Wine Press Northwest Spring 2020

Tsillan Cellars is honored to be Wine Press NW

2020 WASHINGTON WINERY OF THE YEAR World Class Wine Estate GROWN and MADE in the Lake Chelan Valley AVA 20 Years of...

Pioneering sustainable viticulture in the Lake Chelan AVA Promoting stewardship of the land Protecting the agricultural legacy of the Chelan Valley Setting standards of winemaking excellence in the Lake Chelan AVA Bringing world class wine, food and hospitality to the Chelan Valley I would like to thank the people of Tsillan Cellars that made this honor possible.

Thanks also to the thousands of wine lovers that have supported Tsillan Cellars the past 20 years.

Dr. Bob Jankelson, Tsillan Cellars Owner 3875 US HWY 97A Chelan, WA 98816 | 509-682-9463 | www.tsillancellars.com

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“Flawless and Thoroughly Enjoyable!”

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IN THIS ISSUE SPRING 2020 | VOL. 22, NO. 1

Pacific Northwest Winery of the Year - page 18

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COVER STORY Clearwater Canyon Cellars in Lewiston, Idaho has been named our 2020 Pacific Northwest Winery of the Year.

Cover photo of owners Coco and Karl Umiker by Richard Duval.

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THE WINE KNOWS BY ANDY PERDUE

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SWIRL, SNIFF & SIP BY KEN ROBERTSON

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ELLEN ON WINE BY ELLEN LANDIS

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OREGON OAK BARRELS

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B.C.’S BACKYARD VINEYARD

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TWO NEW TASTING ROOMS

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COLTER’S CREEK VINEYARDS & WINERY

Idaho wine country is a true gem

Syrah’s versatility shines in Northwest

Oregon winery dominates Old vs. New Challenge

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LEFT COAST ESTATE

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TRELLA VINEYARDS

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TSILLAN CELLARS

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ORENDA WINERY

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NORTHWEST SYRAHS RATED

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MATCH MAKERS

2020 Oregon Winery of the Year

2020 Oregon Winery to Watch

2020 Washington Winery of the Year

2020 Washington Winery to Watch

Competition results and tasting notes

Fat Olives shares recipes and pairings

Making Oregon Pinot Noir more uniquely Oregon

Popular destination for wine tourists and locals

Cave B and Gordon Estates join Kennewick wine village

2020 Idaho Winery of the Year

Match Makers - page 50

CORRECTION:

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KERRY HILL WINERY 2020 Idaho Winery to Watch

winepressnw.com

Matthew Fortuna became the assistant winemaker at British Columbia’s 50th Parallel Estate Winery since 2013, and the lead winemaker there since 2016. The date he became the lead winemaker was incorrect in a wine review published as part of the Platinum competition coverage in our last issue.

Wine Press Northwest is for those with an interest in wine — from the novice to the veteran. We focus on Washington, Oregon and Idaho’s talented winemakers and the wineries, vintners and restaurants that showcase Northwest wines. We are dedicated to all who savor the frutis of their labor.

General Manager Jerry Hug jhug@tricityherald.com Editor Gregg McConnell editor@winepressnw.com Contributors Tamara Belgard Eric Degerman Dan Radil Columnists Ellen Landis Ken Robertson Andy Perdue Contributing photographers Bob Bawdy Richard Duval In memoriam: Bob Woehler Advertising sales Aaron Rindeikis arindeikis@mcclatchy.com To subscribe: Subscriptions cost $20 U.S. per year for four issues per year.

Mail check or money order to the address below, subscribe securely online at winepressnw.com or call customer service at 800-538-5619.

Free weekly newsletter: Sign up for our free Pacific Northwest Wine of the Week e-mail newsletter at winepressnw.com Address 333 W. Canal Drive Kennewick, WA 99336 © 2020 Wine Press Northwest A Tri-City Herald publication

Spring 2020 • Wine Press Northwest

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COLUMN | the wine knows

IDAHO WINE COUNTRY IS A TRUE GEM daho: A wide-open place with lots of potential for great wines. Wines that are based on acidity rather than tannins, that are graceful and ageable, and that inspire conversation at parties.

I lived in Idaho for a year after college, working as an editor at the newspaper in Twin Falls (30 minutes from fabulous Jackpot, Nev. — home to Cactus Pete’s Casino, open all night).

But my first experience with wine was in Idaho, when I was assigned to bring a bottle to Thanksgiving dinner with friends in Boise.

I was living in Kennewick by then, and asked Tri-City Herald wine writer Bob Woehler for a recommendation. He promptly suggested a Merlot from a Yakima Valley winery — I didn’t even know if that was a red or white wine. The couple hosting dinner were California wine snobs, so the pressure was on.

The wine was delicious, both bottles were consumed, and a great time was had by all.

And my future as a wine writer was inadvertently set.

When we started Wine Press Northwest in 1998, we included Idaho because it was part of the Pacific Northwest. And it was easy to include, with about a dozen wineries in Idaho at the time. Now, Idaho’s 60 wineries are a force worth considering by all wine lovers and collectors.

Fast forward to 2001, when the crew of the young Wine Press Northwest magazine drove five hours southeast to Caldwell and conducted what proved to be the precursor to the Idaho Wine Competition, a judging we repeat each year in a collaborative effort with the Idaho Wine Commission.

We’ve noticed that Idaho wines keep improving, reflecting the growing skill of winemakers, improvements in fruit quality and overall maturation of the wine industry. With its pioneering spirit, commitment to quality and good ol’ grit, Idaho is on its way to becoming the nation’s next hot wine region.

Vineyards with elevations of up to 3,000 feet and an extended growing season are keys to Idaho’s future — similar to Argentina's Uco Valley, home to some of the world's best Malbecs. Two of my favorite grape varieties

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are Riesling and Malbec, both of which are perfectly suited for southern Idaho’s hilly terrain.

Rhône varieties such as Syrah, Viognier, Petite Sirah and GrenacheSyrah-Mourvèdre blends also are wines to watch, as well as Petit Verdot

By Andy Perdue and Tempranillo.

I took a walk down memory lane and reviewed the fall 2001 edition of Wine Press Northwest, where the cover story was on Idaho. Besides being shocked at the photo on my column (my younger self had brown hair!), I was surprised to see 16 wineries listed.

While the number of wineries has grown, now grouped in four distinct regions, the confidence and fierce independence remain.

The micro-climates also persist and keep things interesting. Some vineyards experience hard winters and often produce ice wine, while others are protected from cold. The silt loam and volcanic soils are fertile, but the climate is dry, so irrigation is needed for controlled watering of the vines. Warm summer days at this latitude provide more hours of sunshine than California, and the temperature swing on cool summer nights allows the sugars and acidity to settle.

All of this combines to give Idaho wine a natural advantage. The vineyards produce grapes with higher acidity, which means the wines will go better with food and will age into even more interesting flavors. To me, this indicates Idaho has a special quality simply built into the region. Plus the Snake River Valley's background in agriculture (think "famous potatoes'') gives growers a head start in producing the right raw materials.

One of the nation’s largest wine companies, Seattle-based Precept Wine, owns a pair of labels and vineyards, including Skyline, the state’s largest vineyard at 400 acres of the total 1,300 acres planted in Idaho.

We hope to see more investments in this emerging region as its fame rises. The indust-

ry contributes about $210 million annually to the Idaho economy, according to a recent report prepared for the Idaho Wine Commission. Wine tourism is picking up, too, with well-established restaurants in Boise and Sandpoint attracting wine patrons.

While my travel has been limited since surviving a big stroke in fall 2016, I have fond memories of a 2015 visit to Clearwater Canyon Cellars in historic Lewiston, where the perpetually energetic winemaker Coco Umiker and her viticulturist husband Karl Umiker are true examples of the Gem State’s pioneering spirit. I am especially enthralled with Clearwater Canyon’s Malbec, and as proven by the growing collection of medals, Coco is adept at making some of the Northwest’s best reds.

This issue marks the first time that we’ve featured an Idaho winery as our Pacific Northwest Winery of the Year, which says a lot about Clearwater Canyon Cellars and the Umikers’ evolution, and even more about the Idaho wine industry’s maturation.

But the rewards for hard work don’t stop there. Colter’s Creek Vineyards & Winery in the Lewis-Clark Valley is the Idaho Winery of the Year. Colter’s Creek winemaker Melissa Sanborn and her husband, Mike Pearson, make a GSM that repeatedly hits the bullseye.

Kerry Hill Winery is the Idaho Winery To Watch. I am as inspired by the resilience of owner Mindy Mayer as I am intrigued by the results of her winemaker, Tim Harless of nearby Hat Ranch Winery.

And my wife made sure that I point out, two female winemakers and one female winery owner earned top honors from Wine Press Northwest. Here’s to the frontier spirit!

I expect Idaho wines to continue their rise to national prominence, something that is starting to happen with astute West Coast wine lovers.

The current price of Idaho wine does not reflect their quality. Put me on the bandwagon to Idaho.

ANDY PERDUE is Wine Press Northwest's founding editor and is co-founder of Great Northwest Wine.

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COLUMN | swirl, sniff & sip

SYRAH’S VERSATILITY SHINES IN NORTHWEST hen Yakima Valley grape grower Mike Sauer teamed with the late David Lake of Columbia Winery in 1986 to plant Washington state’s first Syrah vines at Red Willow Vineyard, they probably had high hopes for a new varietal, a chance to diversify their grape crop and make a little money.

Three decades later, it’s clear they were right in their belief that the Northwest could grow great grapes from Syrah vines. What they likely didn’t foresee is that their experiment would spawn a Rhône wine revolution that would spill out of Washington, south to Oregon, east to Idaho and even north of the border into British Columbia.

That first Syrah planting sparked a rapid rise in the grape’s popularity to the No. 3 spot among red wines in acres planted. In a bit of an ironic twist, that Yakima Valley planting also would help inspire Walla Walla-area grape growers and winemakers to try the varietal that eventually would fortify the Walla Walla Valley’s reputation as a great place both to grow grapes and make wine.

The Washington State Wine Commission’s 2018 grape acreage report tallied 4,572 acres of Syrah in the state. That’s about half the amount for Merlot (9,071 acres) and about a quarter of the 18,608 acres planted in Cabernet Sauvignon. But from 2011 to 2017, Syrah acreage grew by 47%, keeping it firmly entrenched among the state’s top reds.

So it wasn’t too surprising that, when Wine Press Northwest called for entries for its Syrah judging for the magazine’s Spring issue, wineries in Oregon, Washington and Idaho responded by submitting 174 examples. What was surprising was the array of vintages, spanning 2009 to 2019, certainly one of the largest evaluations of Syrah ever conducted in the Northwest.

The bulk of the wines that rated “Outstanding!” — the top rating category and the equivalent of a gold medal — were from two years of Syrah that are clearly in their prime, 2016 and 2017. Interestingly, one of the toprated wines came from Red Willow Vineyard’s famed Chapel Block, just north of the original planting.

The entries came from an array of American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) across the

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three states, ranging from the Applegate Valley in Southern Oregon to Lake Chelan in Northcentral Washington from north to south and from the Washington’s Cascade foothills in the Yakima Valley to the Snake River Valley in Idaho. (It’s noteBy Ken Robertson worthy that awardwinning Syrahs also are produced even farther north in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys of British Columbia.)

Although most of us in the Northwest tend to think of the earthy, spicy, high-alcohol, black and blue fruit-laden versions that come from such top AVAs as Walla Walla and Red Mountain, our region’s vineyards also produce cool-climate examples from areas such as Lake Chelan.

Besides making great red wines, Northwest Syrah has proved it also can be turned into an elegant, light-on-its-feet rosé that won’t break the bank. In 2018, winemaker Victor Palencia crafted a Rosé of Syrah for Jones of Washington that sells for a mere $14 from Ancient Lakes fruit and won a Platinum award in Wine Press’s annual fall competition in 2019 for the region’s gold medal wines.

Northwest Syrah has become a favorite blending grape as well. A flood of GrenacheSyrah-Mourvèdre (GSM) blends emerge from every vintage nowadays to the delight of our region’s wine buffs and appear to trail only Bordeaux-style blends in popularity.

These blends have also helped give some lesser-known Rhône grapes a turn in the spotlight, including Grenache, Mourvèdre and Counoise, which now are regularly made in single-varietal versions.

In addition, Syrah helped introduce the Northwest to the Rhône’s white wine varieties, especially Viognier, which in France regularly is blended into that region’s red wines. And as Viognier showed promise across the Northwest, especially in cooler climate areas, it also helped spike interest in other Rhône whites, including Marsanne, Roussanne, Picpoul and Grenache Blanc.

A few of the region’s winemakers also

have turned Syrah into sparkling wine, including Treveri Cellars in Wapato in the Yakima Valley at an affordable $20-$24.

We hope our judging will encourage you to try the array of fine Northwest wines that Sauer and Lake’s experiment has inspired.

We doubt you’ll be disappointed. No matter what kind of wine you prefer, Northwest Syrah offers stunning versatility.

WINE WORDS: AMPHORA AGING In the wine world, aging in amphora is among the oldest of the category of “everything old is new again.” In the past decade or so, a few winemakers have readopted one of the oldest ways of storing wine, the large, two-handled ancient pottery vessels known as amphorae in Latin, from the Greek word amphoreus.

Starting perhaps as early as 6,000 B.C., once potters began turning out clay vessels, somebody decided to put liquids such as water, wine and olive oil into them. For wine, two-handled jugs emerged, typically able to hold about 50 liters or less, which means a weight of about 110 pounds. They have never totally gone out of use, but were mostly supplanted with glass once the technology developed.

But, like concrete eggs, they have become a bit trendy for wine aging. Among the claims made are they impart no flavors, allow a bit of oxygenation, so the wine inside ages a bit, and they are rather temperature stable, adopting the indoor (usually cellar) temperature and are largely unaffected by brief temperature changes.

In the Northwest, winemaker and grape grower Andrew Beckham in Sherwood, Ore., is among the proponents of amphora aging, which is no surprise: He’s a longtime ceramics instructor at Beaverton High School.

Scholars of ancient pottery would likely call his vessels pithoi, from the ancient Greek name for larger containers. His versions require up to 900 pounds of clay and retail for $2,900, according to a recent Wine Press Northwest article. And the resulting A.D. Beckham wines produced with his terra cotta amphorae are among the most distinctive on the West Coast.

KEN ROBERTSON, the retired editor of the Tri-City Herald, has been sipping Northwest wines and writing about them since 1976.

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COLUMN | ellen on wine

REUSTLE PRAYER ROCK VINEYARDS DOMINATES OLD WORLD VS. NEW WORLD CHALLENGE

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unny St. Petersburg, Fla., was host city for the recent American Wine Society Annual Conference. Consumer wine aficionados and wine professionals representing restaurant, retail, education, journalism and winemaking gathered to celebrate their passion for wine. During the conference, a group of AWS members participated in an eye-opening blind tasting that will no doubt create new interest in wines from Umpqua Valley, Ore., starting with those from Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyards.

During an educational session on wines from around the globe, eight highly rated wines were evaluated side by side. There were four different varieties, one of each from the Old World and the New World. The audience was clear about the variety, but neither the vintage nor the region of origin was divulged up front.

After swirling, sniffing and savoring each wine, tasters chose their favorites, and the votes for participants’ top choices were tabulated. Specific details were then revealed for the Gruner Veltliner, Pinot Noir, Tempranillo and Syrah wines poured.

In three of four comparisons, the New World wine from Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyards took top honors by a significant margin.

The vote in the fourth set was a close call that tipped in favor of a Tempranillo from Rioja, Spain (La Rioja Alta’s Viña Arana). Ahh, but you may suspect that in a blind tasting, low-end examples of either Old World or New World wine could be selected to skew the judges in one direction or the other. That was clearly not the case here. The Old World and New World wines poured were highly rated from reputable, well known sources. Take a look (favored wine noted in bold print):

GRUNER VELTLINER OLD WORLD Nikolaihof 2017 Hefeabzug Gruner Veltliner, Wachau, Austria ($30): This lively wine from the Wachau, a prime region for Gruner Veltliner, secured a 93-point rating from Wine Spectator and 90 points from James Suckling. An indigenous Austrian variety, it’s the most widely planted grape there. Layered and full bodied with green apple, just picked hari covert, refreshing citrus, and lychee underpinnings. Clean, expressive and well balanced all the way through.

NEW WORLD Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyards 2017 Hefeabzug Gruner Veltliner Estate, Umpqua Valley, Oregon ($26): Secured a 95-point Platinum 10

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award at the 2019 Monterey International Wine Competition and a 94point Platinum award at the 2019 San Diego Wine Competition. Vivacious and mouth-watering with Granny Smith apples, fresh-cut herbs, Meyer lemon, chamomile, and a pinch of white pepper.

Crisp, bright and precise,

By Ellen Landis with a long finish. The Reustles were the first to plant Gruner Veltliner in the United States; 2017 is their 13th vintage.

PINOT NOIR OLD WORLD Domaine Pierre Guillemot 2017 Les Serpentieres, Savigny-les-Beaune Premier Cru, Burgundy France ($59): Rated 93 points (Robert Parker). Dried cherry, hints of dusty earth, tart cranberry, and oak spice notes are displayed on the nose and in the mouth. Varietally expressive with gentle tannins, and the texture is smooth and mouthcoating.

NEW WORLD Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyards 2017 Pinot Noir, Umpqua Valley, Oregon ($42): This gem secured a Double Gold medal at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. The compelling spicy aroma leads to Sweetheart cherries, exotic spice, subtle oak nuances, raspberries and blueberry compote gliding elegantly across the palate. Well-structured and immaculately balanced with refined tannins, and hints of anise gracing the persistent finish.

TEMPRANILLO OLD WORLD La Rioja Alta Vina Arana 2012 Gran Reserva, Rioja, Spain ($46): This deep, dark wine secured a 95-point rating from James Suckling, and 91 points from Robert Parker. Nicely fragranced with earthy, plummy notes up front, leading to saddle leather, blackberries, the presence of oak, plum preserves, and spiciness filling the palate. Firm tannins support the core fruit, and it finishes with lingering toasty oak.

NEW WORLD Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyards 2012 Timnah Bloc Tempranillo, Umpqua Valley, Oregon ($29): This savory Tempranillo secured Gold and “Best of Class“ awards at the Savor NW Wine Competition, and a Gold Medal at Wine Press Northwest’s “Best of the Best” Wine Competition. Dark berries and cassis on the nose open to flavors of boysenberry, black

currant, new leather, spiced meat, and understated oak. Well balanced and pure, with silky tannins and remarkable length.

SYRAH OLD WORLD Domaine Paul Jaboulet 2016 Aîné Domaine de Thalabert Crozes-Hermitage, Northern Rhone, France ($40): This wine secured a 94-point rating from Jeb Dunnick and 93 points from Robert Parker. Delightfully aromatic and expressive at first whiff. Well balanced and smoothly textured with earthy elements, underlying black fruit, minerally notes, and black licorice drop accents from first captivating sip to the endless finale.

NEW WORLD Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyards 2016 Estate Cuvee Syrah, Umpqua Valley, Oregon ($32): This wine secured a Double Gold medal at the Savor NW Wine Competition, a Gold Medal at the Cascadia Wine Competition, a Gold Medal at the San Diego Wine Competition, and a 92-point rating in Wine & Spirits magazine. Provocative with its tantalizing aroma of violets and forest berries. On the palate, layers of Bing cherry, semisweet chocolate, olallieberry, roasted meat, anise, and savory spice wrap around firm yet approachable tannins, and the finish is everlasting.

This tasting supports the belief of many critics, professionals and oenophiles across the country: Northwest wines have earned their stripes and deserve global recognition like comparable praiseworthy wines from the Old World. The Pacific Northwest has come a long way in the past two decades with these and other noteworthy wines gaining broader notice. The varietal typicity, fine structure, pristine balance, depth of flavor and elegance demonstrated in this tasting made a memorable impression. Hats off to owner/winemaker Stephen Reustle and co-owner/wife Gloria Reustle, Associate Winemaker Wade Smith, and their competent team for the impressive results.

ELLEN LANDIS is a wine journalist, Certified Sommelier (Court of Master Sommeliers), Certified Wine Specialist (Society of Wine Educators), Wine Educator and professional wine judge. She moderates for the highly acclaimed Vintner’s Holidays annual event at Yosemite’s Ahwahnee Hotel), among other events, and was a Ritz Carlton Sommelier for years. She judges numerous national and international wine competitions annually. Reach Ellen at ellen@ellenonwine.com.

FEATURE | oregon oak

OREGON TERROIR LEVELS UP AT MARTIN WOODS

By Tamara Belgard MCMINNVILLE, ORE. Terroir, a French word that refers to the impact soil, climate and a vineyard’s orientation have on a wine’s taste, is based on the theory that the land creates a unique flavor profile in a grape that would not be the same in any other location.

But Martin Woods Winery is taking the premise of terroir one step further, creating barrels from fallen oak trees on the winery property, so not only the grapes display a true sense of place, but the wood the wine is aged in does as well, creating wines with an augmented sense of place.

In other wine-growing regions such as France and Hungary, the wines are made in wood that comes from those specific regions.

So why not do the same in Oregon?

Evan Martin, winemaker and proprietor of Martin Woods Winery explains, “Barrels are a tool almost all winemakers use. French oak is wonderful for barrels, which is why it’s used all over the world, but it doesn’t necessarily make Oregon wines more Oregonian. Rather, it makes Oregon wines taste more like wines from other places in the world.”

He has been producing Pinot Noir in Oregon oak since 2014 and Chardonnay since 2016. And while Oregon oak barrels continue to be a large proportion of his Pinot Noir barrel program, it is for Chardonnay that he has made a firm commitment to exclusive use of Q. garryana, the species of oak native to Oregon.

“Oregon oak builds a unique and delightful tension into Chardonnay. It gives me the chance to craft wines with a distinct texture, subtly different, but with an energy that I don’t get from French oak.”

2014 marked the first vintage for producing a wine aged entirely in Oregon oak, which was Martin Wood’s Pinot Noir from Jessie James Vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills, a vineyard that Martin leases and co-farms with Beaux Freres winery.

Martin acknowledges that wines aged in French barrels have a faster elevage (meaning

Photo Courtesy of Martin Woods Winery

Evan Martin has been producing Pinot Noir in Oregon oak since 2014 and Chardonnay in Oregon oak since 2016.

Spring 2020 • Wine Press Northwest

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FEATURE | oregon oak

the wines develop and finish quicker). Oregon oak tends to be heavier and denser, allowing less oxygen to permeate into the wine and less evaporation from the barrel. That is a major reason why the wines stay tight, fresh and energetic.

“Those early wines we produced in 2014, 2015 and 2016 are today showing remarkably youthful. They have very long lives ahead. I just wish we had more of them!” Martin said.

While supporting Oregon oak in general, the goal of Martin Wood’s oak program is to not overtly express oak in the wines, which is why Martin keeps the overall percentage of new oak to a minimum, generally 5 to 15 percent, though sometimes none at all. What made that possible was the generosity of several earlier-generation winemakers who sold Martin their used Oregon oak barrels.

Between 2014 and 2017, Martin purchased roughly 40 Oregon oak barrels ranging in age from four to 20 years from Belle Pente, Cristom and Elk Cove. Those wineries and others had supported Rick DeFerrari’s early efforts at Oregon Barrel Works to pioneer an Oregon oak barrel industry.

According to Martin, Oregon oak does not have the same impact as French oak.

“The wine sits on the palate differently,” he said. “When wines are crafted in French oak, the wine texture is experienced broadly, at the sides of the tongue. With Oregon oak, the structure and energy is focused more on the top of the tongue, building forward movement, creating lingering freshness and tension at the front of the palate and the tip of the tongue.” He sees a textural signature in his Chardonnay that he thinks is unlike any other.

When Martin was working for Belle Pente in 2009-2017, first as a seasonal winery employee and then as associate winemaker, he enjoyed the winery’s support of DeFerrari’s Oregon oak barrels. While tasting Chardonnay in 2013, something clicked for him. While previous generations were busy working hard to just get Oregon on the world wine map, Martin discovered the subtle but positive effect Oregon oak had on wines, especially Chardonnay.

He thought that while generations past were focused on establishing Oregon’s reputation as a world-class wine producer, as a state, it was ready for the next chapter in its story. Martin believes that to take that next step forward, Oregon needs to continue to make the well-made, fresh and long-lived 12

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wines Oregon has become known for, but that the terroir-driven story can be advanced.

Wineries like Beckham Estate are doing this with their amphora-aged wines, and he is doing this with his Willamette Valley harvested, Oregon oak barrel program, he said.

Martin started experimenting with Oregon oak in his own winery in 2014, recognizing its unique characteristics. He’s found the trees have tight and dense grain, more like French oak than American white oak, the type used for aging bourbon.

“If seasoned and toasted properly, Oregon oak can be quieter and more transparent with a subtly different aromatic impact,” he said.

He still nurtures some of his wine in French barrels, which allows him to compare the two side by side. He finds the French oak full of pronounced spice, vanilla and floral components, and acknowledges there’s a reason people use French oak.

“Oregon oak simply doesn’t offer the same ability to give wine a beautiful layer of pretty makeup. Those expressive aromatic compounds just aren’t in the wood. But if you’re willing to properly season and carefully toast Oregon oak, then what you can possibly achieve is a marriage of wood and wine that offers transparency and purity of aroma.” He believes the barrel should just disappear into the wine.

A well-crafted barrel, according to Martin, will bring those qualities out. Barrels should be toasted at lower temperatures for extended periods of time, sometimes eight to nine hours, with little to no flame in the toasting pot, at times just embers, minimizing toast impact on the inside of the wood. This slow and low toasting procedure, along with three or more years air-drying time (a practice common in France), results in softer and more complex tannins, he said.

Oregon Barrel Works, the Pacific Northwest’s only cooperage, is dedicated to designing, producing and importing the highest quality oak for the wine industry and works closely with winemakers to achieve their desired expression of wine and wood, says owner and master cooper at Oregon Barrel Works, Rick DeFerrari. After apprenticing under the Francois Freres cooperage in France, DeFerrari, a native of the Willamette Valley, returned to Oregon and has been working with Oregon oak since the 1990s, building barrels and tanks.

According to DeFerrari, “Q. garryana, a specific variety of Oregon oak, has many of

Photo Courtesy of Martin Woods Winery

Oak staves, from Martin Wood’s property, are stacked for drying and periodically rotated for maximum exposure. the characteristics of European oak. And when it is very well seasoned, the resulting wine might benefit substantially, rather like one of the features of French oak. However, if these high levels of tannins are not efficiently broken down during seasoning, the finished wine might be bitter and astringent.”

The future of barrel making on a larger scale is still relatively far off. Most mills are set up for Douglas fir, and aside from Oregon Barrel Works, no one knows how to properly cut the wood into barrel staves, he said. In addition to wine barrels, DeFerrari makes barrels for the spirits and beer industries, where barrel staves are typically kiln-dried, instead of the more time-consuming open-air seasoning for wine barrel staves.

The time needed for proper seasoning of wine barrel staves creates logical and financial hurdles.

Martin Woods is the first Oregon winery partnering with Oregon Barrel Works to see how far they can take the Oregon oak barrel program. Martin said, “We have our initial impressions, but given a little more time and experimentation, we’re just now poised to see what distinctive and beneficial effect Oregon oak could ultimately offer.”

Located on 40 acres on Eagle Point Mountain in the foothills of the coastal range and in the McMinnville AVA, Martin Woods has a

FEATURE | oregon oak

Photo Courtesy of Martin Woods Winery

Oregon oak does not have the same impact on wine as French oak, according to winemaker Martin Woods. slightly different microclimate that’s a little wetter and a little cooler than other parts of the Willamette Valley. Visitors can see evidence of this in the trees on the estate, which are blanketed in a thick coat of Old Man’s Beard.

Evan Martin and his wife and business partner Sarah, who also works as a vineyard manager, have just begun clearing Douglas fir from their land and eventually want to plant a small vineyard.

Currently, they purchase fruit from two neighboring properties within the McMinnville AVA — Yamhill Valley Vineyard and Hyland Vineyard — to produce Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. Additionally, they farm or source Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gamay, Gruner Veltliner and Gewurztraminer from a half-dozen late-ripening vineyards in the central and western parts of the Willamette, where the cooling influence of the Van Duzer winds and the Coast Range mountains produce grapes with bright acidity and phenolic maturity at low to moderate potential alcohol levels. But their Oregon oak barrel program truly sets them apart.

The small stave yard adjacent to Martin Woods winery is from 250- to 350-year-old fallen trees found on his property. When delivered to Oregon Barrel Works, they are milled into staves and then returned to the Martin Woods property for extended open air-drying.

Martin said when the staves are seasonally rained on and repeatedly dried by the wind and sun, the wood slowly becomes more seasoned and the tannins are leached out. It’s this patient weathering process and the action of local bacteria and fungi that slowly trans-

forms the structure of the wood and imparts the gentle flavor profile Martin desires.

Oregon oak used to dominate the Willamette Valley, both in dense oak woodland and more open oak savannah. The native populations wanted to preserve it, knowing that the acorns attracted game animals. In more recent times, the oak was cut down, largely in part because it never had economic value. It was cleared for farmland or cleared and then re-planted with Douglas fir, a much faster-growing tree.

Martin said he is intent on providing a wine to discerning consumers that occupies a unique place, a wine that is recognizably Oregon and hopes to convince neighbors who have hundreds of acres of old growth Oregon oak on their properties to become the first sustainably-managed Oregon oak forest for wine barrel production.

He sees a rare opportunity for oak habitat preservation and economic use to align. The presence and careful management of large oak woodlands are needed to allow sustainable harvest of oak staves for barrel production. Selling oak for barrel production might give local landowners the necessary incentive to preserve and replant Oregon oak.

Planting new oak forests for stave production requires a long-term commitment of around 150 years, and if done at scale, it would be a first for a wine region in the New World. It could become a part of Oregon’s continuing wine story that builds on the pioneering spirit of Oregon’s wine industry, and contributes to terroir-driven wines with a better sense of place, he believes.

For now, Martin is focused on the day-today work of producing top-quality wines while building a following for a relatively new brand. His estimated 2019 production is 4,500 cases, principally Pinot Noir, with increasing amounts of Chardonnay. He has grown his Oregon oak Chardonnay program.

His 2018 Martin Woods Chardonnay was 650 cases, and he has about 1,100 cases of Chardonnay in barrel from 2019, which will be bottled as three distinct vineyard-designated Chardonnays, all aged in Oregon oak.

Parts visionary and pary innovator, he’s also a bit of a romantic, making honest wines the old school way.

TAMARA BELGARD is a freelance writer based in Portland, Ore. She is a regular contributor to www.satiatepdx.com and several northwest publications.

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FEATURE | british columbia’s backyard

Backyard Vineyards’ winemaker Liam Berti uses estate-grown Pinot Noir to produce two sparkling wines.

LANGLEY WINERY TOUTS ITSELF AS VANCOUVER’S BACKYARD Story and Photos By Dan Radil LANGLEY, BRITISH COLUMBIA What comes to mind when you hear the word backyard? For some people, it’s the image of a quiet, garden-framed, personal oasis away from the rest of the world; others might see it as a shared space where one can fire up the barbeque and pop open a bottle of wine to enjoy in the company of good friends.

Backyard Vineyards in Langley, British Columbia, touts itself as the backyard to the nearby city of Vancouver. And why not? With a tasting room, grassy picnic area, gazebo and 14

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vineyards all packaged in a peaceful rural setting, it’s easy to see why this winery checks all the boxes as a popular, “backyard hangout” for locals and out-of-towners alike.

In addition to its location, the appeal of Backyard Vineyards lies in the quality and variety of its wines. It starts with excellent grapes, both at the estate and from several other interior B.C. vineyards, and culminates with the talents of an up-and-coming winemaker who is simply crushing it by producing some truly remarkable wines.

BACKYARD VINEYARDS 3033 232nd Street Langley, British Columbia V2Z 3A8 Hours: Monday through Thursday, 11 am to 5 pm Friday through Sunday, 11 am to 6 pm Phone: (604) 539-9463 www.backyardvineyards.ca

FEATURE | british columbia’s backyard

A CROSS-CONTINENTAL JOURNEY knowledge, we’re the only ones making The son of a fighter pilot, winesparkling from Pinot Noir in the Valmaker Liam Berti was born in England ley,” he said. The Blanc de Noir, which and spent time in Germany before is sold exclusively at the tasting room, moving to Northern Ontario, where he is really “the wine that people associate grew up. He studied journalism in Ottawith us.” wa for 41⁄2 years, worked briefly for the CBC in Toronto, and then spent time WINES TO TRY/EXPERIENCES covering and broadcasting hockey in a TO BE HAD variety of media, including television, Beyond sparkling wine, there’s a radio and print. realm of possibilities at Backyard Vine“During that time wine was always yards. White wines include a lighter an interest for my family and me, espestyle, slightly floral 2018 Bacchus, cially my dad, who is a collector who partially oak barrel-fermented reserve knows what he likes,” he recalls. versions of 2017 Chardonnay and 2018 Winemaker Liam Berti tends to the riddling racks used in the sparkling wine making process.

“Growing up, even in Germany, my Viognier and even a seven-varietal dad would take F-18s on training missions to blend (aptly named for backyarders) as Châteauneuf and bring some wines back, so it carry more responsibility than others.’ ” ‘Nosey Neighbour White.’ was always around. It was on the table every With Cambridge’s subsequent departure to Red wine drinkers will enjoy a delicious night, but we really didn’t think much of it.

Fort Berens Estate Winery in Lillooet, B.C., 2017 Cabernet-Merlot blend, a stunning 2017 Later on, traveling with my dad, my brother Liam was promoted to Backyard Vineyard Reserve Syrah and a mind-numbingly good and I would have this progression of “epiphawinemaker in late 2018. He credits Cam2017 Reserve Cabernet Franc. All of these ny moments” where we realized (wine) bridge with providing the winery with wines wines are beautifully crafted in a balanced wasn’t just a beverage.” of quality and consistency and singles him out style that leans toward understated fruit fla“That inspired both of us to get into the as an influence on his own winemaking style. vors and Old World character. “For us, it’s wine industry. My brother is a sommelier and about showing the best that B.C. fruit can FROM CASUAL FAMILY VINEYARD beverage director in Toronto; he chose the do,” he said.

TO LEGITIMATE PLAYER fancy route where you don’t get your hands Guests at the winery can also nosh on a Backyard Vineyard’s current location is on dirty,” Berti said with a grin. cheese platter or charcuterie plate in the a five-acre parcel that was originally a private, tasting room, listen to acoustic music in the While contemplating a move west with his family-owned winery established in 2000. fiancé, he began working on his winemaker gazebo during the summer music series, or training. The move was a logical choice, given After a series of ownership changes, the comenjoy wine in the picnic area, all as part of the pany was purchased by Ontario-based Diathey both had family in B.C. and were famBackyard experience. mond Estates Wine and Spirits in 2018. Berti iliar with the area and the province’s reputaBackyard Vineyards is just a short distance notes that Backyard was the company’s first tion as home to several of Canada’s premiere north of the Canadian border, which makes it West Coast acquisition. grape-growing regions. He achieved the Wine a comfortable 21⁄2 hour drive from the Seattle Diamond Estate’s reach has allowed the & Spirit Education Trust diploma level in the area, plus border crossing time. winery to source much of its fruit from a two years prior to their departure to VancouvU.S. visitors will also be pleased to know number of vineyards it leases in B.C.’s iner in early summer of 2016. that Washington state liquor regulations allow terior. They include varieties such as Chartheir first liter of wine purchased in Canada to INFLUENCE AND MENTORSHIP AT BACKYARD donnay, Syrah and Cabernet Franc from be brought back into Washington duty free.

Shortly after settling in British Columbia, Osoyoos, near the Canada-U.S. border; and And here’s where it gets even better: any Berti landed his first job in the wine industry Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Merlot from quantity purchased in excess of the first liter at Backyard. “But there was more to it than Oliver, located a bit further north at the is only charged at the dirt-cheap rate of 17 that,” he noted. “It was more calculated in southern end of the Okanagan Valley. cents per 750-milliliter bottle. terms of tasting and doing my research on But Backyard’s “pride and joy,” as Berti Berti also notes that there are about 10 who the winemakers were. I was searching for like to refer to it, is the 41⁄2 acres of Pinot Noir other wineries in the greater Langley/Abbotsthat strong mentorship role.” grown on the estate. All of the Pinot goes into ford vicinity, not including nearby cideries James Cambridge, Backyard’s winemaker the winery’s two sparkling wines, a Blanc de and meaderies. That makes it an ideal place at time, fit that role perfectly. “His accolades Noir and a Sparkling Rosé that are vibrantly for wine enthusiasts to take a break from their and his resume were enough for me to say I colored and stylistically high acid and food own backyard and enjoy the hospitality and wanted to get to know him, even it if wasn’t friendly by Liam’s design. These wines are wines at their neighbors to the north. on a full-time basis. also the only ones the winery produces with a DAN RADIL is a freelance wine writer based in “James drove the style of the wine being specific wine region designation on the label, Bellingham, Wash. Dan teaches wine classes at produced here,” Berti added. “And one of the the Fraser Valley.

Bellingham Technical College and produces a things he used to say that still sticks with me “The designation tells you a story about wine blog, danthewineguy.com. now is, ‘we’re all cellar hands, some of us just where the wine comes from (and) to my Spring 2020 • Wine Press Northwest

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FEATURE | new tasting rooms

BOB BRAWDY Tri-City Herald

The newest phase of the Port of Kennewick's Columbia Gardens Winery & Artisan Village is a $1.5 million wine tasting facility is at 313 Columbia Gardens Way in downtown Kennewick. Gordon Estates and Cave B Winery are the two tenants in the new building.

TWO MORE WINERIES JOIN KENNEWICK WINE VILLAGE

By Ken Robertson KENNEWICK, WASH One of the Tri-City area’s oldest wineries and a longtime Columbia Gorge winery are moving into a new Kennewick tasting room building at the end of March, the Port of Kennewick has announced.

Gordon Estates, established along the Snake River in Franklin County in 1983, and Cave B, which crushed its first vintage in 2000, signed leases with the port in midFebruary to join the port’s Columbia Gardens Winery & Artisan Village in the second phase of the project along Columbia Drive in Kennewick.

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The opening of the wineries at 313 Columbia Gardens Way marks the completion of Phase 2 of the project, a collaboration between the port, the City of Kennewick, Benton County and the Hanford Area Economic Investment Fund’s advisory committee. A formal opening ceremony, planned for March 27, has been postponed due to concerns over the Corona virus.

Both wineries planted their first vines in 1980. Jeff Gordon, wife Vicki and his brother Bill chose their farm for their vineyard east of Pasco adjacent to the Snake, then opened their first tasting room in the farm’s driveway

in 1983, said their daughter, Katie Nelson.

That same year, Carrie Bryan Arredondo’s parents, Vincent and Carol, started planting vineyards along Columbia River bluffs six miles north of Interstate 90, south of Quincy.

Eventually, the Gordons built their operation to the current production of 20,00022,000 cases of wine annually, crafting a broad array of wines. They currently offer unoaked and reserve-tier Chardonnay aged in oak, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Petit Sirah and Gewürztraminer as either late harvest or ice wine, she said.

FEATURE | new tasting rooms

“When the (Columbia Gardens) opportunity came up, we jumped at it,” Nelson said. The Gordons had been watching for a new place to sell their wines after operating a series of ventures to sell their wines over the decades. For 16 years, Gordon had a tasting room on Burden Boulevard in Pasco near Road 68, but at the time, the area had not yet started to boom.

Over the years, they also had a tasting room in Woodinville and a restaurant in Pasco’s Broadmoor development at Road 100, but decided that wasn’t their core business. The family vineyards produce more grapes than their winery needs, and they’ve long sold part of their grapes to other wineries.

Victor de la Luz, their current winemaker, joined Gordon in 2017, although Nelson said they also have used top industry consultants, including Charlie Hoppes’ Wine Boss team.

“We’re not afraid to ask for expertise and opinion,” Nelson said.

De la Luz is a product of Walla Walla Community College’s winemaking and viticulture program, and joins two of his fellow program graduates, Freddy Arredondo of Cave B and Victor Palencia of Monarcha Winery.

Two years ago, Bartholomew and Monarcha wineries moved into port-owned buildings nearby during the first phase of the project to redevelop a key part of Kennewick’s historic downtown riverfront.

Arredondo has been head winemaker at Cave B since 2007, but he didn’t start out to be a winemaker. He was headed to Italy to attend the Italian Culinary Institute in Piemonte when he met Carrie with other culinary students in New York City and about to fly to Italy.

They liked one another almost instantly, Carrie said. Two years later, they married, but, Freddy recalls, “We became phenomenal friends while we were going to school.”

Not long after returning to the U.S., he went to work at Cave B, then attended Walla Walla Community College’s wine program. In 2007, when the previous winemaker left Cave B, Freddy took over the job.

In the years since, they have built a reputation for producing distinctive white wines of almost every style, from sparkling wines to late harvest and ice wines. They produce about 6,000 cases of wine under that label annually.

“We grow 17 varieties of whites and reds,” Carrie said. This last fall, Cave B wines won five Platinum awards in Wine Press Northwest’s 20th Annual competition, their for 2018 Cuvée Blanc, a white blend of Sauvignon Blanc (60%) and Semillon, for 2016 Merlot, 2018 Chenin Blanc, 2016 Malbec and 2018 Roussanne, all from the winery’s estate vineyards in the Ancient Lakes AVA. “You can grow great reds along the cliffs,” Freddy noted, even though the Ancient Lakes AVA is best known for its crisp white wines with “almost unique” floral notes, crisp acidity and minerality. They plant their reds in pockets close to the river where summer heat lingers into the night from the west-facing basalt cliffs.

He’s convinced that the right conditions can produce great reds in the Ancient Lakes, and “we’re 50/50” reds to whites, he noted.

They make Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Chardonnay, Riesling, Roussanne, Viognier, Barbera, Sangiovese, Tempranillo, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Merlot and Malbec. And besides straight varietals, they produce rosés and Bordeaux-style red and white blends. They also have tasting rooms in Quincy and in Woodinville.

The two new wineries add to the Columbia Drive project’s mo-

BOB BRAWDY

The newest phase of the Port of Kennewick’s Columbia Gardens Winery & Artisan Village is a $1.5 million wine tasting facility is at 313 Columbia Gardens Way in downtown Kennewick. Gordon Estates and Cave B Winery are the two tenants in the new building. mentum, said Tim Arntzen, CEO of the Port of Kennewick. He expects the mix of four wineries, their regular entertainment offerings and events, the food truck plaza, the adjacent shade structure and other amenities that are part of the project will attract people back to Kennewick’s historic downtown.

The aim this summer is to establish the neighborhood as a place where “there’s enough going on to where people can head down there and count on having something to do.”

“My vision is … I can head down there and get a bite to eat, have a glass of wine,” he said.

The port is negotiating with two other food truck operators to add their offerings to Swampy’s Barbecue, so far the mainstay at the food truck plaza.

So far, the port has developed only a small part of lands acquired over a decade as it slowly purchased about 16 acres between the cable bridge and Clover Island Drive, which connects the Port-owned and redeveloped island just north of the new project.

The port also has been in contact with a restaurant group that would be a new addition to the Tri-City food scene, Arntzen said. If that effort succeeds, it would complement the nearby restaurants, Casa Chapala and the Ice Harbor brewpub and Cedars Pier 1 on Clover Island.

“We’re growing (there) little by little, just like small business builds little by little,” he said. The port has six more parcels for sale in the wine village area and is just starting to update its new master plan for Clover Island.

A key factor in the plan will be to include the redevelopment of the northwest corner, former site of the port offices. The port will be working with the Corps of Engineers and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, with initial work to include armoring the shoreline there from erosion and adding native vegetation as they did on the island’s west side.

Also in the works is a plan to build Columbia Basin College’s culinary school on a port property formerly occupied by the Cable Greens miniature golf course.

KEN ROBERTSON, the retired editor of the Tri-City Herald, has been sipping Northwest wines and writing about them since 1976.

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FEATURE | pacific northwest winery of the year

LEWISTON, IDAHO — In a sense, each bottle that winemakers produce represents a series of experiments.

Their knowledge of chemistry is on trial.

There’s an expression of artistry as well as an ability to take what the vine provides and the grower nurtures.

Coco Umiker, a microbiologist before she became a winemaker, has been tested throughout her life. It started in earnest at the tender age of 11 when her battle against ovarian cancer began after spending nine hours on a Boise operating table. And yet, it’s apparent she thrives on competition, now more than ever when it comes to Clearwater Canyon Cellars, the project she owns and operates in historic Lewiston, Idaho, with her viticulturist husband, Karl Umiker.

In the 20-year history of this magazine’s premier competition, no woman winemaker has won more Platinum awards from Wine Press Northwest. As a result, she’s been

dubbed “Queen of the Platinum.”

Wines gain entry into the magazine’s year-end tasting by having won a gold medal at respected competitions anywhere around the world. The 2019 judging awarded five Platinums to Clearwater Canyon Cellars, bumping the career total won by the Umikers to 17. Their ongoing string of success in the face of long odds prompted Wine Press Northwest to name Clearwater Canyon Cellars the 2020 Pacific Northwest Winery of the Year.

“We’ve been looking at the list of winners over the years, so for us, this is huge!” Coco said. “We were such underdogs. We had no money. We lived in a trailer. We had $25 left in our checking account after we bought the barrels for that first vintage in 2004. We were in school. I had college debt, and here we were starting a winery in Lewiston, Idaho. We overcame humble beginnings and a lot of years of lean times.”

RICHARD DUVAL

Story by Eric Degerman | Photography by Richard Duval

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Platinum medals earned with estate fruit from the 7-acre Umiker Vineyard raised awareness of the Lewis-Clark Valley American Viticultural Area which the Umikers helped establish.

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FEATURES | pacific northwest winery of the year

RICHARD DUVAL

Coco’s Umiker has degrees in microbiology and molecular biology/biochemistry from Idaho. Her doctorate at Washington State University was in food science. In 2018, Coco received the WSU Alumni Achievement Award.

Moya Dolsby, executive director of the Idaho Wine Commission since 2008, applauded the news of the regional award, won for the first time by a Gem State producer.

“I am thrilled to hear Coco and Karl are the Northwest Winery of the Year,” Dolsby said. “They have been making amazing wine for years, and it is great to see them get recognized. Every time I visit them, you can see and feel their passion for the wine industry.

We are lucky to have people like Coco and Karl in the Idaho wine industry.”

The Umikers helped spearhead the petition for the Lewis-Clark Valley American Viticultural Area, so they are pleased whenever attention is shined on the region that was home to the Pacific Northwest’s largest commercial wine industry in the late 19th century.

Clearwater Canyon’s flagship wine, called Renaissance Red, pays tribute to that revival.

The 2016 vintage of that $23 bottle went Platinum.

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“I think this is going to help not only Idaho, but also the Lewis-Clark Valley,” Karl said. “I hope people will take more notice of Idaho as a grape-growing area, and I can’t wait to see how it might affect the morale of the other wineries in our area.”

Southern Oregon producer Stephen Reustle knows first-hand about the pride the Umikers are feeling after having been the recipient of the 2017 Pacific Northwest Winery of the Year.

“I sincerely welcome them to our alumni,” Reustle said. “Karl and Coco have all the bases covered. Their consistency across so many varieties — vintage after vintage — proves they are the real deal, and they have helped put Idaho, and in particular the LewisClark Valley, on the worldwide wine map.”

The Umikers are full-fledged nerds and proud of it, going so far as to create black Clearwater Canyon Cellars T-shirts that reference the periodic table and carry the phrase,

“Where Science Meets Wine.”

Karl, who earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Arkansas and a master’s in soil science from the University of Idaho, recently was named by the U of I to the dean’s advisory board for agriculture.

Coco’s résumé includes degrees in microbiology and molecular biology/biochemistry from Idaho. Her doctorate at Washington State University was in food science, with her dissertation on brettanomyces - the notorious yeast that can spoil wine. In 2018, Coco received the WSU Alumni Achievement Award.

Past recipients include Rick Small of iconic Woodward Canyon Winery in Walla Walla and Ted Baseler, former CEO of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates.

And yet, Karl and Coco didn’t meet over a glass of wine. Instead, their courtship began as members of the U of I cycling team. Their first romantic embrace came in downtown

FEATURES | pacific northwest winery of the year

Coco and Karl Umiker had $25 left in their checking account after purchasing the barrels for their first vintage in 2014. A good sense of humor and a real passion for the wine industry helped them through the lean times

RICHARD DUVAL

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RICHARD DUVAL

Karl Umiker, who earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Arkansas and a master’s in soil science from the University of Idaho, recently was named by the U of I to the dean's advisory board for agriculture.

Walla Walla after a race, and they soon became inseparable outdoor enthusiasts with titles in Northwest triathlons.

When they could, the Umikers would make the 45-minute drive from Moscow to spend time with Coco’s grandfather, Ralph Nichols, a storied rancher in the Lewiston Orchards. Along the way, Karl and Coco came to know Bob Wing, a retired meteorologist in Lewiston who shared findings from his research vineyard with legendary WSU viticulturist Walter Clore. The Wine Project, a fascinating and historical look at the Washington wine industry authored by Puget Sound winemaker Ron Irvine with Clore, devotes a chapter to Wing.

“In 2002, there was a master gardener symposium on grape growing and winemaking. We went, and Bob was a speaker there,” Coco remembers. “That’s how we first fell in love with this. Karl and I were both at U of I, and we would occasionally bring Bob dinner.

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He would open bottles of wine, and we’d have these fantastic evenings talking with him. We actually made two vintages with him in his tiny little cellar.”

The next year, Coco, by now a senior in college, and Karl planted their first vines at the farm Coco spent her childhood summers on. In 2004, the Umikers teamed up with three couples to form Clearwater Canyon Cellars in Lewiston. They started with four barrels — 100 cases worth of wine — made the same year Coco was working in Walla Walla at Whitman Cellars and paying $100 a month to sleep on a stairwell in a shared home.

By 2007, the Umikers began working on the AVA petition, and Clearwater Canyon Cellars moved from a garage into a gritty industrial park near the Clearwater River.

Production would hold steady at 500 cases for another five vintages.

The Umikers bought out their partners in

2010, but the next year was their most tumultuous. Wing and Grandpa Ralph would pass away, and Coco defended her dissertation proposal.

“Karl was still working full-time, and so was I. It was crazy,” she admits.

But by 2012, they felt just confident enough to quit those day jobs, Karl as a U of I researcher and Coco as an instructor at Lewis-Clark State College.

“I wouldn’t say that we had succeeded yet, but that was our first sign of potential success,” Coco said.

Perhaps it was ironic, but starting in 2013, Clearwater Canyon started its string of earning at least one Platinum every year. Six times they’ve received a Platinum for their work with Carménère, a rare red variety native to Bordeaux, which Coco has proven thrives at Phinny Hill Vineyard in Washington’s Horse Heaven Hills. It can be argued that Clearwater Canyon Cellars is the Northwest’s

FEATURES | pacific northwest winery of the year

leading producer of the herbaceous yet suave red. Their production of it has now reached 600 cases.

“We first bought it in 2006 and had no idea what we were getting into,” Karl said.

“Few knew anything about it, and some customers couldn’t pronounce it.”

Coco said, “They’d pronounce it ‘Cammer-MAY,’ but it was so expressive. There’s nothing subtle about it, and it was very scary to work with because it’s so different. By 2009, we had decided to make it each year.

Now, it’s a pretty huge part of our production, and the success we’ve had with it in competitions has helped us break through the fog and allow people to take notice.”

In 2015, Wine Press Northwest chose Clearwater Canyon Cellars as its Idaho Win-

ery of the Year, and the selection continued to earn more validation.

One of their proudest moments came with the 2013 Selway Red Wine. This reserve blend involving 30 months of barrel aging isn’t produced every year, but the 2013 Selway won a double gold and received 97 points at the 2016 San Francisco International Wine Competition. It was the Umikers’s first wine to carry “Lewis-Clark Valley’’ on the label.

“We sat there at our kitchen table and wondered what those judges thought when they rolled the bottle over and read ‘LewisClark Valley,’ ” Coco said. “They probably said, ‘I wonder where the heck that is?’ ” The 2013 Selway went on to receive a 2016 Platinum.

That same year, the 2014 Umiker Vineyard

Estate Syrah also earned a Platinum. It was the first Platinum awarded to fruit from the vines on their family’s century farm, a certification they received from the state of Idaho in June 2016.

“When either the estate Merlot or estate Syrah shows well in a competition, we get to pat ourselves on the back twice,” Karl said.

“Once as growers, and the other as winemakers.”

While they view Wing as their first mentor, there have been many others, including the late Stan Clarke, who took the Walla Walla Community College winemaking program to new heights and helped inspire Coco to pursue a doctorate at WSU in wine science.

“At the top of the list would have to be Dick Beightol,” Karl said of the Phinney Hill

Rachel Riddle, sales and marketing manager at Clearwater Canyon Cellars, greets visitors at the tasting room.

RICHARD DUVAL

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The view of Umiker Vineyard from the Clearwater Canyon Cellars tasting room in Lewiston, Idaho

RICHARD DUVAL

Mike Haberman is the vineyard manager of Clearwater Canyon Cellars’ Rock n’ J Vineyard.

RICHARD DUVAL

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owner. “We first struck up a conversation with Dick at a bike race in 2003, and we’ve been buying grapes from the Beightols over the years. They’ve been a huge sounding board for us all this time.”

There’s also Dave Verhey, who has been selling Malbec from his Yakima Valley vineyard to Clearwater Canyon since 2005. Coco crafted the 2016 crop of Malbec into a 2019 Platinum. Verhey’s younger Roosevelt Ridge Vineyard at the eastern end of the Columbia Gorge has been a sweet source for Petite Sirah, a Platinum winner in 2018.

Back in the Lewis-Clark Valley, the Umikers pull from Arnett Vineyard in Clarkston, Wash., and Rock ’n J Vineyard, a site along Grande Ronde River that’s the easternmost vineyard in Washington, upstream from Aso-

tin.

However, there are now 7 acres planted at Umiker Vineyard, which contribute up to 40 percent of the Clearwater Canyon Cellars production. There are 2 acres of Syrah, single acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay, and lesser amounts of Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Viognier and several varieties of perfumy Muscat. Twice in a threeyear stretch Coco has won a Platinum for Cabernet Sauvignon from the L-C Valley.

“The farm is 60 acres, but we’re not looking to expand,” Coco said.

When watching them work, it’s easy to see why Karl and Coco have been so successful, both in the production of wine and in selling it. Their tasting room is open only on Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m., but the Spring 2020 • Wine Press Northwest |

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Umikers’ honest charm and modesty — they still take Grandpa Ralph’s white Toyota Avalon on road trips — have helped Clearwater Canyon Cellars sell 80 percent of its production directly to its wine club.

“And half of them don’t live within 40 miles of the winery, which means they live beyond Pullman,” Coco pointed out.

So what about their original partners in the winery?

“One couple is in our wine club. Another actually likes to periodically volunteer to help pour wine at our events, and the other couple trickles into the winery once in a while to say

hi,” Coco said. “We’re all still friends. It’s pretty cool.”

Capacity of the pristinely maintained vinification facility they built in the Lewiston Orchards in 2016 is 5,000 cases, so there’s not much room to grow beyond their 2019 production of 4,500. However, the move from the Port of Lewiston to the family farm has Karl, 45, and Coco, 38, sensing more Platinums are in their cellar.

“We’ve had more fun making wine in the past two years than ever, and I’ve done more experiments in the last two vintages than all of the other vintages combined,” Coco said.

How the Pacific Northwest Winery of the Year is chosen The Winery of the Year is selected based on longevity, quality, reputation, industry involvement, facilities and other considerations. A winery may wine the award once.

Past Pacific Northwest Wineries of the Year 2019: Palencia Wine Co., Kennewick

2010: Vin du Lac, Chelan, Wash.

2018: Long Shadows Vintners, Walla Walla

2009: Wild Goose Vineyards, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia

2017: Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards, Roseburg, Ore.

“We’re able to expend our time, money and focus on getting really creative. We’ve made it easier on our bodies. We’re learning how we can create a better experience for our customers and how we can make more interesting wine.”

In the meantime, among their motivations is to earn a Platinum for a white wine. There have been strong contenders, including the 2017 Umiker Vineyard Lochsa that was voted Best Chardonnay at the 2018 Cascadia International.

“What do you think about a white Carménère?” Karl said with a chuckle.

That’s an experiment this winemaking Ph.D., won’t run.

“The style of white that I’m into is aciddriven, and Carménère is notorious for losing its acid as it gets ripe,” Coco said. “It’s not uncommon to harvest Carmenere with a pH of 4. It loses its acidity sooner than Syrah!”

ERIC DEGERMAN is co-founder and CEO of Great Northwest Wine. Learn more about wine at GreatNorthwestWine.com.

2008: Dunham Cellars, Walla Walla, Wash.

2016: Walla Walla Vintners, Walla Walla, Wash. 2007: Elk Cove Vineyards, Gaston, Ore. 2015: Maryhill Winery, Goldendale, Wash.

2006: Barnard Griffin, Richland, Wash.

2014: Stoller Family Estate, Dayton, Ore.

2005: Ken Wright Cellars, Carlton, Ore.

2013: Chateau Ste. Michelle, Woodinville, Wash.

2004: L’Ecole No. 41, Lowden, Wash.

2012: Thurston Wolfe Winery, Prosser, Wash.

2003: Sumac Ridge Estate Winery, Summerland, British Columbia

2011: Zerba Cellars, Milton-Freewater, Ore.

2002: Columbia Crest, Paterson, Wash.

How the regional wineries of the year are chosen Regional wineries of the year are selected by Wine Press Northwest based on blind tastings, visits, accolades and other considerations. Wineries of the Year must have completed five vintages, while Wineries to Watch must have been in the business no more than five years.

RICHARD DUVAL

Winemaker Coco Umiker tests red wine at Clearwater Canyon Cellars. In the 20-year history of the Wine Press Northwest’s Platinum competiton, no woman winemaker has won more Platinum awards.

Washington Winery of the Year

Oregon Winery to Watch

CLEARWATER CANYON CELLARS

Tsillan Cellars (Chelan)

Trella Vineyards (Roseburg)

3143 10th St.

Washington Winery to Watch

Idaho Winery of the Year

Lewiston, ID, 83501

Orenda Winery (Carnation)

Colter’s Creek Winery (Juliaetta)

(208) 816-4679

Oregon Winery of the Year

Idaho Winery to Watch

Left Coast Cellars (Rickreall)

Kerry Hill Winery (Wilder)

Hours: noon to 5 p.m., Friday and Saturday, and by appointment ClearwaterCanyonCellars.com

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ENTHUSIAST An ardent fan and supporter; someone passionately interested.

“Thank you to our Enthusiast Club Members near and far. Your support made it possible for us to earn the distinction of 2020 Pacific Northwest Winery of the Year. Our best wines are yet to come!”

Coco Umiker, Winemaker

2020

Recipient of 17 Platinum Awards

2015

Idaho Winery of the Year ©Richard Duval

Pacific Northwest Winery of the Year

Karl Umiker, Vineyard Manager

NOT YET A MEMBER? Join our Enthusiast Club! Visit www.cccellars.com

Lewis-Clark Valley

to sign up and share this journey with us.

3143 10th Street, Lewiston, ID | 208.816.4679

Spring 2020 • Wine Press Northwest

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FEATURE | Idaho winery of the year

MIKE BEISER PHOTOGRAPHY Photo Courtesy of Colter’s Creek Vineyards & Winery

Mike and Melissa Sanborn started Colter’s Creek Vineyards & Winery in 2008 and over the years have established a sterling reputation for their work with red varieties native to the Rhône Valley in France. That reputation and their work toward establishing the Snake River Valley American Viticultural Area prompted Wine Press Northwest to name Colter’s Creek Vineyards & Winery its 2020 Idaho Winery of the Year.

COLTER’S CREEK VINEYARDS & WINERY

By Eric Degerman JULIAETTA, IDAHO — Nothing seems to come easy for Idaho winemakers, but the gain often is worth their pain.

Mike Pearson and his winemaking wife, Melissa Sanborn, have proved to be prescient and successful almost every step of their way with Colter’s Creek Vineyards and Winery since starting out in 2008.

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The proof is in the bottle, exemplified by the three Platinums awarded last fall to their

work with red varieties native to the Rhône Valley in France, with Syrah shining the brightest. Their Arrow Rim Red, a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre, also earned best of class at the 2019 Great Northwest Invitational Wine Competition.

Those accolades prompted Wine Press Northwest to name Colter’s Creek as the 2020 Idaho Winery of the Year. And the common thread among those wines listed is that they came from estate fruit in the Lewis-

FEATURE | Idaho winery of the year

COLTER’S CREEK VINEYARDS & WINERY 308 Main St., Juliaetta, ID 83535 ColtersCreek.com (208) 276-3342 MIKE BEISER PHOTOGRAPHY Photo Courtesy of Colter’s Creek Vineyards & Winery

Colter’s Creek tasting room and restaurant is located in Juliaetta, a short drive from either Moscow or Lewistown. In 2018, a second tasting room opened in Moscow’s historic Hattabaugh building.

Clark Valley, another source of pride for Sanborn, Pearson and the region that was home to Pacific Northwest’s first large-scale commercial wine industry in the late 1800s.

“Now, we can be an L-C Valley winery,” said Sanborn, who studied wine chemistry and sensory science at Washington State University in Pullman. “Our goal was always to use only Idaho fruit when we started, and a lot of that came from Southern Idaho. Now, just a small percentage of our grapes come from outside our valley, and sometimes we have enough grapes to sell to some of the smaller young wineries.”

They believed in the history of grape growing in the Lewis-Clark Valley, and Pearson, Sanborn and their friends Karl and Coco Umiker of Clearwater Canyon Cellars, waited seven years for the federal government to establish the American Viticultural Area surrounding the cities of Lewiston, Idaho, and Clarkston, Wash.

Ironically, it also took seven years until the Snake River Valley AVA, Idaho’s first subAVA, was approved.

And what began with a winter’s drive looking for vineyard property has turned into one of the Northwest’s most fascinating projects.

From Highway 3, they spotted Larry Kornze’s overgrown yet trailblazing vineyard, an 8-acre foothold planted in the 1980s above the Potlatch River. Pearson, the vineyard manager, has transformed it into 35 acres among eight distinct blocks, which, when combined with the new Arrow Junction Vineyard, supply about 90 percent of Sanborn’s 6,000-case production.

The Lewis-Clark Valley’s reputation as a banana belt is reflected in the growing degree days, which average around 3,200 heat units — similar to the Yakima Valley’s Rattlesnake

The historic Hattabaugh Building 215 S. Main St., Moscow, ID 83843

Hills and the Walla Walla Valley.

“We’re in a very narrow canyon, and one of the fallouts from that is our winter low temperatures remain higher than even in the Tri-Cities,” Pearson said. “We don't get those damaging events they do in Walla Walla and in southern Idaho. We’ve never fallen below zero since we’ve been here, and that’s the critical temperature where you start getting really nervous.”

The 2015 and 2017 vintages serve as examples. While the Snake River Valley got hammered by winter damage, it was not the case in the L-C Valley, evidenced by Sanborn’s gold medals for the 2017 Estate Syrah (Platinum), 2017 Skookumchuck Reserve Syrah (Platinum), Graciano-based 2017 Rocinante (Great Northwest Invitational) and 2017 Estate Cabernet Franc (Dan Berger International in Sonoma County).

“2017 is one of the best years we’ve ever had — a fantastic year to grow grapes,” Pearson said.

The success of their overall program prompted Colter’s Creek to move beyond the original tasting room and restaurant in downtown Juliaetta (pop. 582.) They purchased the 130-year-old Hattabaugh Building in downtown Moscow and turned it into a showpiece satellite tasting room with original fir flooring across its 3,000 square feet. It opened in 2018 a few blocks east of the University of Idaho campus, Pearson’s alma mater.

“It’s given us a really good tie-in with WSU, the U of I and the restaurant scene in Moscow,” Sanborn said. “It’s become a kind of a hangout for the locals.”

Soon, there will be a boutique hotel upstairs that Colter’s Creek will own and operate. “It’s been a big investment, but a lot of fun,” Pearson said.

So now, Pearson and Sanborn operate almost as many tasting rooms as they have

young daughters (three). “Our house is really loud,” she said.

It means they lean on their trusted staff more than ever, including assistant winemaker Jon Harding, who also serves as the Colter’s Creek sales manager.

In the meantime, Pearson’s highly successful Anatek Labs Inc., with offices in Moscow and Sanborn’s hometown of Spokane, continues to thrive.

“Fortunately, I have very good people who have picked up the slack, but I’d rather be here in Juliaetta than anywhere else,” Pearson said.

Soon, there will be another tasting room right around the bend as the Hewett family is launching Rivaura Estate Vineyard and Winery between the Clearwater and Potlatch rivers. Their consulting winemaker is Billo Naravane, an acclaimed Master of Wine from Walla Walla.

“I think Rivaura will be a big boost for us,” Pearson said. “Highway 12, which connects Walla Walla to Missoula, runs right through here. Having that tourist traffic with two wineries to stop at — the more the merrier!”

There’s some concern underfoot because the vine louse phylloxera has been discovered within two small sections at Colter’s Creek.

However, Pearson — a fourth-generation farmer who grew up near Chicken Dinner Road in the Snake River Valley — is taking a pragmatic approach. He’s also the first in Washington or Idaho to go on the record about his discovery.

“I’d rather have phylloxera than leaf roll,” he said. “Phylloxera will slowly kill the plant, but it doesn’t change the fruit and it doesn’t change the ripening.”

Strangely, the damage has been focused primarily on young plantings of own-rooted Mourvèdre.

“I’m looking at it as more of a slow tweak to the vineyard over time,” he said. “We will need to replant slowly, and I think that with climate change — or whatever is causing this — everyone is going to be moving to rootstock rather than own-rooted vines.

“There are definitely a lot of people who have it, but we all can keep it at bay for years,” Pearson continued. “And I want to be an open book so we can help other people do something about their vineyards.”

ERIC DEGERMAN is co-founder and CEO of Great Northwest Wine. Learn more about wine at GreatNorthwestWine.com.

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FEATURE | idaho winery to watch

KATHERINE JONES kjones@idahostatesman.com

Mindy Mayer bought Kerry Hill Winery in 2016. The 35-year-old vineyard features 11 varieties of grapes on 35 acres.

KERRY HILL WINERY WILDER, IDAHO — If not for a fondness for border collies, Mindy Mayer probably wouldn’t be raising Kerry Hill sheep in Idaho’s Snake River Valley.

And if circumstances had been different on Aug. 16, 2007, there would be no Kerry Hill Winery. Instead, hers is an ongoing tale of triumph over horrifying tragedy. And now it includes the revitalizing of a 35-year-old vineyard and launching a brand with the help of winemaking talent Tim Harless.

“My way to keep moving and being positive has been to do new things, so I don’t think about all that I’ve lost,” Mayer said.

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“But that’s part of my story, too. I’d always thought about raising border collies and sheepherding, so after the accident, I thought, ‘I’m going to make my todays matter.’ ” Last year, Hat Ranch Winery, owned by

Harless, was named Idaho Winery of the Year. Thanks to his early success as Mayer’s winemaker, Kerry Hill is the 2020 Idaho Winery to Watch.

According to a recent Portland Business Journal article, Mayer owns 13 McDonald's restaurants, starting on Aug. 1, 1990, when she became one of the first women to own a McDonald's franchise in Oregon. She’s discovered that the wine industry has little in common with running a McDonald’s.

“Everything is by the rule book with McDonald’s, and they have a manual for everything, almost,” she said. “What I find really fun and challenging with wine is there

FEATURE | idaho winery to watch

KERRY HILL VINEYARD & WINERY 25264 Homedale Road Wilder, ID 83676 KerryHillWinery.com (208) 901-5815

is no rule book.”

She was 60 when the floatplane that her family chartered struck a tree, crashed and caught fire 27 miles north of Ketchikan, Alaska. The accident claimed the lives of five family members that spanned three generations — her husband, David, her "golden boy" son Eric, daughter-in-law Christine and twin grandchildren Allison and Trevor. Mayer’s injuries included a broken pelvis.

“They thought that I wasn’t going to live or walk again,” she said.

Mayer would slowly recover from her physical injuries and return to managing Green Tree Enterprises, but her outlook on life had changed. And as it turns out, one of the world’s leading trainers of sheepdog trialing is Patrick Shannahan, who lives in Caldwell, Idaho. He encouraged Mayer to invest in the Idaho wine industry.

“He’s become a very good friend of mine,” Mayer said. “I’ve taken him along on this journey, and we have a true love of wine.”

She learned Wood River Vineyard, a 35year-old planting, was available. Mayer grew up near Sacramento, Calif., and her father farmed walnuts and almonds, but growing grapes has been a learning experience, particularly after the vineyard with prized varieties such Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Carménère, Petit Verdot and Tempranillo had been neglected. The sale closed midway through a vintage, and Wood River’s 10 acres with 10 grape varieties hadn’t been irrigated or pruned for three years.

“Of course, nobody wanted to buy the grapes,” Mayer found out.

And then there was her first attempt at rebranding the vineyard in 2016.

“I named it Vigneto Albero Verde, and I thought that was very elegant because it is Green Tree Vineyard in Italian,” Mayer said.

“Except that nobody could say it.”

Thanks to quick work by Harless, a retired

KATHERINE JONES kjones@idahostatesman.com

Mindy Mayer, owner of Kerry Hill Winery, and viticulturist Taylor Boquist. Four of Kerry Hill's wines won four Idaho Wine Competition awards before the winery was opened.

commercial airline pilot, Kerry Hill already is producing some delicious wines as Mayer continues to rehabilitate the vineyard.

“Tim has been amazing to me,” Mayer said. “He's been the best part of all of this.”

Last summer, each of her first four Kerry Hill wines earned a medal at the 2019 Idaho Wine Competition, led by silvers for the 2018 Bobwhite Chardonnay and 2017 Domaine House Red Wine.

“That was cool,” Mayer said. “You’ve got to start somewhere, and I’m thrilled. I've had a lot of encouragement from people in the industry around here, and I’ve enjoyed the challenge. And my family, including my grandson, who wanted me to get into the hops, is really proud of me.”

Her young portfolio also included a small lot of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir produced by acclaimed Oregon winemaker Isabelle Dutartre, a connection made through a friend. And last summer, Harless shared some insight on managing the Kerry Hill vines.

“The vineyard’s in so much better shape than it was a year ago,” Harless said. “The flavors we’re getting are way, way better.”

Outside of her new tasting room and production area is an event center, sheepherding wagon, fire pit, demonstration vineyard and habitat area with native plants and flowers.

Spread throughout her commercial vineyard are raptor and bat boxes as well as a “McHive” for bees.

“I wanted it to look just like a McDo-

nald’s,” she said with a smile.

Mayer still maintains her home in Oregon City and manages the restaurants out of her office in Wilsonville with her daughter, Randi, and son-in-law.

However, she seems committed to her Idaho projects beyond the special breed of sheep that are featured on the Domaine House Red label. Her investments in the Snake River Valley also include a farm that’s four miles away from the winery and 10 acres of alfalfa. The plan is to spend at least a third of her time living near Kerry Hill Winery & Vineyard.

“My place is going to be a destination, even if it is in the middle of nowhere,” Mayer said. “I know that sounds kind of crazy, but that's kind of the way that I am.”

On Dec. 6, she staged the grand opening of the Kerry Hill tasting room. That night, she flew from Boise back to Portland to be in the stands and watch her grandson, Jackson, win an Oregon state high school championship in football. On Sunday, she was back at Kerry Hill to close out her first weekend of tasting room sales.

“I don’t feel that I’m too old to do this, and I take my dogs for a 5- to 6-mile walk every day,” Mayer said. “I lost five of the closest people in my life in one day. I want to make new memories and not look back.”

ERIC DEGERMAN is co-founder and CEO of Great Northwest Wine. Learn more about wine at GreatNorthwestWine.com.

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FEATURE | oregon winery of the year

MITCH GRAHAM Photo Courtesy of Left Coast Estate

Left Coast Estate, Oregon’s Winery of the Year, owes it success to a tight-knit family. The family ownership team, left to right, includes: Cali Pfaff, creative director; Bob Pfaff, co-founder, chef, estate gardener; Suzanne Larson, co-founder, brand ambassador Taylor Pfaff, Chief Executive Officer.

LEFT COAST ESTATE

By Eric Degerman RICKREALL, ORE. — It’s no small feat to impress a master of wine or a master sommelier, and yet two of Joe Wright’s largest Pinot Noir bottlings for Left Coast Estate earned a gold medal from two competitions dominated by both types of luminaries.

First, the Left Coast Estate 2016 Estate Cali’s Cuvée Pinot Noir earned a gold medal at TEXSOM, the international judging in Texas. A few months later, the Left Coast 2018 White Pinot Noir merited a gold medal at the Oregon Wine Competition.

Both wines went on to merit a Platinum at Wine Press Northwest’s 20th annual year-end judging of gold medal wines, with the Cali’s Cuvée coming out as the No. 1 Pinot Noir in the Platinum. Combine all that with the 2015 Estate Brut Rosé of Pinot Meunier, which 32

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earned an “Outstanding!” during last summer’s regional tasting of sparkling wine, and it prompted Wine Press Northwest to name Left Coast Estate as the 2020 Oregon Winery of the Year.

“The Cali’s Cuvée is great wine at a great price, but it’s amazing what we’re able to do here,” Wright said. “It’s 100 percent estatemade production, and at $24 a bottle is pretty special. I’ve been known to buy some of that right off the shelf.”

In 2003, Robert Pfaff and Suzanne Larson, inspired after living in France as newlyweds, purchased 500 acres northwest of Salem.

Much of the North Willamette Valley had not been sectioned off into more easily defined American Viticultural Areas, and the EolaAmity Hills — literally just across Highway 99 from Left Coast from what would become their Latitude 45 Block — wouldn’t become an AVA until 2006.

“Yeah, we make good wine, but we’ve got great dirt and an incredible microclimate,” Wright said. “We cut into the earth often and poke around, and we’re just on seashells.

That soil and the microclimate is what makes our wines our wines.”

And yet, the family, with roots in Colorado, also saw an opportunity to be stewards of a 70-acre parcel of old-growth oak while introducing wine lovers to an emerging portion of the valley with Van Duzer Vineyards to the west and Firesteed to the south. On Jan. 14, 2019, Left Coast Estate became part of the Van Duzer Corridor AVA.

FEATURE | oregon winery of the year

“Dad grew up in WisconCoast wine for recycling, sin and didn’t have any backthey receive a $1 discount ground in wine, but he always toward the purchase of a dreamed of a winery,” said full bottle.

Taylor Pfaff, who received an Left Coast Estate also MBA from the University of partners with other WillaBordeaux and moved into the mette Valley producers on role of CEO of the family ¡SALUD! which provides operation in 2016. “The farm access to healthcare for has a lot of biological diversiseasonal vineyard workers ty, which is kind of rare. Most and their families. As indivineyards have a monoculviduals, Left Coast employture, so ours is a cool model ees get to select a nonprofit of what you can do with the to support. property while being comAnd because the winery mercial.” is a 20-minute drive into MITCH GRAHAM Photo Courtesy of Left Coast Estate Under the direction of town, Left Coast Estate Pfaff and Wright, Left Coast offers lunch seven days a Left Coast Estate winemaker Joe Wright says one of his most successful wines was the White Pinot Noir program launched during the historically cool 2011 summer.

Estate has added close to 30 week, including Wood Fired acres of vines in the past Weekends. The culinary three years for a total of 141 acres. There are program is driven by Robert Pfaff, who is the plans to plant another 40 in the next few head chef and a master gardener. There also years, and just around the corner is Wright’s are some Napaesque wine tasting experiences 25th anniversary of moving to Oregon. with prices to match. All combined, its pop“Holy crikes!” Wright exclaimed. “They ularity lifted Left Coast to a spot on USA 4225 N. Pacific Hwy 99W are like dog years. Every seven feels like one.

Today’s 10Best tasting rooms in 2017, and it That’s how quickly it’s gone.” adds to the story Larson gets to share when Rickreall, OR 97371 His résumé includes six years at Willashe represents Left Coast across the country.

LeftCoastWine.com mette Valley Vineyards working for founder “Anyone could do what we’re doing, and Jim Bernau and in the cellar with talents Joe we all need to give thanks to Mother Earth, (503) 831-4916 Dobbes and the late Forrest Klaffke. Wright but the Pfaffs have made this place a real then spent nine years with Belle Vallée before destination,” Wright said. “It’s cool, man. the Pfaff family reached out to him in 2010.

You roll up and they will hand you a plate of Wright admits one of his most successful lot of layers and complexity.” food, a couple of glasses and tell you to hit wines was inspired not by a classic vintage Another rewarding project for Wright is the hiking trail. It’s an amazing place to wansuch as 2016. Instead, the White Pinot Noir the Queen Bee Bubbly, which uses estate der and explore.” program was spawned during the historically honey in the tirage for the sparkling wine.

Over the years, they’ve transitioned from cool 2011.

Interest prompted him to boost its production Left Coast Winery to Left Coast Cellars and “We had no summer,” he explained. “It to 200 cases. settled on Left Coast Estate. Though “Left was cold and wet, and it was short. We were Beyond the tasting room, there’s a remark- Coast” has acquired a much broader meanreally struggling. What do you do? Make a able assortment of features at Left Coast ing, as a brand name, it’s a reference to the bunch of mediocre red wine? So we made Estate. Cali, Taylor’s sister, is a landscape several family members who are left-handed. more rosé that year, but we needed to diversi- architect whose early works include the Left There’s apparently a fair amount of synfy, too, so we thought, ‘Well, white Pinot Coast hiking trail. Christina, Taylor’s wife, ergy between Wright and his CEO. They have Noir.’ And in those days, people weren’t spearheads the annual Run for the Oaks fund- neighboring homes in Corvallis, and the famtalking about making sparkling wine. We raiser to create awareness and help preserve ily even retails his 500-case J. Wright Vintner needed to put this stuff somewhere.” old-growth white oak. Left Coast is home to a brand on the Left Coast Estate website.

As a result, Left Coast Estate produced a community of 300-year-old trees.

“I kick out approximately 20,000 cases few hundred cases of White Pinot Noir. This In 2008, the family received what was for Left Coast, and we have a market for spring, Wright will offer 8,000 cases of White billed at the time as the largest USDA grant in more of it,” Wright said. “We are current with Pinot Noir from the 2019 vintage.

Oregon to go solar. As a result, much of Left our vintages, and all is good. We are growing “And I need to make more,” Wright said.

Coast’s power comes from solar arrays inevery year, and Taylor has been great to work “I don’t know anyone else in the valley who is stalled throughout the estate. Both the winery with. It’s an exciting time here.” making that much, and we’re getting good at and vineyards are LIVE certified and Salmon ERIC DEGERMAN is co-founder and CEO of that. It’s super-transparent, which I like, and Safe. They are among the few involved in the Great Northwest Wine. Learn more about wine it makes a great backyard on-the-deck BBQ state’s Carbon Neutral Challenge, and when at GreatNorthwestWine.com. summer wine. But it’s still Pinot Noir with a customers return an empty bottle of Left

LEFT COAST ESTATE

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FEATURE | oregon winery to watch

TRELLA VINEYARDS

By Eric Degerman ROSEBURG, ORE. — It was a triple at the 20th Platinum Judging for young Trella Vineyards, but considering who makes the wine for Umpqua Valley growers/doctors Stephen and Susan Williams, those three Platinum awards didn’t come as a surprise.

And while Terry Brandborg crafted those wines, which came into last fall’s competition riding a long trail of gold medals, the farming done by the Williams family along the base of the Callahan Mountains near Roseburg, Ore., shows foresight and skill with Tempranillo and Grüner Veltliner.

“If Terry decides at any point to retire, we’ll figure out some way for him to make our wines on the side,” Stephen said. “We think he’s a genius, and he’s really done fabulous work for us.”

The combination of Williams family grapes and Brandborg’s winemaking led Wine Press Northwest to select Trella Vineyards as the 2020 Oregon Winery to Watch. They teamed up for Platinums with a 2016 Tempranillo, 2016 Grüner Veltliner and 2016 Gewürztraminer, but it’s been a story in the making since 2007 when the Williamses arrived in Southern Oregon to practice medicine.

Stephen is an oncologist and hematologist from the University of Texas-San Antonio who completed residency at Johns Hopkins with a fellowship at Georgetown. Susan, an orthopedic surgeon and spine surgeon, graduated from Stanford, earned her doctorate at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio and went on to George Washington University.

“Best-case scenario is that when you meet us it is in the tasting room,” Stephen quipped.

“And Susan is clearly the brains of the operation. She has two degrees from Stanford and is a very talented surgeon.”

Soon after her fellowship at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, they set their sights on Oregon

Photo Courtesy of Trella Vineyards

Trella Vineyards owners and growers Stephen and Susan Williams combined with talented winemaker Terry Brandborg to produce three Platinum wines and become Wine Press Northwest’s pick for 2020 Oregon Winery to Watch.

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FEATURE | oregon winery to watch

TRELLA VINEYARDS 642 SE Jackson St. Roseburg, OR 97470 TrellaVineyards.com (541) 671-2018

as the place to raise their family. They purchased 80 acres on the other side of the hill from historic HillCrest Vineyard, close enough to town that the commute to their separate practices is about 10 minutes.

“We started off the search in the Portland area, but a recruiter suggested we look here,” Susan said. “It is just so beautiful when you drive into Roseburg the way it is nestled in the mountains.”

Neither of them grew up in wine country — Stephen is from North Texas and Susan grew up in New Jersey — but they soon found themselves visiting tasting rooms throughout the Umpqua Valley.

“We would pass all these vineyards on our way to work and started getting interested,” Stephen said. “We went to them all and made friends. We have 500 bottles in our cellar, and they are all from a 10-mile radius of our house.”

They struck up relationships with Stephen Reustle of Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards, Earl Jones of Abacela and his son, famed climate researcher Greg Jones, who toured the future home of Trella Vineyards.

“He gave us the bad news on what we couldn’t do, and Sangiovese was among those,” Stephen said.

They established their vineyard in 2012, planting half of their 7 acres that first year.

“Our first real legitimate harvest was going to be in 2015, and it was that summer — with grapes on the vine — when we said to ourselves, ‘What are we going to do?’ ” Stephen said.

Brandborg’s reputation as a hired gun was attractive.

“One day on my lunch hour, I pulled into a parking lot and cold-called him,” Stephen said. “It was fortuitous for us because two years earlier he might have told us we were too small for him.”

Stephen tends the vineyard with his father.

Their two daughters and son, ages 10, 12 and

Photo Courtesy of Brandborg Vineyard and Winery

Winemaker Terry Brandborg, who with his wife Sue own Brandborg Vineyard & Winery in Elkton, Ore., makes the wine for Trella Vineyards.

13, help out during harvest. At this point, they don’t plan to grow beyond 1,000 cases, and Brandborg seems comfortable with the arrangement.

“Obviously, they are very sharp people,” Brandborg said. “I don’t have anything to do with their grape growing, but the fruit we get from them makes my job very easy. And they are very nice people as well.”

Trella Vineyards showcases the diversity of the Umpqua Valley in delicious fashion.

They grow clone 1 and clone 2 Tempranillo, and their Pinot Noir is a 50/50 split with Pommard and Wädenswil. There’s also Malbec, Pinot Gris and Grüner Veltliner.

Not from their estate is the award-winning Gewürztraminer. That is grown at historic Bradley Vineyard and Anindor Vineyard in the tiny town of Elkton, just around the corner from Brandborg’s winery, and his work with that aromatic grape earned praise from New York Times columnist Eric Asimov.

Gold medals for their 2016 Tempranillo included a best-of-class award at the Monterey (Calif.) International Wine Competition.

The 2016 Grüner returned best of class at SavorNW Wine Awards, a double gold at East Meets West Wine Challenge in Sonoma and

platinum at Monterey, while the 2016 Gewürz was gold at SavorNW and best white at the Astoria Seafood and Wine judging.

And rather than ask folks to drive out to their vineyard, the Williamses invested in historic downtown Roseburg for a tasting room on Jackson Street, which they opened in 2018. Along the way, they also purchased the shuttered Roseburg Beauty College, a 6,000square-foot building that’s a couple of blocks away and near Paul O’Brien Winery.

“We have a great relationship with those guys, but that space is too big for a tasting room for us,” Stephen said. “But we would love to see that turn into a really nice restaurant or perhaps a brewpub. There’s no reason that Roseburg, Oregon, can’t be another Walla Walla where you walk from place to place, and the potential for that is really exciting. We’ve got our day jobs, so we can take a very long-term view and approach to this.”

In the meantime, Stephen and his father, Michael, remain hands-on with the vineyard.

“I’m spending most of my Fridays all year long doing farm work back at dawn on Saturday,” he said. “And it’s very therapeutic and invigorating to be out there every harvest.”

Brandborg points out, “Stephen’s mom and dad come out to deliver the grapes, and when Stephen and Susan come out to taste, they bring their kids with them, so it’s fun and a family situation.”

Stephen adds, “With the three kids, It’s going to be a battle royale for who is going to have the palate to take this over when I retire.”

In looking back, the 20th annual Platinum Judging proved to be another showcase for Brandborg at a variety of price points. In addition to the awards for Trella, his winemaking led to a Platinum for the Monte Ferro 2016 Pinot Noir, as well as the Brandborg Vineyards & Winery 2017 Coastal Cuvée, an aromatic white that leans Alsatian.

“I always want the customer to get the recognition,” said Brandborg, who received Wine Press Northwest’s Oregon Winery of the Year award in 2015. “It’s nice to see them doing well and know that you’ve had a hand in it, and it’s good for our region. By helping to build upon the reputation of the Umpqua, it benefits everybody.”

ERIC DEGERMAN is co-founder and CEO of Great Northwest Wine. Learn more about wine at GreatNorthwestWine.com.

Spring 2020 • Wine Press Northwest

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FEATURE | washington winery of the year

Photo Courtesy of Tsillan Cellars

Tsillan Cellars owner Dr. Bob Jankelson (right) with winemaker Ray Sandidge (center) and vineyard manager Bal Flores in the barrel room of the Wine Press Northwest 2020 Washington Winery of the Year.

TSILLAN CELLARS

By Eric Degerman CHELAN, WASH. — A sense of Tuscany paired with natural beauty that hints at Lake Como is what Dr. Bob Jankelson sought to provide wine lovers at Tsillan Cellars, which overlooks Lake Chelan.

“I think if you were taking Las Vegas odds, the townfolks thought that I had about a 3 percent chance of pulling it off,” Jankelson said with a chuckle.

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It’s been a remarkable two decades and second career for Jankelson, who has proved to be a visionary on viticulture, wine quality, the marriage of wine and food at his onpremise Sorrento’s Ristorante.

“In my previous career, people were sick and when they came to you they had problems, so I’m loving every minute of this,” he said.

And in terms of his wine, Tsillan Cellars never has been better. Last fall, Jankelson and his team received six Platinum awards in the year-end judging of Pacific Northwest goldmedal winning wines. That showing boosted the winery’s total to 23 career Platinums, and

FEATURE | washington winery of the year

TSILLAN CELLARS 3875 Highway 97A Chelan, WA 98816 TsillanCellars.com (509) 682-9463

it prompted Wine Press Northwest magazine to name Tsillan Cellars the 2020 Washington Winery of the Year.

Each of those six Platinums — for Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Syrah and a Syrah-based blend — were produced with estate fruit and carry the Lake Chelan American Viticultural Area designation sparked in part by Jankelson.

“I had moved here and retired in 1994,” said Jankelson, who received a degree in dental surgery from the University of Washington in 1963 and became a pioneer in his field. “I’ve been very fortunate in life and have traveled, and during those travels, I gained the perspective of wine as a complement to some of the other finer things in life, so I just started thinking in terms of helping to create a culture and an industry here.”

At the time, Lake Chelan was a summer playground for Seattle and ringed by orchards.

“It was all apples and probably the most famous Red Delicious apple-growing area in the world, but in ’98, ’99 and 2000 that came crashing down for a number of reasons,” Jankelson said. “In the spring of ’99, it seemed there was news of a bankruptcy almost every day.”

A year later, Jankelson purchased orchards and set his sights on planting vines along the south shore.

“I was preceded by about 12 months by Bob Christopher and Steve Kludt, who eventually had Lake Chelan Winery,” Jankelson said.

And at this point, Dr. Jankelson can chuckle when sharing an exchange that he had in 1999 with a respected member of the Washington wine industry.

“You may be able to grow some white grapes, but I don’t think you can grow reds,” Jankelson was told. “I suggest you plant Riesling and Gewürztraminer and see what happens.”

So Jankelson started off cautiously as he

gold medal during Wine Press Northwest’s recent judging of 169 Northwest Syrahs.

“I’ve always been impressed with Bob’s effort and dedication to achieving the very best that he can, whether it’s grape growing, food, the restaurant, the tasting experience for his guests and the wine,” Sandidge said. “He’s been fully supportive of anyBELLA FRITZ PHOTOGRAPHY Photo Courtesy of Tsillan Cellars thing that I’ve asked for when The Tsillan Cellars winery, vineyard and tasting room overlooks it comes to upgrading the wine Lake Chelan. program.”

Perhaps the ultimate sign of success is how planted vines across his 120-acre estate, the 7,000 cases of wine are sold — all direct leaning toward white varieties. Recently, he’s to consumer. confidently moved two-thirds of his 40 acres “The grape and the wine never leaves the to red grapes. property until it is in the hands of the con“There are lots of misconceptions sursumer,” Jankelson said. “We don’t do any rounding Lake Chelan,” he said. “It’s taken distribution. When we opened the tasting about 20 years for us to overcome that, and room in Woodinville, it was primarily to serve it’s been like that line by the comedian Rodour wine club members who don’t have a ney Dangerfield, ‘I get no respect.’” chance to visit us in the wintertime.”

An impressive list of winemakers also has The missteps have been few, but Nebbiolo helped Tsillan Cellars along the way. They was among the trials that did not yield the include Marcus Miller, Peter Devison, Shane results Jankelson hoped for. That’s been Collins for a decade and now Ray Sandidge. transitioned to more Barbera.

“I’ve been making wine for 36 years, and And there’s another transition down the I’ve worked for some real (jerks), but Bob is line as Sandidge soon will be focusing more of really invested in his people and taking really his attention on his own C.R. Sandidge progood care of them,” Sandidge said. “He’s a gram across the lake in Manson. Both Jankelgentleman and absolutely genuine.” son and Sandidge identified the heir apparent Collins, who grew up in the valley and — Maria Starceski, a 28-year-old graduate of moved into a management position at Rocky Michigan State University’s ag science proPond Winery in 2017, looks back fondly on gram. his time at Tsillan Cellars. Bal Flores, Jankel“She came on in the middle of harvest last son’s vineyard manager since 2003, made his year and is learning so quickly,” Sandidge job rather easy, he said. said. “Maria has a great palate and a great “Bal deserves a lot of the credit,” Collins work ethic, so I should be able to hand things said. “He prefers to be in the shadows, but over to her. And as I’ve told Bob, I’m just he’s very respected in our area and does a 15-20 minutes away.” great job. A lot of people who were starting For Jankelson, who described his age as their vineyards would come to him for advice “on the other side of 80,” there is no succesbecause he’s very knowledgeable. Bob is sion plan when it comes to ownership of really good to him.”

Tsillan Cellars.

Jankelson’s first Platinum came with a “I have no intention of slowing down,” he 2005 Pinot Grigio — a tip of the cap to Italy — said. “In fact, I’m planting Dolcetto — one of but the variety that has earned Tsillan Cellars Ray’s favorites — more Cabernet Franc and the most critical acclaim in the past two decprobably more Malbec, so that’s six to seven ades, including five Platinums, has been years down the road and I have every inSyrah, which Jankelson first planted in 2001. tention of tasting those wines!”

During its history, Tsillan Cellars has received ERIC DEGERMAN is co-founder and CEO of more than 40 gold medals for its Syrah proGreat Northwest Wine. Learn more about wine gram, and the 2017 Estate Reserve Syrah by at GreatNorthwestWine.com.

Sandidge earned the equivalent of a double Spring 2020 • Wine Press Northwest

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FEATURE | washington winery to watch

RICHARD DUVAL

Located on a historic farm estate near Carnation, Wash., Orenda winery blends rustic-charm with classic elegance. Xander and Samantha Kent released their first wine last year, but their work with Cabernet Franc, earning multiple gold medal honors, has made them the Wine Press Northwest 2020 Washington Winery to Watch.

ORENDA WINERY

By Eric Degerman CARNATION, WASH. — Success came rather quickly last year for Xander and Samantha Kent as Orenda Winery attracted attention with one of the Pacific Northwest’s most decorated examples of Cabernet Franc released in 2019.

It’s important to note that this young couple from Colorado had never released a wine until last year.

“We’ve hopefully got a long run in this industry and we got in early enough,” Xander said.

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He is 33. His wife, Samantha, is 29, and they opened their tasting room June 22, 2019, in the Snoqualmie Valley town of Carnation.

They hadn’t even finished labeling their 2016 Cabernet Franc when it received a double gold at the Seattle Wine Awards.

In early October, the Orenda 2017 Ca-

bernet Sauvignon earned a double gold at the Great Northwest Invitational Wine Competition, but that 2016 Cab Franc from Stillwater Creek Vineyard showed even better. It won best of class on its way to being voted as the Best Red Wine of the judging. The 2016 Franc capped the year with a Platinum from Wine Press Northwest in its year-end judging of gold-medal winners.

And now, less than a year after selling its first bottle of wine, Orenda Winery has been named Wine Press Northwest’s 2020 Wash-

FEATURE | washington winery to watch

ington Winery to Watch.

“We’ve gotten to know a few people in the community and we pour at farmers markets, and when they would see that the Cabernet Franc won a double gold, they would buy a bottle,” Samantha said. “Then a couple of days later, they would drive up to the winery and sign up for the wine club.”

One of those folks they met at one of those farmers markets happened to be Katelyn Peil, wine director at Seattle-based Heavy Restaurant Group. And it was Peil who nominated Orenda’s 2016 Cab Franc for The Invite, an international judging staged each October in Hood River, Ore., at the Columbia Gorge Hotel for Northwest wine buyers.

“I literally discovered them at a farmers market in Snohomish and was impressed with the wines,” Peil said. “I hadn’t seen them in the market at all, but their Cab Franc fit regionally, stylistically and price point-wise for what I needed on my last wine menu change.

I also really enjoyed their Riesling and Cab.” The Kents readily share credit with Woodinville winemaker Mark Bosso. He has spent four years working for Erica Orr on the feelgood Baer Winery project. Prior to that, Bosso was assistant winemaker for Javier Alfonso of Pomum Cellars and Idilico fame. Along the way, they’ve gained access to vineyards such as Stillwater Creek in the Columbia Basin and Yakima Valley sites Elephant Mountain/ Sugarloaf, Dineen and Konnowac, a home for old vines Cab that Alfonso now controls.

“Mark is an incredible, incredible gentleman with so much passion,” Samantha said.

“In the winery, he loves cranking old folk tunes or ‘80s songs, and he talks about his wine with such a heartfelt soul.”

Bosso will always be more than an early winemaking mentor to the Kents. He officiated their wedding in 2018. Brian Bartley served as the best man and also helped as cellarhand with that first vintage. Both served with Xander in the Peace Corps, which sent Xander to West Africa in 2011. Upon his return, Xander went on to earn a master’s in environmental management and an MBA from Duke. In 2016, he moved to Seattle for work at Amazon on sustainability packaging.

Bosso was already well into his winemaking career in Woodinville.

“Myself, Mark and Samantha thought it would be cool to open a winery someday,” Xander said.

They launched Orenda Winery with 600 cases from that debut 2016 vintage, and

ORENDA WINERY 32305 NE Eighth St. Carnation, WA 98014 OrendaWinery.com (425) 526-9100

production gradually increased to the point where they crushed at Orenda the equivalent of 1,000 cases from the 2019 vintage.

Samantha really wanted to live more rural, saying, “There was a lot of serendipity to finding a property that was a small, turnkey winery. This has been a retirement dream, something we fully discussed, and one that we’ve been able to realize earlier than we ever hoped.”

Along the way, the Kents also have extended this property’s history as a winery, buying it from Larry and Birgit Lindvig, who operated it as Pleasant Hill Cellars. They used some glasses of Larry’s award-winning wine to help broker the deal and turn the Kents — who met as salsa dancers — into farmers.

“I’ve had to herd cattle a few times that have come over to say hello, and I’ve had to fill a few hundred mole holes,” Samantha said.

Samantha left the medical field to oversee Orenda. With her background in neuroscience and physiology and published doctoral research in neuropharmacology, she will assume all winemaking duties this year from Bosso, who is taking a full-time job at a larger winery.

“Part of my background is fine dining, so when I’m thinking about wine, I’m always thinking about the food pairing,” she said.

Xander’s Peace Corps work included beekeeping, something he continues to enjoy at Orenda. That’s why estate honey and honeycomb are available in short supply at the tasting room and farmers markets.

“Part of our charm is that we are a small, locally owned winery on a farm that’s over 100 years old with bees and this events center that’s become a community gathering space,” Xander said. “We are loving the engagement that people are having with the brand and this space.”

Don’t go to Orenda expecting a sense of pretense. Last fall, the Kents served mulled

RICHARD DUVAL

Samantha Kent left the medical field to oversee Orenda. She will assume all winemaking duties this year. wine using a recipe Samantha learned in Germany during her days as a student. The Kents also have been known to offer salsa dance classes.

Visitors can use Snoqualmie Valley Trail to reach Orenda, and the bucolic grounds have allowed Orenda’s event center to become an attractive venue for weddings. The new owners used it themselves to become Mr. and Mrs. Kent.

Their label, which depicts earth, wind and water, was designed by Minnesota artist Gregory Euclide, whose work is featured on album covers by the Wisconsin indie folk band Bon Iver and hangs at the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo, Nordstrom in downtown Seattle and Microsoft offices in Redmond.

For those who can’t reach Orenda’s century farm, the wines are also available for online sales.

“The plan is for me to continue to work at Amazon,” Xander said. “I’ve got to finance our 100 percent French oak program.”

ERIC DEGERMAN is co-founder and CEO of Great Northwest Wine. Learn more about wine at GreatNorthwestWine.com.

Spring 2020 • Wine Press Northwest

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TASTING RESULTS | syrah

SYRAH TAKES ON BEAUTIFUL CHAMELEON-LIKE QUALITIES

By Eric Degerman

W

inemaking in the Walla Walla Valley seems to have been the destiny of Cameron Baker Kontos, and while he’s best known for his work with Bordeaux varieties and the beautifully distinctive dragonfly logo on the bottle, he soars with Syrah, too.

It’s no surprise the top entry in Wine Press Northwest’s recent regional tasting of Syrah was grown and crafted in the Walla Walla Valley, an arena where so many winemakers have made Syrah a focus and source of pride on an international scale.

“Syrah is what is making the valley become more and more discovered every year,” Kontos said. “It’s found its niche in our different soils, and the interest in Syrah has the valley blowing up.”

The Kontos Cellars 2016 Les Collines Vineyard Tate Syrah finished atop our regional tasting of Syrah that generated 169 entries from Washington, Oregon and Idaho. The kaleidoscope of examples merely confirmed

RICHARD DUVAL

Winemaker Cameron Baker Kontos, shown here during the 2017 harvest at Kontos Cellars in Walla Walla, earned top honors recently in Wine Press Northwest’s blind tasting of 169 Northwest Syrahs.

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TASTING RESULTS | syrah

how diverse this sophisticated Rhône Valley red can be, and Kontos said it would not be farfetched to view Syrah as the Columbia Valley’s answer to Pinot Noir — only much more pliable.

“Syrah has such a wide range of flavor profiles,” Kontos said. “Winemakers can do whatever they want and take it in any direction. That’s what makes it so fun to work with.”

Back in 1999, Tamarack Cellars in Walla Walla began using Syrah to bring ripeness and build midpalate mouth feel in its trendsetting Firehouse Red. And while there are crass jokes about Syrah’s lack of marketability, in many cases, the entries represented here reflect the best lots of Syrah that each winery works with.

That was indicated in the 36 examples receiving an “Outstanding!” — Wine Press Northwest’s top rating — a rate of 21 percent.

Winemakers and viticulturists in Idaho routinely look at Syrah as their signature grape, and they’ve come to appreciate it for many of the same reasons as their counterparts in Oregon and Washington, especially for its reliability.

"Syrah is a world-class wine on a massive scale, and the fact that it ripens in Idaho is pretty cool for us,” said Greg Koenig, founder of Koenig Vineyards in Caldwell, Idaho, and winemaker for nearby Williamson Vineyards.

“It’s an early ripener, and it gets ripe every year,” Koenig said. “In 2016, it was late September, and in 2018 it was around Oct. 1. We

always have nice weather at that time of year, and the Syrah comes in easy and super ripe.

"If I had to plant just one thing, that would be Syrah,” he added. “When it comes to Syrah in Idaho, everybody makes a good one. We take Washington's lead on everything, and we've got the climate and the soils to excel with Syrah."

Among the interesting facets to this tasting, believed to be one of the largest snapshots of Northwest Syrah, is that it showed that Red Mountain is more than the land of Cabernet Sauvignon. Six of the “Outstand-

WINE RATINGS All rated wines are tasted blind then placed in the following categories: Outstanding These wines have superior characteristics and should be highly sought after.

Excellent Top-notch wines with particularly high qualities.

Recommended Delicious, well-made wines with true varietal characteristics.

Prices are suggested retail.

ing!” examples were pulled from Red Mountain vineyards, and only one wine in the tasting scored higher than the DeLille Cellars 2016 Grand Ciel Syrah. In fact, four of the top wines were rooted in vineyards spearheaded by pioneering Jim Holmes of Ciel du Cheval fame.

And while Red Mountain is nested within the Yakima Valley, technically the American Viticultural Area contributed five additional wines that earned the equivalent of a gold medal. Lake Chelan accounted for a trio of top wines.

Once again, Southern Oregon proved that its vineyards offer winemakers throughout the state award-winning potential as the Applegate, Rogue and Umpqua valleys combined to amass seven “Outstanding!” ratings.

Vineyards not far from Oregon are what Cameron Kontos has come to rely on for Syrah, and winemaking seems to be in his blood. His father, Cliff, founded Fort Walla Walla Cellars, and then rather than go to Walla Walla Community College to learn more about winemaking, Cameron landed a job working at Forgeron Cellars for acclaimed Marie-Eve Gilla.

After eight years, Cameron and his brother, Chris, launched Kontos Cellars in 2010. Success stories seem to be woven into their DNA — the sixth generation of a Walla Walla Valley family that built a railroad, sold it for 12 times the investment and founded Baker Boyer Bank.

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TASTING RESULTS | syrah

The Kontos wines, with an annual production of just 2,500 cases, are highly allocated.

They sell 95 percent out of their downtown tasting room in the historic Jones Building, which is owned by family and overlooks Mill Creek. They’ve maxed out two levels of their wine club, and the waiting list stands at 400.

“My brother and sister-in-law designed a beautiful tasting room,” Cameron said. “I just try to make sure that I put out a good product to sell there.”

Added pressure comes with Cameron’s reserve Syrah, which is part of the Progeny tier and always named after a family member.

Chris’s daughter gets bragging rights for the 2016 vintage. So why, with the 2016 Tate already in limited production and with supply nearly spent, was her uncle pouring it at a consumer event in Portland?

“That’s how I get my wine club signups — it’s my own little tease,” Cameron said with a chuckle.

This tasting was staged Jan. 30 at the Clover Island Inn in Kennewick, Wash. Judges were Tamara Belgard, journalist, Portland, Ore.; Glenn Grabiec, sommelier/general manager, Bartholomew Winery, Kennewick; Chris Loeliger, winemaker, TruthTeller Winery, Walla Walla, Wash.; JD Nolan, owner/ wine buyer, Fat Olives Restaurant & Catering, Richland, Wash; Ryan Raber, winemaker, Tertulia Cellars, Walla Walla; Mike Rader, panelist, Great Northwest Wine, Kennewick; Ken Robertson, columnist, Wine Press North42

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west, Kennewick; Tanya Woodley, winemaker/co-owner, SuLei Cellars, Walla Walla; and Courtney Zihlman, marketing/communications specialist, Liberty Lake, Wash. Panel moderators were Eric Degerman of Great Northwest Wine; Richard Larsen, retired research winemaker, Richland; and Jerry Hug, Publisher, Wine Press Northwest.

UNANIMOUSLY OUTSTANDING! Kontos Cellars 2016 Les Collines Vineyard Tate Syrah, Walla Walla Valley • $63 Walla Walla native Cameron Kontos didn’t stray far from home — the foothills of the Blue Mountains — for this stunning example of Syrah that topped the field of 169 submissions. Les Collines, a French phrase that means “the foothills,” ranks as one of the cooler sites in the Walla Walla Valley, and Kontos employed a fermentation of 75% whole cluster to achieve remarkable results.

Aromas of blackberry, anise and dried herbs lead to a complex, approachable yet ageworthy example of Syrah that shows remarkable extraction and an abundance of blueberry and blackberry flavors. (96 cases, 14.7% alc.)

DeLille Cellars 2016 Grand Ciel Syrah, Red Mountain • $75 While Cab is king on Red Mountain, Jason Gorski shows that Syrah also shines there, using Clone 383 berries from DeLille’s Grand

Ciel Estate Vineyard to state his case. Of the seven French oak barrels in this lot, two were new, but enticing toast doesn’t get in the way of the black pepper, blackberry and lavender aromas. There’s a fistful of raspberry and blackberry flavors that lead into a sturdy framework akin to black olive skins, which transitions into a long finish of Red Vines licorice and juniper berry. (175 cases, 14.6% alc.)

Plaisance Ranch 2017 Papa Joe's Private Stash Syrah, Applegate Valley • $35 Pioneering viticulturist Joe Ginet broke ground in the United States for his work with French red variety Mondeuse. Since the obscure variety is closely related to Syrah, it makes perfect sense that Ginet excelled in this Northwest judging. He also interplanted Viognier within the Syrah block at his multi-generation ranch in Southern Oregon, and he cofermented the Syrah for this wine with about 3% Viognier. There’s no new oak involved, so the focus is on the purple fruit from start to finish, picking up baking spices, cured meat and tobacco along the way. Blackberry acidity and excellent tannin management create the tremendous mouth feel and structure. (400 cases, 13.4% alc.)

The Bunnell Family Cellar 2014 Red Heaven Vineyard Syrah, Red Mountain • $44 Back in 2009, Ron Bunnell produced two

TASTING RESULTS | syrah

of that judging’s top examples of Syrah from the 2004 vintage. A decade later, the former head man at Chateau Ste. Michelle matches that performance. Here is his snapshot of Red Heaven Vineyard, a coveted parcel high on the west slope of Red Mountain. It’s a complex and juicy delivery of boysenberry and Craisins backed by a sandy structure allowing for long and lingering layers of eucalyptus and mocha. (115 cases, 14.1% alc.)

Tsillan Cellars 2017 Estate Reserve Syrah, Lake Chelan • $38 Ray Sandidge’s work with fruit on the south shore of Lake Chelan continues to serve as validation of Dr. Bob Jankelson’s vision for Lake Chelan as a grape-growing region. This lot represents 16 barrels of its finest Syrah, and it’s yummy and pretty with plum and black cherry with Craisin acidity and a long and soft finish of blueberries, offering pleasing complexity. (396 cases, 14.7% alc.)

Wapato Point Cellars 2016 Cougar Ridge Vineyard Syrah, Lake Chelan • $35 Jonathon Kludt’s parents became pioneers in the Lake Chelan Valley when they began to transition their Red Delicious apple orchards into vineyard on the north shore of the lake.

Cougar Ridge Vineyard was established in 1998 with a south-facing aspect at 1,300 feet elevation, which means these 4 acres receive not only exposure to the sun but also the morning sun’s reflection from the lake. After

21 months in barrel, the results offer delicious notes of dark cherry and plum with mild oak toast. Velvety medium-bodied tannins allow for a finish of red licorice, sassafras and black pepper. (300 cases, 13.4% alc.)

Barrister Winery 2016 Sagemoor Syrah, Columbia Valley • $35 It’s now the trio of founders Greg Lipsker and Michael White with Tyler Walters at the wheel of this Spokane landmark, and they continue to rely on historic Sagemoor Vineyards for much of their program. Bacchus and Weinbau vineyards are blended with Petit Verdot (5%) from Dionysus and aged 31 months in an assortment of French (38%), American (26%) and Hungarian oak. And yet, that barrel program does not get in the way of the essence of Syrah, producing a classic theme of cured meat, black currant, blueberry and blackberry with touches of Earl Grey tea and cracked pepper. Complex and balanced, it’s a full package. (280 cases, 16% alc.)

Telaya Wine Co. 2017 Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Syrah, Washington State • $40 Red Mountain pioneer Jim Holmes established Ciel du Cheval in 1975, and while his vineyard might be best known for age-worthy Cab, the continued success with Rhône varieties is impressive. That’s why Earl and Carrie Sullivan of Wine Press Northwest’s 2016 Idaho Winery of the Year drive all the way from Boise to buy these grapes in their effort

to simply make the best wine they can. And this Syrah ranks among the best in the Northwest. Aromas of black plum, cured meat and pomegranate transition to a deep and lovely fruit expression with flavors of more plum, blackberry and blueberry. There’s great weight to the structure, capped by a long and smooth finish. (150 cases, 14.3% alc.)

RoxyAnn Winery 2016 Single Vineyard Estate Syrah, Rogue Valley • $28 This century farm has been known as Hillcrest Orchard and renowned for pear production across its 120 acres near Roxy Ann Peak in Medford, Ore., but more than half of that acreage is dedicated to grape vines that lead to an annual production of 15,000 cases. This marks the third vintage for winemaker Kent Barthman since his recruitment from Sonoma, and it’s a remarkable effort. Fanciful notes of baked cherry pie, cola and sassafras are wrapped in a medium body of velvety tannins and dusted with mocha, backed by age-worthy acidity. (185 cases, 13.5% alc.)

Harbinger Winery 2015 Sagemoor & Elephant Mountain Vineyards Vintner's Pick Syrah, Washington State • $32 Sagemoor, one of Washington’s most venerable sites, is blended here with fruit from Joe Hattrup’s rising star Elephant Mountain Vineyard in the Rattlesnake Hills above the Yakima Valley, and the results by Olympic Peninsula winemaker Sara Gagnon are excepSpring 2020 • Wine Press Northwest

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TASTING RESULTS | syrah

tional. It’s rather floral with hints of vanilla and violet, fruity with flavors of blackberry and black cherry, and enjoyable with milk chocolaty tannins and boysenberry acidity. It offers great maturity and delicious density.

(132 cases, 14% alc.)

Jones of Washington 2015 Estate Vineyards Syrah, Wahluke Slope • $15 Best Buy! Victor Palencia’s reign as the winemaker for the Pacific Northwest Winery of the Year ends with this issue, but the hits will keep coming, as evidenced by this stellar effort on behalf of the Jones family. The 2012 Washington Winery of the Year should have no problem blowing through the rest of this bottling, particularly at its young tasting room inside the Quincy Public Market. The nose of black licorice, leather and plum lead to an elegant profile of red plum and strawberry, and the medium body allows for a long and supple finish. (1,317 cases, 14.9% alc.)

Williamson Vineyards 2016 Reserve Syrah, Snake River Valley • $40 One of the Pacific Northwest wine industry’s top tandems is winemaker Greg Koenig working with fruit grown in Idaho’s Sunnyslope Wine District by the Williamson family.

These four barrels of estate Syrah create a profile of plum, blackberry and roasted coffee as touches of caramel, pomegranate and wet stone make for nice intensity. (102 cases, 14.5% alc.)

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OUTSTANDING! Cascade Cliffs Vineyard & Winery 2018 Syrah, Columbia Valley • $40 One of the cult producers along the Columbia Gorge is Robert Lorkowski, and while one of his calling cards is the assortment of Italian varieties that he excels with, this youthful Syrah serves as another example of talent. It’s hedonistic, fruity and fleshy with dark cherry and plum notes, backed by blackberry acidity, which makes for a rather yummy wine. (325 cases, 16% alc.)

Williamson Vineyards 2018 Syrah, Snake River Valley • $28 One of the youngest examples in this snapshot of Northwest Syrah also ranks among the best as Greg Koenig provides a glimpse into the future with this debutant for the Williamson family. Vineyard managers Mike Williamson and his cousin, Patrick, continue to place award-winning fruit on Koenig’s crush pad just a few hundred yards away. Aromas and flavors of sweet black cherries and plum pick up touches of sweet herbs and leather as raspberry acidity and smooth tannins make for a nice texture. (140 cases, 15% alc.)

Cascade Cliffs Vineyard & Winery 2018 Winemaker's Select Syrah, Red Mountain • $50 Red Mountain growers continue to earn acclaim for more than “King Cab,” as evi-

denced by Robert Lorkowski in the Columbia Gorge community of Wishram, Wash. Rich notes of lavender, cherry, plum and cigar leaf lead to firm yet pliable tannins. The success and following for Lorkowski’s wines have prompted him to launch satellite tasting rooms in Hood River, Ore., Woodinville, Wash., and the Georgetown district of Seattle.

(188 cases, 16% alc.)

Nine Hats Wines 2015 Syrah, Columbia Valley • $25 Lots that didn’t quite fit in the Long Shadows Vintners program for Aussie rock star John Duval and his Sequel project make their way into the Nine Hats label, which explains the delicious pedigree for this Syrah that includes Mourvèdre (18%) and Grenache (2%).

The continued wizardry of Gilles Nicault led to one of the best values of this Syrah study, which reflects spicy plum, blackberry, floral and minerality. Its superb balance is capped by a long finish of anise. (700 cases, 14.8% alc.)

L'Ecole No 41 2017 Syrah, Columbia Valley • $25 Mike Sharon, working with Marty Clubb, had the luxury of pulling in hand-harvested grapes from vineyards such as Sagemoor’s Bacchus, StoneTree and Candy Mountain as well as Summit View and Seven Hills in the Walla Walla Valley. They racked these largely neutral oak barrels four times during the

TASTING RESULTS | syrah

course of 18 months, and the bench trials led to a blend of Syrah (77%), Grenache (21%) and Mourvèdre. It’s filled with character and evolves in the glass for an experience filled with raspberry, violets, light toast and sarsaparilla that’s rounded off by bittersweet chocolaty tannins. (3,100 cases, 15% alc.)

Maryhill Winery 2016 Syrah, Columbia Valley • $26 The Leutholds have been awarded eight career Platinums for their bottlings of Syrah, and they’ve all come within the past decade.

Their first was for the 2009 vintage, which marked the arrival of New Zealand winemaker Richard Batchelor from Napa. As a result, it was no surprise to see Maryhill rank so highly in this tasting. It’s fruit-forward yet crunchy as blackberry and black cherry come with a bite of blueberry, making for a lingering finish. (968 cases, 14.1% alc.)

Quady North 2015 Steelhead Run Vineyard Syrah, Southern Oregon • $32 It’s no surprise to see the talented Herb Quady grab a gold medal from any competition in the country, particularly with Syrah.

Steelhead Run was established a stone’s throw from the Applegate River in 1993, a decade prior to Quady’s arrival in Southern Oregon.

Clones 470, 877 and Hermitage are featured, and Quady has been producing vineyarddesignate Syrah from Laura and Ron Burley’s site since 2006. This offers classic notes of

blackberry, black currant and black pepper, backed by blueberry acidity and a smooth finish of cola. (125 cases, 13% alc.)

Schooler Nolan Winery 2016 Syrah, Red Mountain • $25 The Nolan family’s relationship with the Hedges family on Red Mountain began with wine list placement at Fat Olives in Homer, Alaska — the flagship restaurant for the Schooler and Nolan families. Pete Hedges has handed off the winemaking duties to his niece, Sarah Goedhart, and she works with Tablas Creek and Joseph Phelps clone fruit planted at her family’s Les Gosses Vineyard for this delicious bottling for Tiny Nolan and his son, JD. Classic notes of black pepper, dark cherry and smoky oak come through for a nice finish. Looks for this at Fat Olives in Richland, where the wine is on the list as well as available for bottle purchases to take home. (112 cases, 14.4% alc.)

Time & Direction 2017 Old School Syrah, Columbia Valley • $40 This follow-up effort by Steve Wells to his highly acclaimed 2016 debut vintage proves that this erstwhile New York City sommelier is well on his way. A product of Walla Walla Community College’s famed winemaking school, he works for Aryn Morell, who not only encouraged Wells to launch his own brand, but also introduced him to the Lawrence family’s Solaksen planting in the pro-

posed Frenchman Hills appellation. Wells blended it with fruit from emerging Éritage Vineyard near “The Big House” in Walla Walla. Dark purple fruit, baking spices and gamy aromas lead to flavors of blackcurrant and blueberry, backed by age-worthy tannins.

(160 cases, 14.7% alc.)

Youngberg Hill 2015 Oregon Syrah, Rogue Valley • $35 Grower/vintner Wayne Bailey owns one of the most picturesque wine country destinations in North Willamette Valley, and he rightfully focuses on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay at Youngberg Hill near McMinnville. Here, however, he works with 10-acre Daisy Creek Vineyard near Jacksonville for this stunning Syrah.

Russ and Margaret Lyon’s longtime passion and vision for wines inspired by the Rhône is realized in this wine, which opens with dark cherry, plum and tapenade aromas. It deliciously features Bing cherry and blueberry juice, backed by black currant skin tannins and a finish of elderberry. (267 cases, 13.7% alc.)

Fly Rod Cellars 2017 Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Salmonfly Syrah, Red Mountain • $35 Troy Mandeville and John Richardson work for Scott Greenberg of Convergence Zone Cellars in North Bend, Wash., but they call all the shots when it comes to their own label — Fly Rod Cellars. Here’s another examSpring 2020 • Wine Press Northwest

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TASTING RESULTS | syrah

ple of Red Mountain’s amazing Syrah, and this two-barrel lot is an exquisite expression, offering an experience with black plum, blueberry and Bing cherry, framed by a skillfully presented structure. (48 cases, 14.5% alc.)

tates, and by all accounts, the brand is in ideal hands with VWE founder/CEO Pat Roney in charge. (300 cases, 14.1% alc.)

plums, blueberry and caramel, supported by Craisins and finishing with a long trail of butterscotch. (25 cases, 14.3% alc.)

Martinez & Martinez Winery 2017 Les Vignes Le Tendre Syrah, Yakima Valley • $32

The Bunnell Family Cellar 2015 Syrah, Snipes Mountain • $44

Dunham Cellars 2016 Syrah, Columbia Valley • $35

It’s been a long and deep relationship between winemaker Ron Bunnell and the Newhouse family, who farm Upland Vineyard and much of Snipes Mountain in the heart of the Yakima Valley. In fact, Bunnell crafts the wines for the Newhouses. In this case, they grew the grapes that produced this two-barrel lot. There’s a fair bit of hedonism in store for those who acquire this limited bottling as blackberry jam, cocoa powder and cocoa butter only begin to describe this deep purple drink that finishes with a rush of juiciness. (48 cases, 14.3% alc.)

A decade ago, the late Eric Dunham used Lewis Vineyard fruit to produce one of the top wines in our Syrah judging. He handed the baton to David Wampfler who passed it along to Robert Campisi, who is continuing the lofty standards and delivering high scores. Now, acclaimed Phinny Hill in the Horse Heaven Hills and Kenny Hill Estate Vineyard is part of the program. The combination of neutral puncheons and new French oak barriques leads to classic Syrah notes of blackberry, white pepper and cured meat that pick up rich hints of toffee and vanilla. Blueberry acidity and fine-grained espresso ground tannins make for a great finish. (416 cases, 14.2% alc.)

This young planting west of Benton City, Wash., by Greg Letendre is paying quick dividends for winemaker Andrew Martinez, who grew up in the Horse Heaven Hills surrounded by historic Cabernet Sauvignon vines. There’s little doubt these three barrels of Syrah will find an audience at the Winemaker’s Loft in Prosser as bright blue fruit notes are crafted into one of this tasting’s most quaffable entries, resulting in an approachable yet balanced drink. (75 cases, 14% alc.)

Owen Roe 2016 Red Willow Vineyard Chapel Block Syrah, Yakima Valley • $55

Ott & Hunter Wines 2016 Elephant Mountain Vineyard Syrah, Rattlesnake Hills, $35

It’s especially fitting for Owen Roe’s work with historic Red Willow Vineyard to earn one of this tasting’s top accolades considering that the late David Lake encouraged Mike Sauer to be the first in Washington to plant Syrah in 1986. Three decades later, David O’Reilly continues to pay homage in delicious fashion.

Its charming nose and dark complexion of blackberry and blueberry offers verve, lusciousness and pleasing balance. O’Reilly recently sold Owen Roe to Vintage Wine Es-

What began as Swede Hills Cellars and morphed into Ott & Murphy is now Ott & Hunter, with Chris Hunter making these wines for his in-laws — David Ott and Diane Kaufman. This ultra-boutique Whidbey Island winery began to transition from hobby beer brewing to wine production in 2002, and their transition was the result of Syrah. This single barrel of gravity-flow Syrah from one of Washington’s premier vineyards received beautiful treatment and is redolent of black

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Naumes Family Vineyards 2016 Syrah, Rogue Valley • $35 The Naumes family, famous in Washington, Oregon and California for orchard fruit, only began producing wine in 2015, and their estate vineyards were not online yet, so Chris Graves worked with Pebblestone Cellars’s Ellis Vineyards for this stellar Syrah. Graves, a product of University of California-Davis, divided these lots. One was done whole-berry in stainless steel while the other was crushed and fermented in new French oak. Both were

TASTING RESULTS | syrah

harvested Oct. 13, and in a fascinating twist, Graves included 2017 Viognier that was fermented in a concrete egg. That process led to a fascinating and expressive Syrah, exhibiting notes of blackberry, cured meat and black olive as touches of cardamom and Baker’s chocolate make for a drink that’s inviting from start to finish. (85 cases, 14.5% alc.)

Two Mountain Winery 2017 Copeland Vineyard Syrah, Rattlesnake Hills • $25

the Pacific Northwest, it helps explain how Andrew Wilson’s reserve program is produced on the scale that this is. Among the interesting features to this is the influence of Petite Sirah (10%). It is unmistakably Syrah from the start as its berry-filled nose led to the same on the palate. A nibble of golden raspberry and charming finish makes for an all-around nice wine.

(724 cases, 14.9% alc.)

Quady North 2015 Mae's Vineyard Syrah, Applegate Valley, $65 On the inside of Herb Quady’s left forearm is a tattoo that reads, “I will not make bad wine.” His flagship Syrah from the estate Mae’s Vineyard near Jacksonville, Ore., is one more testament to that fact. This small lot is loaded with sweet blackberry, black currant and blueberry, with touches of toasted oak

On an estate site for the Rawn brothers, Patrick grows the grapes for his brother, Matthew, who teamed up with their uncle, Ron Schmidt, to establish Copeland Vineyard in 2000. It proved to be one of the most distinctive Syrahs in the tasting, offering earthiness, smoked ham and leather to the blue fruit notes. The structure shows impeccable balance. (437 cases, 13.9% alc.)

Goose Ridge Vineyards 2016 Cellar Select Artist Series Reserve Syrah, Columbia Valley • $46 When your estate vineyard — Goose Ridge at 2,000 acres — is the one of the largest in

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TASTING RESULTS | syrah

and baking spices. (62 cases, 14.5% alc.)

Tagaris Winery 2016 Syrah, Columbia Valley • $34 Frank Roth learned winemaking at the elbow of two titans in the Pacific Northwest — the late Harry McWatters and the dean of Washington winemakers, Rob Griffin. This vintage signaled the start of Roth’s second decade as the head winemaker for Michael Taggares, and he builds these wines with the Taverna Tagaris in mind, creating them in a fruit-forward style with minimal oak, high acidity and low alcohol. A blend of estate vineyards Arete, Alice and Taggares, it’s complex yet lithe in its offering of Rainier cherry and ripe plum. A pinch of horehound with jasmine leads to a juicy farewell of blueberry and black pepper spice. Suggested pairings include a grilled pork chop, Bacon Blue Cheeseburger or Cheese Garlic Pasta. (150 cases, 13.5% alc.)

SYRAH BY THE NUMBERS Here’s a look at the numbers behind the wines tasted for this article.

Total wines judged: 169 Percentage of “Outstanding” wines: 21 Percentage of “Excellent” wines: 53 Percentage of “Recommended” wines: 20 Average price: $38 Average price of “Outstanding!” wines: $38 Average alcohol: 14.4% Average alcohol of “Outstanding! wines: 14.4% Total cases represented: 68,699 Average case production: 405 Average case production of “Outstanding!” wines: 351

Upper Five Vineyard 2016 Syrah, Rogue Valley Oregon • $28

American Viticultural Areas represented: 20

A former sommelier in Portland, John Grochau learned winemaking at the elbow of Doug Tunnell of Brick House fame. Here, he works with Demeter-certified estate fruit grown by Upper Five owners Terry Sullivan and Molly Morrison near Talent, Ore. The light winemaking touch by Grochau allows for a remarkably pure expression of fruit as currant and black cherry come with peppered bacon, sublime tannins and touch of cocoa in the finish. (100 cases, 13.4% alc.)

Wines by AVA: Columbia Valley (43), Walla Walla Valley (28), Umpqua Valley (13), Yakima Valley (13), Snake River Valley (9), Horse Heaven Hills (9), Rogue Valley (9), Red Mountain (8), Wahluke Slope (8), Lake Chelan (5), Applegate Valley (4), McMinnville (3), Rattlesnake Hills (3), Southern Oregon (3), The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater (3), Washington State (3), Lewis-Clark Valley (1), Oregon (1), Snipes Mountain (1), Willamette Valley (1).

Muret­Gaston Winery 2015 Edythe Mae Vineyard Syrah, Yakima Valley • $45

Go to McMenamins.com/Celebration-of-Syrah

A decade ago, Kyle Johnson did remarkable work with this vineyard under the Olsen Estates brand. His relationship with the Olsen family continues under the young, high-end label that Johnson and his wife, Amy, named for their mothers. It’s a suave and jammy effort with blackberry, blueberry pie and black cherry notes as the 26 months in 50% new French oak barrels gives it a luxurious chocolaty finish. Wine Press Northwest rated the Olsen Estates 2008 Edythe Mae Vineyard Syrah an “Outstanding!” so it was no surprise to see this eight-barrel effort rank among the Northwest’s best. (200 cases, 14.6% alc.)

Hard Row to Hoe Vineyards 2016 Defiance Vineyard Syrah, Lake Chelan • $45 48

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Learn more about Northwest Syrah The 19th annual Celebration of Syrah will be staged April 3-4 at McMenamins Edgefield Winery in the Portland suburb of Greshman. It is capped by a grand public tasting and auction, which will help support ¡Salud! a healthcare provider for seasonal vineyard workers and their families.

Ironically, Syrah will be the focus of this year’s Celebrate Walla Walla, moved to July 16-18.

The grand tasting on Friday, July 15 at Valdemar Estates will gather 50 wineries.

Go to CelebrateWallaWalla.com.

Judy Phelps operates one of the Northwest’s most eclectic tasting rooms in Manson, Wash., on the north side of Lake Chelan, but she works with Syrah from Defiance Vineyard, a south shore side that’s part of Nefarious Cellars property. Her effort with French oak (36% new) adds a whiff of French roast coffee to the nose of blackberry, cured meat and cigar box, which make their way to a palate

that’s well-balanced from front to back. (250 cases,15.5% alc.)

For complete results visit www.winepressnw.com.

ERIC DEGERMAN is co-founder and CEO of Great Northwest Wine. Learn more about wine at GreatNorthwestWine.com.

NORTHWEST WINE EVENTS

19­22 Taste Washington, Seattle. The 23rd anniversary of Washington’s signature wine event includes two days of public tasting and education at the CenturyLink Field Event Center. Go to TasteWashington.org.

21­22 Taste Local in the North Willamette Valley, Forest Grove, Ore. More than 20 members of the North Willamette Vintners group offer tastings, culinary samples and education at McMenamins Grand Lodge. Tickets start at $55. Go to NorthWillametteWine.org.

Festival, Astoria, Ore. Sip wine from more than 40 Oregon wineries while enjoying seafood at the mouth of the Columbia River. This marks the event’s 38th year. Go to AstoriaCrabfest.com.

26 Pour Oregon, Portland. Cellar 503 and the Oregonian collaborate with 50 boutique Oregon wineries to benefit Make-A-Wish. Go to PourOregon.com.

30­May 17 The Okanagan Spring Wine Festival. Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. It includes more than 100 events. Go to TheWineFestivals.com.

April

May

3­4 Celebration of Syrah, Troutdale, Ore. McMenamins Edgefield Winery brings in winemakers and distributors from the Northwest and beyond for the 19th annual Syrah showdown. Go to CelebrationOfSyrah.com.

3­5 Spring Kick­Off Weekend, Walla Walla Valley. Wineries invite guests and visitors to stop by and celebrate with special events, music and festivities. Go to WallaWallaWine.com.

3­5 Lewis­Clark Valley Wine Festival, Lewis­ ton, Idaho. This marks the second year for the weekend-long toast to the home of the Pacific Northwest’s first commercial wine region. Go to LewisClarkWine.com.

4 St. Martin’s University Food & Wine Festiv­ al, Lacey, Wash. Previously known as the Capital Food and Wine Festival, more than 30 Northwest wineries return to the Hal and Inge Marcus Pavilion to pour at this fundraiser — back after a one-year hiatus — for Saint Martin’s University. Go to StMartin.edu.

4 Kif Brown Foundation Wine Auction and Gala, Garden City, Idaho. Wine lots from the Northwest and beyond are auctioned during this fifth annual fundraiser at Telaya Wine Co. Go to TheKifBrownFoundation.com.

18­19 and 25­26 Lake Chelan Spring Release, Chelan, Wash. Nearly 30 member wineries around the Lake Chelan area are ready to debut whites and rosés on successive weekends.

Go to LakeChelanWineValley.com.

24­26 Spring Barrel Tasting, Yakima Valley, Wash. This longtime annual event showcases more than 40 wineries and special seminars in the Northwest’s oldest appellation. Go to WineYakimaValley.org.

23 Smile Oregon, Portland. Some of the region’s top wineries pour during this fourth annual event at the Multnomah Athletic Club that benefits children affected by cleft and craniofacial conditions. Go to SmileOregon.org.

24­26 Astoria Warrenton Crab & Seafood

3­5 Spring Release Weekend, Walla Walla, Wash. Also known as “Leonetti Weekend,” this is one of two weekends when nearly every winery in the valley is open. Go to WallaWallaWine.com.

8­10 Mom’s Weekend on the Sunnyslope Wine Trail, Caldwell, Idaho. Members of the Sunnyslope Wine Trail celebrate Mother’s Day weekend throughout Snake River Valley. Go to SunnyslopeWineTrail.org.

8­10 Spring Release Weekend, Spokane, Wash. Cork District wineries continue to open their doors to visitors on Mother’s Day weekend. Go to facebook.com/CorkDistrict.

16 Savor SW WA Wine, Vancouver USA. Southwest Washington, home to the state’s first wine grape vines, blends wineries with chefs near historic Fort Vancouver for the second straight year. Go to SWWaWine.com.

March

16 Northwest Corks and Crush, Puyallup, Wash. Wineries in Oregon and Washington pour for the 14th year to help fund services at MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital. Go to MultiCare.org/CorksAndCrush.

16­17 Spring Barrel Tasting, Lake Chelan, Wash. This annual event showcases more than 30 wineries who pour samples straight from the barrel. Go to LakeChelanWineValley.com.

23­25 Columbia Gorge Grape to Table Week­ end. Wineries along both sides of the Columbia River participate in tourist events during Memorial Day weekend. Go to ColumbiaGorgeWine.com.

23­25 Memorial Weekend in Wine Country.

Willamette Valley, Ore. More than 150 wineries participate in the 29th year of the event. Go to WillametteWines.com.

June 6 Leavenworth Summer Wine Walk, Leaven­ worth, Wash. More than 20 regional wineries gather to pour at 20 downtown spots in an event that sells out months in advance. Go to CascadeFarmlands.com.

14 Savor Idaho, Boise. The Idaho Wine Commission stages its 12th annual event pairing Idaho’s top wines with regional cuisine at the Idaho Botanical Garden. Go to IdahoWines.org.

20 Cycle de Vine, Chelan, Wash. The tour enters its 11th year and takes 700 riders across the lake to visit some of the region’s top wineries. Go to CycleChelan.com.

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John David Crow, Fat Olives executive chef, attended culinary school in the Bay Area and returned home, spending much of his career in some of Seattle’s most famous kitchens, including Ray’s Boathouse, Tom Douglas, Daniel’s Broiler and the Space Needle, which he managed.

RICHARD DUVAL 50

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MATCH MAKERS

CLIMATE RIGHT FOR ALASKA RESTAURATEURS IN WASHINGTON WINE COUNTRY Story by Eric Degerman | Photography by Richard Duval RICHLAND, WASH. — When looking online for Fat Olives Restaurant in the Columbia Valley, the town of Homer, Alaska, will pop up, too.

There’s good reason for that, points out fourth-generation restaurateur JD Nolan, sitting down and swirling a glass of his family’s 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon from Red Mountain.

“We are from Alaska, and that’s where we started,” he said. “I grew up in Homer, and Fat Olives was started in 2001. We opened here in 2010.”

A decade later, his parents continue to oversee Fat Olives up in the 49th State while JD and his wife, Erika, raise their two teenaged daughters in Richland, Wash.

“We consider both restaurants as a neighborhood bistro, and my parents are very much involved in both,” he said. “We like to cater to everybody. Sitting at this table could be a couple of blue-collared workers who just got off work enjoying a happy dinner with their families, while at this table a couple of white-collars might be having a business meeting. And everyone will feel just as comfortable. Mom and dad can have a nice dinner. The kids can order a pizza, and everybody is happy.”

There’s a strong chance those parents will be enjoying a great glass of wine because JD’s parents — Tiny and Lisa — first looked at Walla Walla before the Hedges family sold them on Richland.

“My dad was at a specialty trade show in Anchorage, and we’ve always had Hedges wines on our wine list, so he goes to the Hedges table, and there’s Pete Hedges pouring,” Nolan said. “They had never met, but my dad tells him, ‘I’d love to come down and work a crush some time.’ I guess Pete said, ‘Come on down!’ Now, everybody says they want to work crush, but nobody follows through to do it.”

RICHARD DUVAL

JD Nolan, Fat Olives owner/manager, enjoys a glass of his family’s Schooler Nolan Caberrnet Sauvignon. The family label is one of several available on the Fat Olive’s wine list that has earned Wine Spectator magazine’s Award of Excellence three years running.

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Two months later, Pete picked up Tiny at the airport to work the 2008 harvest. And when Tiny told the Hedges family that he’d bought a house in Walla Walla and was going to open a restaurant there, the Red Mountain vintners convinced him that winemakers around the Tri-Cities needed Fat Olives more than Walla Walla did. So the Nolans found a former drive-in near the historic Uptown Shopping Center in downtown Richland, began the transformation and quickly made friends.

“I’m highly biased because they have put on a lot of really good winemaker dinners over the years,” said Amy Johnson, co-owner of Purple Star Winery and Muret-Gaston Wines. “JD has been a great business partner of ours, and he’s been very supportive of the local wine industry. I can’t say anything but great things.”

In the past few years, more wineries and groups such as the Auction of Washington Wines have come to rely on Fat Olives for catering. Among Nolan’s most prized clients is Ste. Michelle jewel Col Solare.

The work of executive chef John David Crow has Fat Olives in more demand than ever, and for Baby Boomer football fans, he’s got an iconic name.

“John David Crow was my father’s favorite college football player,” Crow said. “And my mom liked the name, too. He was from Texas A&M and won the Heisman, but my parents were from Oklahoma.”

Crow’s connection to the Columbia Valley stems from the 1950s when his father became a homebuilder in the Tri-Cities. “My mom and dad both went to Kennewick High, and I was born here in 1964.”

A graduate of Ballard High in Seattle, Crow ended up going to culinary school in the Bay Area and returned home, spending much of his career in some of Seattle’s most famous kitchens, including Ray’s Boathouse, Tom Douglas, Daniel’s Broiler and the Space Needle, which he managed. There were also stints at the Microsoft Conference Center, Nashville and the Florida Keys.

“The Space Needle was a $14.5 million operation,” Crow said. “I focused on fine dining under the pressure of high volume — and massive catering. I did a lot of catering.”

In fall of 2018, Crow returned to his birthplace and fell in Nolan’s lap, following another talented Match Maker alumni in Mike Davis.

“I wanted to bring balance back to my life, and this is wine country,” Crow said. “Seattle is having some serious struggles right now. I moved here and found a waterfront view because that’s what I’m used to being from the Pacific Northwest. I have a 10-minute commute, and rush hour traffic in Richland is like 2 o’clock on a Sunday morning in Seattle.”

These days, Crow’s kitchen is between the Columbia River and wine country, with the Nolans proud to be co-sponsors of the Red Mountain AVA Alliance, just 20 minutes away.

The past three years, Wine Spectator magazine has given its Award of Excellence to Nolan’s list. While heavy on local wines, it shows some savvy with placement of the Colene Clemens Dopp Creek Pinot Noir, one of the Willamette Valley’s most nicely priced bottlings despite routinely receiving recognition by Wine Spectator, including a ranking of No. 8 in the world in 2018.

“I love California Zins,” Nolan said. “We have some 100-point wines on our list, and I have the Colene Clemens by the glass so that people can explore and try a wine like that. Some of those like the Penfolds Grange and Spottswoode will rarely move in this market.

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GRILLED HANGER STEAK WITH BRANDY-PEPPERCORN DEMI-GLACE Serves 2

A A

Ingredients Two eight-ounce hanger steaks, cleaned Salt and pepper to taste

Method Season and rub hanger steak with salt and pepper, sear in pan with one tablespoon of olive oil.

A A A

For the demi-glace: Ingredients 1 cup of brandy 1 teaspoon black peppercorns, cracked 1 cup of your favorite demi-glace mix Method Heat and reduce brandy in a saucepan to 1 ounce.

Add in demi-glaze mix.

Add cracked black peppercorns to taste.

MATCH MAKERS

CRAB CANNELLONI WITH A SHERRY CREAM SAUCE Serves 2

A A

A A A

Ingredients 8 cannelloni shells, cooked to al dente 1 cup sherry cream sauce

Sherry Cream Sauce Ingredients 1 cup sherry 1 quart cream Salt and pepper to taste

Method In a saucepan, reduce the sherry to about 2 ounces of liquid.

Add cream and continue to reduce mixture by half Season to taste, keep warm and set aside.

Fill a large pot with water. Salt the water, bring to a boil and cook the shells until chewy. about 6 to 7 minutes. Drain and cool.

A A A A

Ingredients for crab mix 8 ounces cherry tomatoes 1 cup spinach 1 pound red crab meat 1 ⁄2 lemon, juiced

Method Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Blend crab mix ingredients together and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Fill each pasta shell with about 2 ounces of crab mixture.

different story, but we have fun with that side of it.”

While their first commercial vintage of Schooler Nolan was 2008, JD and Tiny didn’t begin to grow the brand until 2013, the same year their catering business started to take off.

“Just last week, we did a prime rib dinner in Walla Walla for 500 guys,” Nolan said.

“We did a company picnic last summer for 2,500 people. There’s such a large catering market in the Tri-Cities between Hanford and the wineries. During the holiday season, we can have eight to nine events on some days, and we’re still a small to medium size as a caterer in town compared to some of the others.”

And while their labels offer a folksy and

Grease baking tray or oven-proof bowl.

Lay cannellonis down and top with sherry cream sauce.

Bake for about 12 minutes.

photographic look at their family’s history, the Schooler Nolan program at 1,000 cases is a serious, thoughtful, sensible and approachable for diners and other customers.

There are stand-alone bottlings of Cab, Syrah and Malbec from Red Mountain — all produced with Hedges Family Estates fruit, crafted by Sarah Hedges Goedhart. Each retails for $25. And there’s a Petit Verdot ($25), Red Wine ($19) and Cabernet Sauvignon ($15) from the Horse Heaven Hills and made in Prosser by Jeremy Santo of Mercer Estates. A photograph of his folks serves as the label for the Malbec.

“We’ve been really fortunate to have the relationships with both of them, and we’ve done some catering for the Mercer family for quite a while,” Nolan said.

Two years ago, the 2015 Red Mountain Cab earned a double gold medal at the Cascadia International Wine Competition. Last year, the 2016 HHH Cab was best-of-class at the Cascadia, while the 2016 Horse Heaven Hills Red Wine — a straight-forward blend of Petit Verdot and Malbec — received a best-ofclass award at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and gold at the Cascadia.

Each winter, Nolan will pick a night and play host to a Hospitality Industry Night with prices kind to those in the industry. On March 1, Fat Olives staged a five-course winemaker dinner with five winemakers from Red Mountain. This spring, Schooler Nolan’s Spring Release Dinner at Fat Olives will feature six reds on Sunday, April 26.

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food-and-wine pairings by the two JDs reflected a local approach and came off the seasonal menu. It began with the Crab Cannelloni with a Sherry Cream Sauce married to the MuretGaston Wines 2018 French Creek Vineyard Chardonnay in the Yakima Valley. The sweetness of the crabmeat, combined with this rich, decadent and delicious texture to the sauce is handled beautifully by the crisp, lemony and elegant Chardonnay.

Technically, the red wine also came from the Yakima Valley because the Red Mountain is a nested within that American Viticultural Area. Nolan showcased that award-winning Schooler Nolan 2015 Cab alongside Crow’s Grilled Hanger Steak with Brandy-Peppercorn Demi-Glace on a plate including puréed potatoes and roasted vegetables.

“Steak and potatoes and Red Mountain Cab — it’s straightforward, but what’s better than that?” Nolan said.

And fortunately for the Tri-Cities, both the Nolans and Crow seem to be into Fat Olives for the long haul.

“Few of us in this business have stayed at one place for 20 years,” Crow said. “This is my last step. I’ve already talked to JD and his father. The reason I took this job is I saw a lot of future growth, and I told them that I can build a catering business that will rival anyone in town.”

The family recently bought the vacant lot between Fat Olives and a five-story office building that’s being transformed into loft-

SCHOOLER NOLAN WINERY 2015 CABERNET SAUVIGNON, RED MOUNTAIN • $25 — 336 cases, 13.5% alc.

The Nolan family was so excited to become part of the Washington wine industry that they worked on their first bottling before they opened Fat Olives Restaurant in 2010 near the historic Uptown in Richland.

“In fact, our first wine was a 2008 Red Mountain Cab,” said JD Nolan. “It happened to be from Obelisco Vineyard. The Hedges family was managing that vineyard at the time.”

The Schooler Nolan program is directed

by JD and his father, Tiny. It is rooted in Tiny’s friendship with Pete Hedges, and the

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RICHARD DUVAL

Chef John David Crow sprinkles salt on a hanger steak.

style apartments, so more customers are on the way.

“We’re going to do something with that land, and it’s going to be tied in with the wine company and the restaurant,” JD said. “Having a tasting room in the next two to three

years is a big goal of ours. I know a lot of people aren’t aware of Schooler Nolan.”

Red Mountain portion of Schooler Nolan now is in the hands of Hedges’ niece — winemaker Sarah Hedges Goedhart. The Nolans also work with the Mercer Estates team in Prosser for wines from the Horse Heaven Hills.

This award-winning 2015 Cab is not merely an example of Red Mountain, but also a cross section of Hedges Family Estate. The Cabernet Sauvignon (75%) is off Jolet, a 17-acre plot first planted in 2008, with support from Cabernet Franc (20%) from Bel’Villa, established in 1997, and Merlot (5%) from the Hedges Family Estate’s Demeter certified-Biodynamic. Those roots stretch back to 1990.

“We’ll start with those vineyards, and my dad and myself will sit down with Sarah, and tweak the blend a little bit,” JD said.

“But it’s always had a little bit of Cab Franc and a little bit of Merlot in it.”

Tiny’s father-in-law was Weldon Schooler, and it is an image of him, taken on the steps of Texas Tech University, on the label of Schooler Nolan’s flagship wine — the Red Mountain Cab. Described as the son of a dirt-poor West Texas rancher, Weldon took his wife to Alaska and died a Hawaii coffee miller.

“Thanks for bringing that red-headed daughter of yours to Alaska,” is the evergreen note of gratitude from Tiny that’s on the back of every bottle.

When it comes to a Cab from Red Mountain, this is nicely priced and easy drinking. And it comes from a program with a pedigree. In 2014, it earned a gold medal at the 2017 San Francisco Chronicle Wine

ERIC DEGERMAN is co-founder and CEO of Great Northwest Wine. Learn more about wine at GreatNorthwestWine.com.

MATCH MAKERS

Competition.

At the Cascadia International Wine Competition a year later, it captured a double gold medal. That means each judge on that tasting panel voted to award that Cab a gold medal.

Prominent aromas and flavors of cherry and sage meld with barrel notes of vanilla and espresso. Gentle tannins work in the background of perfectly ripened black cherry and black currant as the finish of chocolate provides a great addition to this crowdpleaser. Its modest alcohol is also a plus.

“We feel the quality of our wine exceeds the price,” JD says.

“My dad will always get the final say on the blend, but we have a similar palate and there’s never been a time where we said, ‘That’s not going to work.’ ” At this point, Schooler Nolan does not bottle a white wine, although Nolan floated an idea about working with winemaker Kyle Johnson on a Chardonnay for on-premise only.

All of the Schooler Nolan lineup is available at Fat Olives and can either be enjoyed in the restaurant or sold by the bottle to go.

There is limited distribution in Seattle, and they also are sold in Alaska at the original Fat Olives as well as a few shops around Homer. Tiny is working with an agent to land placements at Portland restaurants.

“We’ve got to start somewhere, and we’ll go from there,” JD said.

Schooler Nolan Winery/Fat Olives Restaurant & Catering, 255 Williams Blvd, Richland, WA 99354, SchoolerNolan.com (509) 845-0051.

MURET-GASTON WINES 2018 FRENCH CREEK VINEYARD CHARDONNAY, YAKIMA VALLEY • $30 — 150 cases, 14.2% alc.

Early in his career, Kyle Johnson dreamed of owning French Creek Vineyard, one of Washington state’s oldest sites for Chardonnay.

The agriculture side of the wine industry fascinated Johnson, who grew up in the Tri-Cities and graduated from Washington State University with a degree in horticulture because the Pullman school had not yet launched its viticulture and enology program.

Fortunately for wine lovers, Johnson soon landed a job as an enologist at Chateau Ste. Michelle and embarked on a career as a winemaker — and one of the state’s best.

Two decades after first admiring French Creek Vineyard, Johnson and his wife, Amy, another WSU grad, are predictably producing stunning Chardonnay from that planting near Prosser and a short drive from the headquarters of the late Walter Clore, WSU’s famed researcher. It’s home to the historic Wente clone from California’s Livermore Valley and was planted at this site just north of the Horse Heaven Hills in 1980.

“This has given Kyle the chance to work with Damon LaLonde, who he is pretty tight with,” Amy said.

For many reasons, including LaLonde’s regional reputation as a viticulturist, Chardonnay from French Creek has been in demand among producers such as Co Dinn, Dusted Valley, Forgeron, Mai-

son Bleue and Va Piano in Walla Walla, Panther Creek Cellars in Oregon’s Willamette Valley and Telaya near Boise. As a result, the cost for these grapes prices them beyond the Johnsons’ flagship brand, Purple Star Wines.

However, it’s also an ideal fit for the Johnsons’ young MuretGaston brand. After learning their two families lived near each other 15 generations ago in southern France, they decided to name this reserve-style brand for the maiden names of their mothers, Amy and Kyle, respectively. The signatures on the label were replicated from war-time letters sent home to their families.

In the scope of the program at their winery in Benton City, this Chardonnay represents a small lot that warrants special attention.

The berries were whole-cluster pressed, fermented with an ambient rather than commercial yeast, and aged on the lees in a program divided between a concrete egg (77%) and new French oak barrels (23%). As a result, it can be described as nearly the opposite of a California butterbomb — a bright and crunchy expression of Chardonnay. That makes it remarkably food friendly and a delight for chefs to work with. Suggested pairings include Mexican fare such as posole, and the winemaker also enjoys it with tarragon-poached steelhead.

“It’s one of my favorite drinking wines right now, and it’s one of our most popular wines, too,” Amy said. “I wish we could make more of it.”

Muret-Gaston Wines, 56504 N E. Roza Road, Benton City, WA 99320, Muret-Gaston.com, (509) 628-7799

Spring 2020 • Wine Press Northwest

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