Check out the Upcoming Events on the Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail
Piety Flats Winery wins "Winery of the Year"
The Yakima Valley Visitors and Convention Bureau presented its Encore Awards at the its annual meeting.on April 30, 2007 to recognize local tourism industry professionals. The "Winery of the Year" award was given to Piety Flats in recognition of the exceptional tasting room experience provided to visitors to Piety Flats Winery!
New Release
Our 2007 Riesling is bottled and selling briskly at Piety Flats - Stop by and sample this new vintage - $12.00/bottle or $122.40/case.
Upcoming Events on the Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail
April
19 & 20 Pre-Barrel Tasting. Have a chance to talk about the wines. This is a more serious weekend without the food vendors and party atmosphere. Check for participating wineries.
25, 26, & 27 Spring Barrel Tasting Sample wines from the barrel. This event is still free at Rattlesnake Hills Wineries.
Red-White and Blues - July 2008
We will continue the tradition of having blues music for Red, White and Blues. July 5th 2008 “ Gentleman Wild" from 2 to 5pm on Saturday. Come enjoy some wine and blues and celebrate the founding of this great country of ours.
Read about the 2007 Red White and Blues events
Tandem Bike Rally
Memorial Day weekend 2007 brought 800 Tandem bike enthusiasts from all over the Pacific Northwest to visit Piety Flats Winery on their travels.
Congratulations ... !
Our congratulations to Brynn, a former employee for Piety Flats, on the birth of her son Pierson.
Georgetown Brewery folks visit PFW
Manny Chao, co-owner and brewmaster of Georgetown Brewery
in So. Seattle, having a bit of his own brew with Jim Russi, co-owner
of Piety Flats Winery. Manny is well know in the Pacific Northwest for
his namesake beer "Manny's" that is now available in the Yakima
area. Manny and Matt came down to the winery the next day and went away
with a case of assorted wines.
Mat Connolly in charge of marketing for Georgetown Brewery, Lindsey Robertson (Piety Flats) and Manny Chao enjoying the wines from Kris Russi, not pictured.
Seattle Magazine
Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail is featured in one of the Top
19 Fall Getaways in the October Seattle Magazine !
Piety Flats wins Awards at Sunshine and Wine
Two Piety Flats vintages won Bronze Medal Awards at the 2007 Sunshine & Wine - held at State Fair Park in June - 2006 Gewurztraminer and NV Cab Port. Try out these award-winning wines on your next wine tasting tour to the Yakima Valley!
Enjoy Piety Flats Wines at Bennett's on Mercer Island
You can now enjoy fine Piety Flats vintages in the Seattle area at Bennett's Pure Food Bistro - 7650 Se 27th St, Mercer Island - (206) 232-2759 website For more information on this great restaurant, read a recent review from the Seattle Times.
Piety Flats is also carrying the delicious cheeses made
at Bennett's. Try some Bennett's Marco Polo or Flagship on your next visit
to Piety Flats!
Our Sampler Pack is back!
Buy our sampler pack and save ! For just $115.20, you receive:
3 bottles - 2007 Riesling
3 bottles - 2006 Pinot Grigio/Chardonnay
3 bottles - 2006 Gewurztraminer
3 bottles - 2006 Chenin Blanc
PT Cruisers Visit Piety Flats
It was a fun day when the PT Cruisers Car Club visited Piety Flats Winery in May. they created Just another madhouse at PFW !
Fruit Stand Open - The Fruit Bungalow
The Fruit Bungalow will be offering cherries starting in mid-June! Located next to the Piety Flats Winery picnic area, the Fruit Bungalow offers winery visitors a convenient location to shop for seasonal fruit on your wine tour!
In addition to the opening of the fruit season with delicious Washington cherries, the Fruit Bungalow will feature other Yakima Valley, tree ripened, soft fruit through August as supplies permit. We are looking forward to seeing our old friends and making new ones this summer. Don't forget to take home some delicious Washington-grown fruit ... along with fine Yakima Valley wines.
Peach Sundaes are available at Piety Flats starting Mother's Day weekend and throughout the summer and fall until the peaches run out (usually in October)! Stop in and enjoy one of our truly delicious peach sundaes and you'll quickly learn why they are world famous!
Beautiful
Winter in Washington Wine Country
It gets a little lonely at times but we are still open daily,
except Christmas Day, until December 31st.
Apple Fruit Packs - Holiday Gifts
Many of you may remember that We used to mail fruit across the country for the holiday season. Since becoming a winery we no longer do that and we refer everybody to our neighbor and ex-landlord "McDonald Farms." Here is their website. Great gift items from the valley .. and simply the best apple gift packs you can find!
Looking for some help to organize your next wine tour of the Yakima Valley wineries? Contact one of these Washington wine tour operators or limousine services for a personally guided and professionally organized tour of Yakima wine country.
Thoughts of cold winter night bring the need for warm meals to mind. This winter, try out a few of the delicious Rill's Specialty Soups and Mixes ... available at Piety Flats Winery.
We have enlarged our bar by another four feet as it was getting a bit crowded in here as you well know. We also painted the building and re-roofed the porch. So if you are in the area and you see this new/old building and think you are in the wrong place, your not. We just cleaned up the place for you. All our Red Wines are in stock and waiting for you.
Piety Flats Winemaker Victor Palencia featured on NPR broadcast
On September 18th, Victor Palencia and Kris Russi were interviewed on Seattle's NPR broadcast. The broadcast celebrated Victor completing his wine making course at Walla Walla enology classes prior to turning 21. He has already won two Gold medals for his winemaking skills! The host came up and interviewed Kris at Piety Flats after his Prosser trip. He also liked our Peach Sundaes but didn't mention it on the radio. What was he thinking?
Piety Flats Winery was the subject of an article in the Yakima Valley Business Journal in August 2006 - Piety Flats better for wine sales than fruits and vegetables stand
Another interesting history link on the Piety Flats area and early settlers, the Flint family - Yakima Pioneer history
Introducing Victor XXI 2005 Lemberger
This is Victor Palencia's first Release for Piety Flats
Winery. We thought it would be nice to name it after him with a special
date. Victor turned 21 in January of 2006.
This article
on Victor was written in the New York Times before his birthday. This
young man will be well know in the industry. He had a job offer at a California
Winery but turned it down when he found out what it costs to live in California
wine country. As you may know, Victor is Willow Crest's Winemaker also.
UW Grads stop by to taste our Award Winning Wine!Two University of Washington grads stopped by the other day, Kent and his son Kyle McLachian. They are holding our two awards winning wines that won gold medals at the UW Consumer Choice Awards in May 2006. Nice to know our local friend in Hollywood loves Piety Flats wines too! Kyle McLachlan |
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Piety Flats Wins the Gold Medal!
Kris Russi, one of the co-owners, is holding the Gold Medal that was awarded Piety Flats Winery's 2005 Chenin Blanc. This award was presented in June at Sunshine and Wine, at the State Fair Park in Yakima, where hundreds of wines were tasted and where only Washington wines are allowed at the competition. Piety Flats Winery also received a Silver Medal for their Mercantile Red (blend) and a Bronze Medal for their 2005 Black Muscat. It was a good day!
Many of our customers had a chance to see Sharon Strong, a local artist, presenting her "Glass Fusion" art at Piety Flats Winery during October. She creates items from wall art to very wearable jewelry ... all in a very cool medium in the world of art. Visit Sharon's website for more information on Glass Fusion.
The Corvettes were out in force at Piety Flats Winery in June .. for Vetts Day !!
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Bocce Ball Court at PFWPiety Flats Winery now has an official Bocce Ball court. 12' X 60'. Bring your own set or borrow ours. No charge, just come on over and enjoy a game and have a picnic. I found out it doesn't play well after a big rain but we don't have a lot of those so should be in great shape for the weekend. |
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Wednesday's edition of the Seattle PI has Piety Flats Winery listed as one of the best places to visit east of Seattle, for peach sundaes and great wine, in their annual "Best of the Northwest" feature. Even though they mention us by the name "Donald Fruit and Mercantile", which we no longer go by, we will forgive them.
Piety Flats Syrah available at Carousel French Cuisine
One of the finest dinning establishments in Yakima has added Piety Flats' 2003 Syrah to their wine menu. If you are in town for the events mentioned above, or anytime in the near future, and you want a great meal with exceptional atmosphere try them out. Reservations are a good idea.
Carousel French Cuisine
25 North Front Street
Yakima, WA 98901
509-248-6720
Rattlesnake Hills Recognized as Washington State’s Ninth AVA
Hilly Topography, Moderate Climate and Fine Soils Characterize New Wine Region ... read more
Read about Victor Palencia the young apprentice to the winemaker at Willow Crest Winery, who is Piety Flats' winemaker as well, in the NY Times article A Vineyard Prodigy Too Young to Drink.
A group of friends from Seattle celebrated a bachelorette party with a Yakima Valley wine tour, featuring a stop at Piety Flats. They wrote: "The Mercantile Store was so quaint ~ stocked up on goodies, and wine. Thanks for a great time and a fun staff."
Pictured, from left to right: Roberta, Jill, Debbi, Melissa, Leslie (the
Bachelorette), Deena, Laurie, Xenia and Geleah.
Piety Flats is featured in Washington CEO Magazine" Executive Lifestyle section ... read the whole article "Sweet Sacrilege: East and West wineries have a lot of flavor" [ pdf 1.7 MB]
Piety Flats is featured in the Journal Newspapers article "Grape Expectations" by Theresa Poalucci :
Piety Flats Winery
Wapato
My next stop was the Piety Flats Winery, just a few miles down the road. Piety Flats Winery is actually inside the Donald Fruit and Mercantile, a country story that feels as though you are stepping back in time, and which is "world famous" for its peach sundaes. It is owned by partners Jim and Kris Russi and Bryan Eglet, who have continued to keep their day jobs even after they purchased the mercantile to sell fresh fruit on the side. When they added Yakima Valley wine tasting to the operation sales went up, way up.
Jim and Bryan met Dave Minick, a local wine maker who operates Willow Crest Winery and had recently garnered a prestigious award for his Syrah. After tasting Minick's creation, Jim and Bryan were hooked. They asked Dave if he could make wine for them as well, and the Piety Flats label was born.
I sat with Jim at a picnic table in the picnic area next to the mercantile, which also doubles as a tasting room, and sipped the whole Piety Flats line. Good wine is better tasted with good conversation and Jim obliged by sharing the history behind this fairly new label.
Piety's best seller is their Mercantile Red, which Jim explained can be consumed the same day it is made, if need be. The Piety philosophy isn't very fancy - just make a good drinkable wine at an affordable price. In fact Jim is a strong believer that a wine does not have to be expensive to be noticed - he just believes in good wine. Apparently it is catching on with Piety customers. The first year the label produced only 550 cases. The next year they doubled production. This year they are up to 1,800 cases and next year they will make even more.
"Try the Pinot Grigio," he said as he poured it into my glass. "Think salmon. You can taste the crisp green apples in this wine." He was right, I could. "Now the Late Harvest Viognier. We only have 95 cases and it is very popular."
Then came a port, which I drank while devouring my very own "world famous" peach sundae. I never have had wine with dessert but this was delicious. "You can make port out of any grape," explained Jim. "It's the fortification of the brandy that makes the port."
Unlike Sagelands, you have to come visit the tasting room to buy a bottle of Piety Flats Wine, unless you have it shipped to you.
To read the complete article, See Grape Expectations
Wine Press Northwest (8/23/05) featured a visit to Piety Flats Winery as one of the "10 great things to do in Northwest wine country." Here's what they had to say is a "Perfect stop on the wine trail"
If you find yourself traveling through Washington’s Yakima Valley, stop in Wapato for the most amazing peach sundae you’re likely to enjoy. Just off Exit 44 on Interstate 82 is the old Donald Mercantile, now known as Piety Flats Winery. Go inside and ask for a fresh peach sundae. Not only will you not be disappointed, but you will find yourself looking for excuses to return at every possible opportunity.
Meet Victor Palencia ... Piety Flats Winery's assistant winemaker in "Young winemaker grew up on the vine."
Just another fun day at Piety Flats! On tour to celebrate a 60th birthday
... limo and all.
On June 25, 2005 wineries from around the state celebrated
the 24th year of the Washington Wine competition in Yakima known as Sunshine
and Wine. The event is held each year at the State Fair Park
in Yakima where 80 Washington State wineries strut their stuff. Piety
Flats Winery submitted three varieties in 2005 and won medals in all three:
Silver Medal - 2004 Chenin Blanc (Yakima Valley Grapes)
Silver Medal - 2004 Pinot Grigio/Chardonnay 50/50 Blend (Yakima Valley Grapes)
Bronze medal - 2002 Mercantile Red - House Blend (Yakima Valley Grapes)
Yakima wines are featured in the Seattle Times article - Yakima Valley finally promoting its wines - note the mention of Piety Flats Mercantile Red!
Accolades: Piety Flats 2002 Mercantile Red, $12.00. It's always nice to find a pleasant red blend at this price. This tastes like a wine with some cellar age on it. showing mature, drying fruit, tobacco leaf and plum flavors. Yakima Herald Republic Wine Adviser - Paul Gregutt June 8, 2005.
For upcoming special occasionas, send that special someone a Gift Basket from Piety Flats Winery, featuring Piety Flats wines and gourmet food taste treats.
After waiting four years ... the sign on I-82 is finally up!
We have two new titles in our wine book offerings - Pairing Wine with Food and Cooking with Merlot. Pick up a copy when next you visit Piety Flats Winery!
Accolades - Wine Press Northwest - Spring 2004 issue lists Piety Flats Winery 2002 Black Muscat, Yakima Valley, $9.00 as a "$10 AND UNDER PICKS".
Accolades - Wine Press Northwest - Spring 2004 issue lists Piety Flats Winery Pinot Grigio Chardonnay Yakima Valley, $9 in "Best Buys: White Wine". Their reviewers say, "Perhaps the best peach sundae in Washington is made at the historic Donald Fruit and Mercantile, and now respected winemaker/grape grower David Minick of Willow Crest produces wines for this Yakima Valley wine touring destination. This blend of 80 percent Pinot Gris and 20 percent Chardonnay captures the essence of citrus, stone fruit and pears, then spills out dried apricots and loads of acidity with a flinty/minerally finish."
Accolades - Wine Press Northwest - Winter 2003 issue lists Piety Flats 2001 Mercantile Red as an Outstanding Best Buy: Red wines". Their reviewers say, "The wine, made by Dave Minick of Willow Crest, is delicious and inexpensive. This is a superb example because of its dark chocolate aromas and concentrated blackberry and black cherry flavors. Hints of black currants meld with beautiful structure and balance."
Accolades - Wine Press Northwest - Winter 2003 issue lists Piety Flats 2002 Black Muscat as an "Best Buys: White wine". Their reviewers say, "Black Muscat is a little-known variety that results in lovely dessert wines for a handful of Yakima Valley wineries. This is a delicious sweet wine that reveals inviting rosewater aromas and honey and peach flavors. Good acidity backs up the sugar. A pleasant afternoon sipper." While the 2002 vintage has been sold out since late September, you can enjoy the 2003 vintage starting in April.
Enjoy the pictures of the grape harvest
Donald Fruit and Mercantile and Piety Flats Winery were featured in an article in the Daily Sun News of Sunnyside, Washington. See Simple Times: Donald Mercantile provides a glimpse at the past.
| One sale now at Piety Flats - Discovering Washington Wines - a fascinating introduction to the winemaking industry in the State of Washington - history, wine-producing regions, appellations, wineries, and much more. |  |
Looking for a unique location for a fund-raiser for your community organization? Piety Flats Winery welcomes clubs that wish to hold special fundraisers at the winery. Guests can enjoy a catered meal, music and of course Piety Flats fine wines.
Piety Flats Winery has a host of fantastic resources to help you learn more about Cooking with Wine and Pairing Foods with Wines. Purchase a few on your next visit and start to learn, learn, learn!
The men and their machines made a stop at Piety Flats on the Poker Run for the Washington State H.O.G. Rally.
What a site ... there were vintage hot rods galore when the Vintiques Poker Run visited Piety Flats recently.
Planning your travels through scenic Washington State? Pick up a copy of Washington State: A Scenic Tour on your next visit to Piety Flats Winery ... it's an enjoyable way to view attractions around the state and identify places that you'd like to visit in the future. The world-famous peach sundaes of Piety Flats are featured in the video!
Seattle PI article by Jeff Larsen recommends the Peach Sundaes and wine at Donald Fruit and Mercantile ... on a short trip to the Yakima Valley Appellation — Short Trips: Taste tour blends old pleasures with new
Grand Opening Gallery
Photos of the good times ... !
Fresh from the Valley — A Harvest of Recipes
On sale at Piety Flats Winery ... Yakima
Junior League Cookbook
