Jason Gorski of DeLille Cellars
2021 Metier Cabernet Sauvignon ($30) #66 on Wine Spectator’s list of Top 100 wines for 2023
Jason promoted to Vice-President of Winemaking at DeLille, August 2024
DeLille Cellars was founded in 1992 by Greg Lill, his father Charles, Jay Soloff, and winemaker Chris Upchurch. From the beginning, DeLille was committed to producing high quality Bordeaux style blends, and those wines remain the core of the winery’s portfolio. DeLille’s values are summed up with their tagline: Bordeaux inspired, distinctly Washington, uniquely DeLille. The founders started with two wines, Chaleur Estate and D2, and imagined they might eventually produce 2000 total cases of wine. Today DeLille produces roughly 40 different wines and 100,000 cases. This dramatic growth is partly due to their huge new facility in the beautifully renovated Redhook Brewery building in Woodinville. It also reflects DeLille’s increasing emphasis on national distribution, and on its role as an ambassador for Washington wine.
Founding winemaker Chris Upchurch hired Jason Gorski as a member of the winemaking team in 2011 when DeLille was making 8 wines and 8000 cases a year. In 2019 when Chris retired from DeLille, Jason became Director of Winemaking and Viticulture. Despite DeLille’s dramatic growth in recent years, a commitment to quality and improvement remains, as their numerous awards and listings in Top 100 wines of the world suggest. Most recently, DeLille’s 2021 Métier Cabernet Sauvignon at $30 was #66 on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 wines for 2023. Métier is DeLille’s new sister label launched in 2020 and dedicated to producing quality wines that are affordable and accessible. Métier is a French word meaning craft or trade, and the brand honors the many hands that work in the vineyard and cellar. Seattle artist Becca Fuhrman has crafted beautiful Métier labels to celebrate hands that are key in printmaking and winemaking. In this interview, Jason discusses DeLille’s history and foundational wines, its new facility, plans for the future and much more.
Listen to the Interview: