Nefarious Cellars

Chelan, United States

3.6

Open now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 509-682-9505
Website:
www.nefariouscellars.com
Address:
495 S Lakeshore Rd, Chelan, WA, 98816
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Take-out
No
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Parking
Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
No
By Appointment Only
No

Today

Today 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Open now
Local time (Chelan) 1:42 PM Sunday, June 8, 2025

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday –
Wednesday –
Thursday –
Friday –
Saturday 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Sunday 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Wine

History

Established in 2006.

This is how it came to be:

In 1998 we planted a test block vineyard just 20 minutes north of Lake Chelan at the bottom of the Methow Valley. It has Pinot noir and Cabernet Sauvignon and everything in between. That was step one. In 2001 we loaded up our car, put our house up for sale, and headed to the Willamette to make Pinot noir. Dean landed a job working for Bud Beck at Advanced Vineyards and then moved on to make wine under Isabelle Dutarte at Deponte and Tony Soter and James Cahill at Soter Vineyards. Heather took the retail side and spent time selling wines from relatively hard to find producers.

On the side, we started a label called Nonni and Zing. It was a small project of about 250 cases annually and was made entirely from fruit sourced from the Dundee Hills AVA. That was a good time.

Step two came to an end in 2004. Washington and the allure of it’s endless possibility lured us home. We found our property on the south shore of the Lake Chelan AVA and closed on it in June o

Meet the Business Owner

Dean and Heather N.

Business Owner

We are just a chick, a couple of guys, and a dog striving to blow your mind on the south shore of Lake Chelan.

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«The perfect stop for your morning coffee… afternoon glass of wine and really great live music on the weekends. Don’t miss it.»

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20 reviews of Nefarious Cellars

No registration required
Place rating: 3
Southwest Portland, Portland, OR
Great view and good service. Really just wasn’t a fan of the wine. I understand wine is subjective and everyone has different tastes but nothing that I tried really left me wanting more.
Place rating: 3
Lake Stevens, WA
We came up on a Saturday excited to try their wines. Not a lot of cars in the parking lot, but the tasting room was crowded. We could hardly get through the door and we didn’t exactly know where the line began or ended. It was loud inside the tiny room and we didn’t know if there was a another room to go into… so we just decided to leave. Aside from trying their wines, we wanted to learn more about the winery and its history. We were disappointed to say the least. However, we did get to enjoy the amazing views of the lake. Maybe we will be back another time.
Place rating: 5
South Lake Tahoe, CA
Beautiful grounds, fantastic views, and super friendly, knowledgeable hostess.
$ 5 tasting fee, waived if you buy. I think we tried 6 wines?
Bought a bottle of Viognier, it was very good! Exactly what you would expect.
Place rating: 2
Sammamish, WA
A couple of decent wines. I didnt love the sour service which was robotic. Another problem was that they had a sign on the main road that said OPEN, and as soon as we got in they said they were closed. (Well then put up a closed sign immediately).
Place rating: 1
Henderson, NV
Great View– Wine is terrible! Our entire group could not finish the tasting — aweful! Even after letting the server know they were not willing to prorate the tasting or give a discount! Napa & Sonoma Valley is not even this bad! If you want quality wine & service in Chelan go to Hard Row to Hoe!
Place rating: 4
Seattle, WA
They make really good wine, and they have a beautiful tasting room with a great view. These people have taste.
Place rating: 3
Silverdale, WA
Beautiful view and great wine. Server was polite but not overly friendly. Not much going on inside, but the outdoor patio is the place to be and relax with your wine.
Place rating: 4
Olympia, WA
I love this place. Great story, beautiful views, and hands down the best wines I tasted during three days in Chelan. I especially liked their «Consequence» — 55% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Aligote, 15% Viognier. A nice citrus pop. Grab an Adirondack and a glass of wine and relax.
Place rating: 4
Walnut Creek, CA
Loved the views! Incredible setting. The wines are fantastic. The Riesling was refreshing the the Spinner (merlot, Mourvèdre, and cab blend) was my favorite!
Place rating: 5
Redmond, WA
Atop
Wine: 4
Setting: 5
Extras: 4
Sitting atop the hill, this winery has an exceptional panoramic view of Lake Chelan! While the wines are okay, the view is worth the trip. Sit in the colorful chairs and have a glass; an excellent way to relax.
Place rating: 1
Lakewood, WA
Came here today with 6 other family members. There were 4 other patrons in the lobby when we arrived. Only 2 of our party decided to taste because there was limited space. The employee informed us that «you would still fill up the tasting room». Our patronage was clearly not desired here, we all departed so the other 4 people and the wine man could enjoy the space we left. The most rude experience of our entire vacation. We spent our money elsewhere.
Place rating: 5
Bellevue, WA
My wife and I have been to every winery in the Chelan valley, and we have always found Nefarious’ wines to be the best. The estate Syrah is fabulous.
It is located at a lovely spot overlooking the lake. Go on a nice summer day and enjoy a bottle of wine while sitting on their shady patio.
Place rating: 4
San Rafael, CA
Great little winery on a hill overlooking Chelan Lake with a very good Estate Syrah. A taste of four wines is $ 5, but this can be applied to a purchase of a bottle.
Definitely worth checking out if you are in Chelan. This is a great spot too to bring a picnic on a sunny day, as they have a nice area out front of the tasting room with colorful Adirondack chairs, wood tables, and lovely flowers overlooking the estate vines and Lake Chelan.
Apparently, there is a long, long list to join their Wine Club.
Place rating: 4
Monroe, WA
Ok, my first review of these guys was not very flattering. But at the time, the hype they were getting I didn’t feel was deserved by the quality of wine they produced. Now that I have recently tasted their wines, I must say, they have improved tremendously! Especially the reds. There were a few big meaty reds that were spectacular. So because they have shown the improvement in the quality of their wines, I am happy to change my rating. The tasting room is big and open, and the service was friendly. You have to belly up to the bar to get a taste, but its a big bar so usually that shouldn’t be a problem. I will try to get out there again soon and get an update on the whites.
Place rating: 4
Seattle, WA
Didn’t get to try the wine because it was super full that day, but venue is cute and dog friendly, it was fun to hang out there.
Place rating: 3
Seattle, WA
This was the first stop on our wine tour being that it was the only one on the south shore to open earlier than 12pm. We arrived at 11:15am, so I imagine we were one of the first, if not the first visitor of the day. The grounds are beautiful and it is a cute story. They opened up in 2005 there so they are definitely new-​er in the area. But I have to saw I am in agreement with the other reviewers. I wasn’t really WOW-​ed either. I had to ASK the guy pouring us the story of the winery and we made some small talk from there.
Personally, I like the employees to make a connection with the customers because ultimately that makes people want to buy. I think people can agree with me that, whether you know a lot or nothing about wine, what makes you ultimately buy the wine — especially the first time — is because of the experience. All the other wineries I purchased from that day definitely had more to do with the experience than just the wine itself.
What really could make this winery take off is a fresh THEME. Every winery is owned by a family, so play with it and make it your own. Marketing yourself is the other part of the buying equation.
Would I come back here on my own accord? — Probably not. I think they make good wine, it just wasn’t enough for me to buy some, although other members of our group did.
Side note — the tasting bar is REALLY tall so short people (and I am only 5’4″) beware!
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
Nefarious Cellars is a relatively new winery on the scene in Lake Chelan however, they are by far the most exciting winery to appear in the AVA thus far. A good portion of their grapes are estate grown and are an excellent representation of Chelan’s terroir. The Wine Gnome and I were lucky enough to catch Heather and Dean (the owners and winemakers) on the day that I arrived. They and their staff were friendly and accommodating.
They were tasting 3 wines: A red blend, a Malbec and their latest Riesling. All wines were approachable and delicious. I drove back and picked up their Malbec after visiting all of the wineries on the South Shore, which gives you an indication of the quality of their wines.
I was especially wowed by the Riesling (and I’m not a sweet wine fan). It was bone-​dry and had a juicy complexity that reminded me of Starburst candies that I enjoyed so much when I was a kid.
No visit to Chelan would be complete without a visit to Nefarious Cellars. Do yourself a favor and order a glass of their Riesling, stay and enjoy the view of the lake.
Place rating: 2
Seattle, WA
Maybe I’ve came here on the off day, but I wasn’t WOW’ed by the experience. The place was nice and the service was friendly, but I felt like the other winery’s that I went to afterwards were much better. Our group was the only ones there at the time and there really wasn’t a sitting area for doing the taste flight, we just stood alongside the bar and was poured with the different wines that we wanted to taste and we ended up standing there and trying to make small chit-​chat but it was kind of awkward… the mood in the air was kinda «dry»…
The wine here is pretty good though. The Syrah was pretty tasty and my bf bought a bottle but I wasn’t WOW’ed by the experience…
Place rating: 5
Redmond, WA
Win win win!
Chelan is really coming into their own with their wines, and it’s people like Dean and Heather that make it that way. Their gorgeous tasting room overlooks Lake Chelan. When asking where they get their grapes from, I love that they are able to say, «right there!» So awesome. The doggy in charge of hospitality, Lucy, is sweet as can be. She even tried to get in our car when we left!
But on to what matters, the wine. It’s all fantastic, and the syrah was what I went home with. I can’t wait to go back and try again next time I am in Chelan.
Place rating: 5
Redmond, WA
Trekked up their driveway to their hilltop tasting room on a whim yesterday. We were driving along the lake, and saw them on top of the hill, and chose them as the one winery for us to stop by. We only had time for one, and this one just looked cool :)
Dean and Heather have an excellent new Winery. I was very impressed with all of their offerings. They were pouring a Viogner, The Consequence, Syrah, and a beautiful Cabernet. I especially loved the views of their tasting room. Seriously the best you’re going to find in Chelan. Excellent choice of real estate!
We really enjoyed ourselves here, and really liked the family running it. You can tell they’re in love with their business, and it shows when they interact with the visitors. We will be returning!