VANCOUVER, WA – 110 years ago, the English Family traveled from Michigan in search of a new life and began potato farming in Southwest Washington. Now the Estate is still farmed by the English Family – growing, harvesting and producing a unique selection of wines. The public is invited to enjoy their wines and hospitality, on April 20 from 12-6 p.m. April 20, as English Estate celebrates 110 years of farming in Vancouver.
The day will be filled with events, including tours at 1 and 4 p.m. conducted by Carl S. English, fifth generation. Live music throughout the day will be provided by local musicians, Northwest Pan Man and Tom Mann.
Visit www.northwestpanman.com and www.myspace.com/tommanncountry . Tasting will be conducted in two different tastings rooms, the Pump House and the Loafing Shed, which is located in the Barn built in 1915 by the English Family.
English Estate Winery will also be celebrating 10 years of marketing its Bag-in-a-Beautiful Box, with a contest for designing or decorating a “beautiful” box to dispense your English Estate boxed wine. Carl D. English, founder of the winery, started boxed wine for the tasting room in 2003 to slow down waste. Eventually the customer’s demand created a whole new way of selling wines out of a tasting room. Boxed wine, BIBB as the English Family calls it, is now 80 percent of the Estate’s wine sales.
Clark County’s oldest winery is known for its pure Estate Pinot Noir and their sweet fortified desert wines. English Estate’s The Loafing Shed tasting room is open Friday, 12-9 p.m. Sat-Sun 12-6 p.m. and Mondays 4:30-7 p.m.
In 1980, the late Carl D English planted Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon vines on the gravelly ridge located at the mouth of the Columbia River. The Gorge winds keep the vineyard dryer and sunnier than the Pinot growing lands to the North and South. This unique micro climate gives the grapes a character all of their own. The wines are now being crafted by Carl’s children Carl S. and Jennifer English Wallenberg.
The English Estate Winery celebrates its 110th anniversary with celebrations on April 20. |
Boxed wine, or BIBB, is now 80 percent of the English Estate Winery’s wine sales. |
A tour group sees the grounds of the English Estate. |