2024 marks twenty-five years of wine making at Fielding Hills Winery. Founding winemaker Mike Wade and his wife and co-owner Karen Wade, crushed their first grapes from their estate Riverbend Vineyard in the Wahluke Slope AVA in the fall of 2000.
The Wade’s family business is apples and cherries. Mike is a 3rd generation grower, packer,
and shipper. In the mid 90’s, Mike was receiving calls asking him to pull out apples and plant wine grapes. In 1998, Riverbend Vineyard was planted where Red Delicious apples once grew.
When asked why he started making wine, Mike will tell you “ I had a desire to make something and see it all the way to the consumer. With cherries and apples I don’t see them in homes at the dinner table. I also had a couple of aha moments with wine and food pairings as a 20 something year old and wanted to explore more of how that happens.”
Fielding Hills’ first commercial production year was in 2000. That year 400 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and a Red Table Wine were produced. That Cabernet Sauvignon received 91 points from Wine Spectator off of 2-year old vines. Mike was named Washington State’s Rising Star winemaker by Wine Spectator with that first vintage.
Mike and his wife Karen along with their children, family, and friends made and sold wine out of an orchard warehouse in East Wenatchee for the first 13 years. In 2014 Fielding Hills Winery expanded, building a tasting room and/ production facility along the shores of Lake Chelan.
There have been many highlights over the last 25 years for Fielding Hills and the Wades. They have had 2 wines on the top 100 Best Wines of the World, the 2013 Merlot was named Best in Washington State, they have been a guest winery at the prestigious Dallas Heart Association Auction and the tasting room was named as one of 3 “must visit” tasting rooms in Washington state by Sip Magazine.
If you ask the Wades what has been most rewarding about owning a winery they will both say “it is producing a great wine and sharing it with great people. To start with freshly harvested grapes and put them through the hand crafted process of creating wine and then be able to share with others is a great feeling. Getting calls or emails from customers sharing news of having our wine at their Thanksgiving and Christmas is very gratifying. Looking back, one of our favorite highlights over the years was sitting next to Walter Clore at an industry dinner back in the birth years of winemaking in Washington State. We often sit at the winery’s tasting room on the shores of Lake Chelan and ask each other ‘what have we done’?”
Fielding Hills has evolved over 25 years from an orchard warehouse to a custom wine production and tasting room facility. In the first few years there were 3 labels and now there are 15. From only red wines, to later adding whites and Rose’. Most recently, Lake Chelan native and fourth generation orchardist Shane Collins joined Fielding Hills as Head Winemaker bringing with him experience in numerous growing regions and winemaking styles.
To celebrate this year, the winery will produce 25 curated events, promotions, and experiences throughout 2024. This year-long celebration is named: “Twenty-five in ‘24’.” These experiences will focus on celebrating the history of Fielding Hills Winery and showcasing the team’s dedication to making world-class, true to varietal, wines. Experiences will include vineyard tours to the winery’s estate vineyards in the Wahluke Slope, co-hosted winemaker dinners, tastings around the state of Washington, and a harvest kick-off party toward the end of summer to celebrate the 25th harvest.
The Wades see growth in their future that started with 400 cases in an orchard warehouse and is now in a custom production facility and tasting room producing 3,000 cases. Wade’s youngest daughter Megan Mitchell who has grown up in the winemaking industry is taking over management of the business. Her eyes are focused on continuing the tradition of making world class wine.
