Bonair Winery

Founded in 1985, Bonair Winery and Vineyards is located in the heart of Yakima wine country―Zillah, to be precise. With the Rattlesnake Hills to the east, this wine country region presents a constellation of images that would fill a calendar: October harvest, Fourth of July red, white and rosé tasting rooms, cases of wine under the Christmas tree, and many more. Gail Puryear, owner and vintner of Bonair, wants visitors to experience “real wineries,” for which they pass by vineyards on the way to the tasting rooms and while doing so, make the connection between the wines and their origins .

The architectural style of the Bonair Winery may remind you of an English country estate, with its turret and brown-trimmed white buildings. With a koi pond positioned in front of the winery and Yakima’s typical deep blue skies as a backdrop, you’re treated to another calendar-perfect image. Get ready to enjoy what Gail describes as a “hobby that got out of control.” Bonair’s reputation for chardonnay, quaffable reds, fruity sipping wines, and mead makes it unique. Yes, the chardonnay is aged in oak “the old-fashioned way.” Bonair’s flagship Chateau Puryear Reserve Chardonnay is big, soft and buttery, and as Gail puts it, is “like chardonnay used to be before self-appointed wine critics.” Sample the chardonnay and imagine that paired with your wine-country turkey and cranberry sauce.

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  Bonair Winery was featured in WineTrails of Washington as part of the Rattlesnake Hills WineTrail on page 286!