Colby Rider & Justin Neufeld of Rider Cellars
A property find in Selah, Washington led to a career shift for Colby and Kristen Rider. They stumbled on a beautiful house that came with a vineyard planted in 2000, but not one ready for commercial use. This would be the perfect lifestyle and business for their family, they thought, and so winegrowers they became in 2016. It’s been a steep learning curve to revitalize the vineyard and learn the basics of winemaking, but they’ve had help with the winemaking from expert Justin Neufeld. Today they produce a spectrum of unique, mostly estate wines poured in their downtown Selah tasting room. Rider Cellars is the only tasting room in Selah and has fast become a favorite weekend community gathering place.
Colby does the vineyard work, Kristen the business side of things, and Justin leads in the winemaking area. Visitors will also often find Colby pouring in the tasting room, as he loves chatting with people and talking about the wines. There is lots to talk about, as some of the Rider wines are not typically found in Washington state. For example, Rider produces an estate Zweigelt that is a nice summer sipper. Zweigelt is a cool climate variety that is Austria’s main red grape for making wine. It can be drunk at room temperature or with a slight chill. Another great Rider wine for summer is a Pet-Nat with estate Pinot Blanc. Pet-Nats are sparkling wines made with a method used long before the traditional Champagne method. Listen to the interview to learn more about Pet-Nats and all the other excellent wines at Rider Cellars.
Listen to the Interview: