For more than 10 years, Crayelle Cellars has been gaining aloyal following, and now their Wenatchee fans have more reason to celebrate.Crayelle Cellars’ tasting room has moved from its Cashmere location to downtownWenatchee.
For more than 20 years, Craig Mitrakul has been helping toshape the wine industry as a winemaker for some of the best wineries in thearea. With the help of his wife Danielle, Craig took all his knowledge andpoured it into creating his own wines at Crayelle Cellars.
The new tasting room in Wenatchee opened the second week of May and has been a great success. In September, they expanded their hours to meet growing demand.
“We live in Wenatchee and we’ve always wanted to open a locationin Wenatchee,” says Danielle, who handles sales, marketing and manages theirtasting room. “So it was perfect timing when this space opened. Plus we’reright below the Wenatchee Chamber of Commerce, who has always been such greatsupporters of the wine industry.”
Danielle points out that they also plan to capitalize ontheir proximity to the Numerica Performing Arts Center. “We’re a great placefor people to get a glass of wine before dinner or a show.”
“Even though we’redowntown, we’re private and off the beaten path,” says Danielle. “It’s a greatlocation. Plus, there’s a new restaurant that’s going in upstairs.”
Atlas, the new restaurant Danielle mentioned, is slated toopen in November.
Crayelle also recently rebranded their bottles: all of themfeature unique artistic painting that makes all their varietals easy to pickout. Crayelle produces 500-600 cases a year and usually has about 10 vintagesavailable. However, stock is limited. “It’s best to buy soon after they’rereleased,” says Danielle.
At the recent Wenatchee Wine and Food Awards competitionheld as part of the annual Wenatchee Wine and Food Fest, Crayelle Cellarsearned a double gold for their Albariño, made with a Spanish white grapevarietal grown in the Ancient Lakes region of the Columbia Valley, and a goldfor Gabriel’s Horn, a blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon and 48% Syrah.
“The Albariño is our most popular wine, both locally andthroughout the state,” says Danielle. “It’s been a consistent big seller forus.”
Crayelle Cellars is now located at 15 N. 2nd Street, Suite 103. They’re on ground floor of the same buildingas the Wenatchee Chamber of Commerce. You can access their tasting room off of2nd Street. It’s half a block down from Wenathee Avenue, across fromthe Coast Wenatchee Hotel.
Crayelle’s hours areFridays from 3:30 to 7 p.m., Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 11a.m. to 4 p.m. To learn more about Crayelle Cellars, go to crayellecellars.com.