung out a lot longer if they had tapas and some tables outside to view the setting.

Portteus was the 2^nd vineyard we went too on our little weekend getaway and it also happened to be one of my favorites! The guy that was pouring for us was really fun and welcoming. I like that the tastes were all free — they do charge a dollar for tastes of the more expensive wines but I ended up buying one and they waived it of course. OMG. I am a Malbec freak and theirs was sooooo good. I will be stopping here every time I return to Yakima!

Fantastic vino! Matt rocks, too.

Admittedly, their competition was only about 6 other places. Still, this was by far the best winery we visited last weekend. Here’s how they earned each of those stars:
1.They were open (Most Yakima Valley wineries are shut ’til Prez Day weekend)
2. I liked pretty much everything I tasted (and I’m rarely a fan of Zin or Merlot)
3. Really friendly pourer. As you can tell by my use of that term, I’m pretty novice at this wine tasting thing. The pourer not only made me feel comfortable, he was actually really friendly and funny. So much better than the, «We’re all pretentious here, right?» approach.
4. The place stuck with the unpretentious theme: big warehouse; no frills, but they had a ping-​pong table!
5. Totally affordable wines. I tried to leave with a good 8 bottles, but since the trunk was already full, I kept it to 2.