Tsillan Cellars Continues Its 20-Year Record As
Lake Chelan’s Most Awarded Winery in 2023
Tsillan Cellars, Washington State’s 2020 Winery of the Year, continued its 20-year record as Lake Chelan’s most awarded winery in 2023. The winery accounted for 68 total awards last year with 31 Gold medals, 19 Double Golds, 13 Best of Class and 5 Platinum medals in regional, national, and international wine competitions.
The vast majority of these awards were for estate grown wines from Tsillan Cellars’ South Shore vineyards, confirming that the transition from world class apples to world class wines continues.
Amazingly, Tsillan Cellars won distinction as the most awarded Washington State winery in both the 2024 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, the largest in the United States, and in the prestigious California-based West Coast Wine Awards in September 2023.
In regional wine competition, Tsillan Cellars distinguished itself in the 2023 North Central Washington Wine Awards by winning the Best Red Wine, Best White Wine and Best of Show awards. In the words of wine writer Rick Steigmeyer, “each year, it seems, the wines and the Italian themed resort attract more awards, stunning reviews and a stampede of visitors for a vision done right.”
Dr. Bob Jankelson, Tsillan Cellars’s owner, gives credit to head winemaker Garrett Grubbs and vineyard manager Nic Stevens for elevating the vineyard and winemaking to new levels of excellence. The 2023 highlight, a first for the Chelan Valley, was the very rare perfect 100-point score awarded Tsillan Cellars Bellissima Rossa, Tsillan Cellars’s iconic Bordeaux red blend.
When challenged with the question of how do you live up to your 2023 success, Grubbs said the estate red 2022 vintage, to be bottled in July 2024, will produce varietal wines that are even more fruit forward, acid and tannin balanced than the 2021 vintage that captured so many accolades from wine critics. He feels these wines will continue to lift the Lake Chelan AVA to new heights of recognition in the Washington State wine world in 2024.
Named the “Crown Jewel of Lake Chelan” by wine writers 20 years ago, Tsillan Cellars experienced record growth and recognition in 2023, suggesting a bright future for the Lake Chelan wine industry.
Tsillan Cellars is located at 3875 U.S. Highway 97A, Chelan, WA. 98826. Phone: (509) 682-9463. For more information about the winery, visit: www.tsillancellars.com.
