Bobby Richards of Seven Hills Winery
Planted in 1980-82 to Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, Seven Hills Vineyard was one of the first commercial vineyards in the Walla Walla Valley. Those original vines planted by Casey McClellan and his family are still the heart of the estate vineyard today, which has grown from 7 to 54 acres. In 1988, Casey started the Seven Hills Winery, Walla Walla’s 5th bonded winery. The winery and tasting room moved in 2000 to the Whitehouse-Crawford building, which had been a planing and lumber mill since 1904. Today, Seven Hills is the only Walla Walla winery facility housed in a historic downtown building. The Celtic Infinity Knot on all Seven Hills labels reflects Casey’s heritage, as well as the winery’s commitment to a balance between fruit, acid and tannin in its Bordeaux style wines. Although Casey retired as winemaker in June 2021, Seven Hills is continuing his commitment to showcasing Bordeaux grape varieties, as well as estate vineyard sites.
A purchase of syrah grapes by Oregon State University’s Fermentation Science Club gave Bobby Richards his first taste of winemaking. He was hooked. Bobby and his wife moved to Walla Walla in 2011, and have been working in the wine industry ever since. Bobby just celebrated 9 years working at Seven Hills, most of the time under Casey’s mentorship. When Bobby took over as winemaker in June 2021, he was determined to set the be benchmark for Merlot in WA and around the world. He is continuing Seven Hills’ tradition of bottling all 6 Bordeaux red varieties independently, as well as making an annual flagship Pentad blend with 5 of the 6 varieties. But Bobby is also moving in new directions as he works to put his stamp on Seven Hills. For example, multiple clones of Syrah, Grenache and Carignan have been planted in the estate vineyard lands extending into the Rocks District of Milton Freewater. The first Rhone style wine will be produced in 2023. Learn about this new project and much more in this interview with Bobby Richards.
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