L’Ecole N° 41 Winery develops lesson plan in history for Walla Walla

By Eric Degerman

LOWDEN, Wash. — Forty years ago, L’Ecole N° 41 first rang the bell as a winery in the historic Frenchtown schoolhouse where Jean Ferguson made the wine for her husband, Baker, to take to market.

They teamed up to produce one white wine — a Sémillon — and a single red wine. That 1983 Merlot would go to the head of the class at the Enological Society of the Pacific Northwest wine competition in 1986.

Their daughter Megan, and son-in-law, a young Texan named Marty Clubb, took time off from their careers in the Bay Area and helped with punchdowns on that Merlot. The brand was named after the French word for school.

“Jean was a pioneer,” Marty says. “We were the third winery in the valley, and she was the first woman winemaker in Walla Walla — and the only one for quite some time.”

Today, the third generation is involved, and Marcus Rafanelli, schooled at Walla Walla Community College’s acclaimed wine program, prepares for his fourth vintage as the winemaker. And there is Clubb, whose stewardship and vision as managing winemaker and viticulturist continues to elevate L’Ecole N° 41. Not only does the brand remain among the pantheon of Walla Walla Valley wine producers, but it also continues to make its mark globally in competitions and the marketplace, especially with Bordeaux varieties white and red.

“We like to say we’re ‘old school,’ and you can see why in how we make our wine,” Clubb says, “but we’re also ʽnew school’ in that Marcus is not only a graduate of the enology and viticulture program but went on to become an instructor. And our entire winemaking team are all graduates of the enology and viticulture program, so they are very wine-smart — smarter than me, quite frankly, although I have more experience.”

What the Fergusons launched in 1983 grew into a 50,000-case brand recognized for wines that deliciously — and with remarkable consistency — straddle approachability and age-worthiness, regardless of the varieties involved.

“Baker focused on Sémillon and Merlot, both obscure varietals at that time for Washington, but he was super well-read and had an incredible cellar of European wines,” Clubb says. “He loved white Graves. He loved Pomerol. He also understood the climatic issues behind growing great grapes.

“He ran a bank and loaned money to farmers who were growing apples and wheat and eventually wine grapes,” Clubb continued. “He understood early on there was potential for Merlot in Washington state. Baker always did things out of the mainstream, so we made Sémillon and Merlot. When I first got involved, I wondered, ʽHow are we going to sell this stuff? Nobody knows what Sémillon and Merlot are?’ ”

The Fergusons handed Clubb the reins to their retirement project in 1989. It made sense since Marty met Megan in Boston when they were both earning business degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Megan ultimately would take the lead on another family business in Walla Walla — storied Baker Boyer Bank, which her family established in 1869.

“I remember having Petrus many times with Baker, never realizing that it was the bottle of wine that was the pinnacle of Merlot,” Clubb says. “That was one of the many pleasures of being with him. He was well-read and loved telling the stories about the wine, the vineyards and the winemakers. I learned about wine from Baker.”

A defining experience in Clubb’s life poured out when the Fergusons visited him and Megan in Boston. Baker made his way to a cheesemonger and a bottle shop that featured one of his favorites — a Beaulieu Vineyard Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley.

“It was an eye-opening experience for me,” Clubb says. “I didn’t realize wine could be so good.”

In the view of critics, the press and blind judgings, Clubb and L’Ecole have produced world-class wines for much of the winery’s history. The most famous example came in 2014 when the 2011 Ferguson Vineyard Red Wine was voted the best Bordeaux blend in the world at the prestigious Decanter World Wine Awards in London, a judging overseen by the late Steven Spurrier — the gentleman behind the monumental Judgment of Paris. What would have made it even sweeter would have been to share the news with Jean and Baker, who died in 1998 and 2005, respectively. The planting of Ferguson’s 42 acres didn’t begin until 2008.

“We knew if we got a medal with this wine it would put us on a pathway,” Clubb says. “We were really excited that we won a gold medal. We didn’t consider that it would win an international trophy. All I could think of was beating Napa.”

Two years later, the 2013 Ferguson was awarded Best New World Bordeaux Blend at the prestigious Six Nations Wine Challenge — an invitation-only judging in Sydney, Australia.

Each year, Wine & Spirits Magazine generates its Top 100 Wineries of the World. L’Ecole has made that list 16 times, which brings with it the right to pour at Top 100 Tastings in San Francisco and New York City. Last year, it was the 2019 Perigee and 2019 Ferguson that were presented. Rafanelli created those blends, continuing the tradition of longtime winemaker Mike Sharon.

It starts in the vineyards, where Clubb partners with a number of the Columbia Valley’s premier growers, including Sagemoor (White Bluffs), Klipsun (Red Mountain), Evergreen (Ancient Lakes), Stillwater Creek (Royal Slope), StoneTree (Wahluke Slope) and Yakima Valley sites Upland, Willard and Phil Church.

In the Walla Walla Valley, the enduring connection with Pepper Bridge Vineyard and owner Norm McKibben led to L’Ecole joining the partnership in the North Slope Management, Seven Hills Vineyard and the Clubb family’s establishment of Ferguson.

“It seemed like we should have something more lasting to honor our founders,” Clubb says. “Naturally, we started thinking about planting an estate vineyard named Ferguson. This vineyard site is on the same windy ridge line as Seven Hills but is much higher in elevation — almost to 1,500 feet — and planted on an outcropping of fractured basalt, defining factors for our wines.

“Ferguson is viewed by the wine world as one of the first high-elevation vineyards planted in basalt. And Sadie Drury, who manages Seven Hills and Ferguson, is incredible. Working with her over the past 10 years has improved our quality.”

Clubb’s chemical engineering degree from Texas A&M also helps explain his drive to innovate and sidestep disaster. The Walla Walla Valley is grappling with a number of diseases and pests prevalent in other areas of the Pacific Northwest, particularly locales with own-rooted vines amid climate change.

“There is leafroll virus in Cabernet, and we’ve now discovered phylloxera in vineyards, but we’re on the front-end of the curve in dealing with this,” Clubb says. “We’ve already replanted 15 acres of Ferguson on (phylloxera-resistant) rootstock.

“We are really excited now to be a part of that world where rootstock is part of what we do,” he continued. “Planting different clones on different rootstock and expanding the versatility of the wines we’re making will help take us to the next level.”

One of the rare steps away from tradition was Clubb’s decision to redesign the brand, staying with the schoolhouse theme but moving away from the child’s drawing that served as the whimsical label for two decades.

“In the beginning we were a small, regional startup winery doing our best to be known and loved. A lot of our customer