Auction of Washington Wines

Auction of Washington Wines is one of the wine festivals that anchors the Washington calendar, drawing both local visitors and international wine travellers each year. It is held at Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville, in the heart of one of USA's most distinctive wine areas. It has been running since 1988, with a long unbroken local tradition behind it. The Auction of Washington Wines is the Pacific Northwest's flagship charity wine event, raising over $50 million for Seattle Children's Hospital and Washington State University viticulture programmes since 1988. The weekend combines a Picnic & Barrel Auction at Chateau Ste. Michelle's Woodinville estate with the Gala Auction, winemaker dinners across Washington's leading wineries, and barrel tastings of the upcoming vintage. Top Washington producers including Quilceda Creek, Leonetti, DeLille and Cayuse all participate. Wine auctions across Europe combine commercial bidding with public ceremony, drawing collectors, importers, journalists and enthusiasts. Visitors can attend public tasting sessions running alongside the auction, with wine industry meetings, masterclasses on the history of the producing region, and gala dinners surrounding the main event. The auction format is designed to spotlight rare bottlings, library vintages and limited-edition releases that rarely appear in standard commercial channels, with a fundraising or charitable element common to many of the better-known auction events. The event is organised by Auction of Washington Wines, which sets the tone and direction of the programme each year. Washington State is the United States' second-largest wine producer (after California), with vineyards mostly concentrated in the dry, sunny eastern half of the state, sheltered from coastal rain by the Cascade Mountains. The Columbia Valley AVA covers the bulk of the state's wine production and contains most of the smaller premium AVAs: Walla Walla Valley (the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah heartland straddling the Oregon border), Yakima Valley, Red Mountain (a tiny but acclaimed Cabernet Sauvignon zone), Horse Heaven Hills, Wahluke Slope and Naches Heights. Producers like Chateau Ste. Michelle, Columbia Crest, Quilceda Creek, Leonetti Cellar, Cayuse, Long Shadows and DeLille set the regional quality reference. Washington Riesling — particularly from the cooler coastal Puget Sound and from select Yakima Valley sites — is also internationally recognised. The 2026 edition is scheduled for August 2026. Cost details: Premium ticketing. Full programme, ticketing and updated information are published on the official site at https://auctionofwashingtonwines.org/. Visitors are advised to check directly with the organiser for the latest schedule, as festival programmes are sometimes updated close to the event date. Washington's wine country is reached most easily via Seattle (SEA), with the Columbia Valley wine zone 3-4 hours east by car (or via Tri-Cities or Walla Walla airports for direct access). Walla Walla, with its compact downtown and 100+ wineries within 20 minutes, is the wine-tourism centre. Woodinville, just 30 minutes north of Seattle, hosts a remarkable cluster of 100+ tasting rooms despite no vineyards (most fruit is sourced from eastern Washington), making it a popular day-trip destination from Seattle.