Jason Morin of Ancestry Cellars
Ancestry Cellars pays homage to family with every wine they make. With family roots in Italy and Croatia, Ancestry co-owner and winemaker Jason Morin started helping his Croatian grandfather make wine in their Tacoma basement when he was in third grade. Although Jason majored in biology in college and went to work selling pharmaceuticals, the fascination with wine stayed with him. When he realized in 2008 that the Seattle Northwest Wine Academy was not far from his home, he and his wife Erin enrolled in classes, thinking it would be nice to pursue a new career. They opened a tasting room in Woodinville in 2011, and then a second one in Manson on the North shore of Lake Chelan in 2016. The Morin family now lives in Lake Chelan, where Jason makes wine and Erin is a school Principal.
Jason enjoys making both blended and single varietal wines. His whites and rosé are single varietal wines, and his reds are mostly blends, especially in the Bordeaux style. One of his favorite whites to make is Chenin Blanc, perhaps because he and Erin had a bottle of the Loire Valley Chenin Blanc wine “Vouvray” on their first date. The Ancestry Rosé is made with Sangiovese to honor his mother’s Italian roots, and named G’ma Lila’s Rosé in honor of Erin’s grandmother who thought the best wines were pink. Don’t miss Spring Sangria Sundays at both Ancestry tasting rooms. Each Sunday in April and May they do a white wine Sangria with Chenin Blanc and a red one with a Malbec that Jason makes in the Beaujolais Nouveau style using carbonic maceration. Find out about the many other Ancestry wines available for sipping, and a Reserve Merlot in the works from Dry Lake Vineyard by listening to this interview.
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