Will Mercer and Jeremy Santo of Mercer Wine Estates
Willis Mercer came to the Yakima Valley in 1886 to start a sheep farm. Since that time, the Mercer family has amassed roughly 12,000 acres in the valley planted to many different crops. It was Willis’s grandson Don Mercer who first planted grapes in 1972, and those vines were the first ones planted in what today is the Horse Heaven Hills AVA. The Mercers also pioneered irrigation in the valley in 1968. Today Mercer’s 7 estate vineyards include over 2000 acres of the 16,000 planted to vines in the Horse Heaven Hills. Mercer Wine Estates was 2016 Washington Winery of the Year, and in 2020 Auction of WA Wines named Rob Mercer Honorary Grower. Given that they have been farming the area for well over 100 years, they are committed to sustainable agriculture and were the first winery to win the Environmental Excellence Award given by the Association of WA Businesses.
Winemaker Jeremy Santo grew up in the Yakima Valley around wine, but didn’t imagine himself a winemaker until after college. His first job after graduating from WSU was at Snoqualmie Winery, and he became winemaker at Mercer in 2017. Today Jeremy oversees winemaking for 7 different Mercer brands that collectively produce 80,000 cases each year distributed nationally and overseas. The ICAN label offers Rose and Chardonnay canned wines in a bottle-shaped can with a screw top. Mercer produces more Malbec than anyone in the state, and offers a range of excellent and affordable Bordeaux and Rhone style wines, as well as Riesling and Chardonnay.
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