wind river cellars

You can't get ahold of anyone on the phone or by emailing. It looks like an old has been run down winery. You have to drive up a very long, high and dangerous dirt road. The place looks NOTHING like the website.

My wife and I found Wind River Cellars on our travels in Washington's Columbia River region. Honestly, it was a surprising treat. Considering the unpaved drive, and wondering if the sign had been turned the wrong way, we arrived and had a great time with Joel. He knows his wines, gives individual time for conversation, and the wines are well developed. Well worth seeking out.

Joel is well versed in wine making and as noted by Emily he does not try to be a corporate wine location. This is a place to taste great wine produced by someone that loves what he does. Great view and a great place to relax for a while.

My wife and I visited Joel at Wind Rivers and had an amazing time. We were able to taste the wines, sample from the barrels and create our own bottles. It was great!! Highly recommend going and experiencing this fun time.

Stopped in to Wind River after purchasing a Groupon. After arriving, it was clear that I had not read the instructions very carefully on the Groupon, and we had not made reservations. I apologized and asked if we could just pay for a tasting and use the Groupon another time. Joel was pretty gracious and honored the Groupon anyway. It was refreshing to not have a script recited about each wine - he basically allowed us to take from each one what we would. I also enjoyed the fact that we were sitting directly in front of the wine maker, not a person who simply has been told what to say. In reading some of these other reviews (after the fact), I think people mistake the fact that he loves what he does, and doesn't really care if he is catering to tourists or trying to fancy up his wine with played out descriptions of "essence of chocolate" or whatever, with attitude and/or condescension. I think if more wine makers also handled the tasting - these would be the results. Joel AND Wind River are down to eartch, honest, and real. The view is spectacular, the scenery is lovely, Joel has great taste in music and gave us a GREAT experience, sass and all. His puppydogs are sweet and one loves to play... I hope to make it out there again and again to show my friends this spot!

owner was rude and insulting, made a comment about a college football team that he hoped would die in a plane crash, the wine was average at best

Joel was nice but the wine was average. Good Port though!

little bit of a drive out of Husum, but you meet the wine maker, see the operations, learn a lot about how he makes his wines. I enjoy their white ports

My wife and I with a few friends were in Portland when we decided to try some Washington wines, our favorite of all the wineries was Wind River Cellars. The winemaker was absolutely hilarious! He was so quick witted and funny that I actually accidently spit wine on my wife's blouse. I think that sometimes people who go to wineries feel they should be reverent and it should be an experience like the theater, however it's refreshing to experience laughs, great wines and friends at a place like Wind River Cellars. And we actually bought a couple of cases of the Cabernet and the Tempranillo, and he waived the tasting fees. By the way we are from Texas and our friends from Kansas City and Pittsburg.

I visited Wind River Cellars and had such a good time. The view from the deck was breathtaking, the wine was really good and the owner was helpful to anwer my questions about wine but let me come to my own conclusions about what I thought each one tasted like or how they were different from each other. The negative comments in the other reviews does not fit the atmosphere I experienced, which was a tasting room and deck full of people having fun interacting with Joel and spending several hours there. There was even one party that had come back after visiting on a previous vacation because they had such a pleasant experience. I think people should lighten up a little.

This was my first time to this area and the winery setting was beautiful. I had a wonderful time. Yes, the owner is a bit of a jokester, but I laughed, enjoyed myself and gave it right back to him. Wine was great. Sitting and taking it the amazing view was so peaceful. And sometimes amazing views require a bit of an effort...did not mind the road up at all. I will for sure go back.

Wind River Cellars seemed to be the ideal place to go for a wine tasting, just ten miles or so north of the Columbia River. The picturesque location, however, could not mask the incredible abrasiveness of the owner, his awful treatment of guests, and sadly his mediocre wine. He somehow managed to complain on and on (unprompted) about how "sideweays" had ruined Merlot, then in the same breath told us that our choice of his very own Merlot was stupid. He could not sell his own whine. This provincial owner repeatedly insulted us and seemed generally offended that we had come to see his place. We could not taste his swill because we were already drowning in his pompous arrogance. Wind River Cellars gives a bad name to wine in the pacific northwest. Do not go here. It will ruin your day.

this is a winery to avoid the winemaker and owner is a real jerk and his wines are not that good at all muddy road to get to winery can't he fix that. a tasting fee of $10 for his wines are really too much. there was a really nice winery here before named Hooper Family Winery and when we told the current owner we liked his wines he said they were crap. i feel this way after all these years i still remember this Hooper Winery but can even remember his wines they were that forgetable. nobody should visit this winery at all.

My wife and I stopped by this winery first on our way out to the gorge area for a day of wine tasting. We our not wine conoisseur's by any means, but we both like a nice glass of wine now and again and are willing to learn about the art of winemaking. Joel, the owner of the place was not welcoming with us at all. He didn't tell us anything about the wines and it was hard to get more than a smart remark out of him. He had an intern there from Colorado who seemed pretty nice, but was quiet and reluctant to say anything in front of his jerk boss. It's too bad though, it seems like they have some decent wines, but apparently money is more important than customer service and friendliness to this guy. Maybe his wife is nicer and should do the wine tasting if he can't handle talking to people in a friendly and respectful way.

I was traveling through the gorge over the thanksgiving weekend and found this winery. After a spectacular drive up to a breathtaking view of Mt. Hood, we spent over an hour tasting 13 different wines. This tasting room was so comfortable and not pretentious--we had a great time laughing with the owner and even got to meet his one-eared vineyard pig! If you're ever in the gorge area, you must go to this winery. Be sure to sit out out on the deck and enjoy the view before you leave!