Hawkins Cellars

Thane Hawkins of Hawkins Cellars

November 2022

Thane Hawkins discovered his love for wine while biking in the Napa Valley on his days off from work.  He was a pioneer in the field of animation, working on films such as Shrek, Ants, and Monsters Inc.  Long days in the dark staring at a computer screen led him to ask for a leave of absence to pursue outdoor activities in the Pacific Northwest.  One of those activities was helping out with winegrowing in the Willamette Valley where he fell in love with Pinot Noir and the vigneron lifestyle.  He eventually studied winemaking, became an assistant winemaker, and started the Hawkins Cellars label in the Willamette Valley in 2007.  In 2009, he met Deb Michelson who owned some property on Underwood Mt. on the Washington side of the Gorge.  The area was perfect for the outdoor activities they both loved to pursue, and for the cool climate grape varieties they liked.  Thane planted a vineyard on the property in 2013, and in 2017 they moved their tasting room to Underwood Mt.

Hawkins Cellars is a destination winery with a spacious rental unit, stunning views of Mt. Hood, and many nearby outdoor activities, including hiking, biking, wind surfing, white water rafting, canoeing, and more.  The wines are outstanding and diverse, as Thane makes both cool climate wines with Underwood Mt. fruit, as well as Rhone style wines from much warmer Yakima Valley vineyards.  He is partial to low alcohol, higher acid wines that are food friendly, and has been influenced in his winemaking by such European wine regions as Chablis, Bandol, and Alsace.  For example, his Caldera red is a Rhone style blend dominated by Mourvèdre, the main grape in Bandol.  The Tru North Hawkins white blend reminds one of Alsace, with its delightful combination of Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris.  Learn about these wines and much more from a winemaker who says, “Every wine I make has a story and a sense of place.”

Listen to the Interview: 

Lines on Wines · #140 Thane Hawkins of Hawkins Cellars

Seven Hills Winery

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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Lines on Wines · #139 Bobby Richards of Seven Hills Winery

Caprio Cellars

Dennis Murphy of Caprio Cellars

Dennis Murphy grew up not far from Napa, believing that the local wines were the best that the US could produce.  That is, until he had to drive through Walla Walla for his home construction job.   At first he felt sorry for the wineries he thought must be struggling to make wine out in the middle of nowhere in old buildings on highway 12.  Then he tasted a bottle from L’Ecole 41, and his “mind was blown.”  Not long after in 1999, he moved to Walla Walla and purchased his first vineyard property in 2003.  Today, he has three vineyard sites spread over 30 acres in the Walla Walla Valley, and a very spacious and welcoming Caprio Cellars tasting room that he calls a hospitality center in the area south of Walla Walla.  Visitors to Caprio Cellars don’t book a tasting—they book an experience that includes stellar wines, gourmet food pairings, and stunning views of the valley and surrounding mountains.

Dennis is the winemaker at Caprio Cellars, and executive chef Ian Williams uses locally sourced ingredients to craft dishes to pair with the wines.  Wines are made in the Bordeuax style, and the food pairings change every couple of weeks.  Some past pairings include the Estate White Wine blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon with Poached Prawn Niçoise, and the Red Label Cabernet with Roasted Beet Agrodolce.  The generosity of spirit evident in these offerings infuses the Caprio team and everything about the winery.  Caprio is founded on Dennis’s “Give as You Go” model of philanthropy, meaning the winery regularly supports specific groups, as well as the Walla Walla community as a whole.  It is in part because of this giving model that Wine Industry Network named Dennis a 2021 Most Inspiring Person.  The model is a huge success, as people rave about their Caprio experience, and leave feeling like family. 

Listen to the Interview:

Lines on Wines · #138 Dennis Murphy of Caprio Cellars

Echolands Winery

Doug Frost and Taylor Oswald of Echolands Winery

A college degree in theatre and a Mormon upbringing are not obvious foundations for a career in wine, unless you’re Doug Frost and Taylor Oswald.  Doug’s acting background enabled him to impersonate a wine steward colleague at his first restaurant job with such skill, that he won a wine sales contest.   He was hooked from then on.  Taylor’s life of abstinence was changed by a visit to L’Ecole 41 and a gift bottle of Seven Hills 2002 Cabernet just after he turned 21.  He then pursued a Master’s at WSU in Food Science, focusing on winemaking biology.  Doug is now one of the most knowledgeable people in the world about wine.  In fact, he is one of only three people to hold both the Master of Wine and Master Sommelier titles.  Taylor is the winemaker at Echolands Winery, founded in 2018 by Doug Frost and Brad Bergman, both residents of Kansas City. 

Echolands opened its downtown Walla Walla tasting room in January 2022, and is thus one of the town’s newest wineries.  The first estate vineyard, Taggert, was purchased in the Sevein area in 2017 and planted in 2019.  A second 340-acre site purchased more recently sits at the foothills of the Blue Mountains, and offers terroir very complementary to Taggert’s.  The new site will be home to a spacious, state-of-the-art winery and tasting room offering stunning views of the Blue Mountains and the Palouse.  It is scheduled to open in August 2023.  Doug and Taylor are crafting some unique wines, including a light Grenache with a bit of fizz that is perfect for summer sipping.  They also plan to experiment with some grape varieties not currently seen in Washington.  Assrytiko (Santorini) vines are already planted at Taggert, and we may see some Fer Servadou (SW France) and Narince (Turkey) in the future.  Listen to this interview to learn more about these grape varieties, the differences between the Master of Wine and Master Somm exams,  ways in which Echolands wines are unique, and much more.

Listen to the Interview:

Lines on Wines · #137 Doug Frost & Taylor Oswald of Echolands Winery

Eternal Wines/Drink WA State

Brad Binko of Eternal Wines and Drink Washington State

After years of working in marketing, promotions and the sommelier side of fine dining, Brad Binko moved to Walla Walla in search of new challenges.  He started the community college’s Enology and Viticulture Program in 2014, and before he graduated two years later, he had launched two wine brands—Eternal Wines and Drink Washington State.  His tasting room for both brands is now in an incubator building in Walla Walla’s airport area.  It’s become a fun destination spot not only for unique and diverse wines, but also for many events.  Thursday Night Lights run from April through August when visitors will find wines, beer, cider, hard seltzers, live music and food trucks at the tasting room site.  At other times, Brad offers harvest and dancing parties, and also rents out the facility for private parties.  

The Eternal Wines brand focuses on single vineyard wines, especially those made with Rhone grape varieties.  Drink Washington State wines are typically vineyard blends that highlight a particular Washington AVA, or wine region.  They are made in larger production to be exported outside of Washington in order to raise awareness about Washington’s many different wine regions.   Brad makes an array of diverse wines, including some not often seen in Washington state.  Perhaps the most unique one is his Skin Contact White Wine/Orange wine, made with an unusual blend of white grapes, but in a manner typical of red wines.  The result is a shocking inconsistency between the nose and the palate.  Brad also makes a Carménère that was so popular it led him to pursue a scholarship-supported sabbatical in Chile, the modern-day home of Carménère.  Drink Washington State also boasts pinot noir wines from the Lake Chelan and Wahluke Slope AVAs that really show the distinctions between these two regions.    Learn about these interesting wines and more in this interview.

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Lines on Wines · #136 Brad Binko of Eternal Wines/Drink WA State

Lagana Cellars

Jason Fox and Todd Bernave of Lagana Cellars

Jason Fox and Todd Bernave ended up making wine together in Walla Walla after years of doing other things—Jason restaurant jobs in Indiana and Todd fine arts and culinary work.  Jason and a friend came to Washington in 2011 to get involved in the wine industry, which for Jason meant studying winemaking at the Walla Walla Community College.  After he graduated in 2013, he opened Lagana Cellars with a focus on white wines.  Todd had been working at Walla Walla Vintners with his dad, honing his skills in making red wine.  When he joined Jason at Lagana as co-owner and winemaker in 2017, the winery was re-envisioned to focus on a variety of red and white wines from the Walla Walla and Columbia Valleys.  Lagana means bread in Latin, and the name and the Latin phrases on the back of each wine bottle reflect Jason’s Latin studies that accompanied his astrophysics and anthropology majors in college.

Most current Lagana wines are single varietal ones designed to really highlight each grape variety’s character.  They are also terroir driven, with the white wines sourced from select vineyards in the Columbia Valley and the reds sourced from vineyards in 4 different parts of the Walla Walla Valley.  Lagana wines really showcase just how diverse the Walla Walla Valley is when it comes to elevation, rainfall, climate, soils and so forth.  The best selling wine is the Lagana Pinot Noir, which is a wine not often seen in Walla Walla.  There are other delightful surprises at Lagana such as wines on Coravin, screwcaps on all bottles, art by Todd on labels and tasting room walls, and rarely seen woods used in winemaking.  Visitors will soon be treated to a Lagana Viognier influenced by a small amount Lenga wood from Patagonia.  Learn about these unique aspects of Lagana and much more from this interview.

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Lines on Wines · #135 Jason Fox & Todd Bernave of Lagana Cellars

ita wines

Kelsey Albro Itameri of ita wines

After graduating from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service in 2009, Kelsey Albro Itämeri  held a wide variety of jobs before enrolling in Walla Walla Community College’s Viticulture and Enology Program in 2017.  A family farm in the foothills of the Blue Mountains lured her and her husband to Walla Walla the year before, where they tended to crops such as alfalfa, as well as to a test bloc of vines.  The area will eventually be home to their estate vineyard for itä wines.  Kelsey founded itä wines in 2019 after graduating from the community college program, and doing several internships in Walla Walla and Burgundy.  She sources fruit from vineyards not too far from the family farm, including Les Collines and Breezy Slope.

Itä wines is located in a winery incubator facility in the airport area of Walla Walla.  The wines are unique when it comes to grape varieties, as well as to viticultural and winemaking techniques.  Instead of a Rosé of Grenache, Syrah or Sangiovese,  for example, you will find one at itä made with Primitivo.  Sémillon is not a commonly found grape in Walla Walla, but Kelsey does two Sémillon wines.  The grapes come from the same vineyard, are picked on the same day, and pressed together, but then are made into wine using very different techniques.  Pinot Noir is almost unheard of in Walla Walla, but Kelsey makes a light-bodied style that is perfect for summer sipping and pairing with food.  The itä Nouveau Zinfandel is so unique and delicious that it’s sold out, as is the Syrah.  With itä wines, Kelsey is really pushing boundaries on behalf of lighter-bodied wines with minimal oak, filtering and fining. 

Listen to the Interview:     

Lines on Wines · #134 Kelsey Albro Itameri of ita wines

Rider Cellars

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.

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Lines on Wines · #133 Colby Rider & Justin Neufeld of Rider Cellars

MonteScarlatto Estate Winery

Joel Mackay of MonteScarlatto Estate Winery

After a traditional career of teaching math, coaching, and building homes, Joel Mackay became a “renegade” by purchasing vineyard land on Red Mountain in 1994. He had grown up on a farm but never had any formal training in viticulture or enology.  He learned by doing and listening, planting a 10-acre vineyard in 2007, and offering his first vintage of MonteScarlatto wines in 2011.  The name means scarlet mountain in Italian, chosen to honor his mother’s and close friend’s Italian heritage.  Other close friends recognized Joel’s renegade nature, and thus his sports bar in downtown Spokane is called the “Renegade Room”.  At both the Renegade Room and the 10th hole tasting room of the 9-hole golf course on Joel’s Red Mountain property, visitors can taste the range of MonteScarlatto’s diverse wines. The Renegade Room also offers craft beer, cider, and Mediterranean and Italian inspired bites.

MonteScarlatto Estate Winery offers many unique wines all made with estate fruit.  The Rosé is made with Cabernet Franc grapes, picked at the perfect time for a bone-dry wine with lots of acidity. It’s the perfect wine for summer sipping, while playing a round of golf on the estate course that has never been parred.  Barbera and Carménère are grape varieties rarely seen on Red Mountain, but both are growing in Joel’s vineyard.  In fact, Dawn’s Bikini Barbera is one of the winery’s most popular wines.  The interview below reveals Dawn’s identity and why she appears on the bottle in a bikini.  Don’t miss MonteScarlatto’s Chilean blend—a unique blend of equal parts Carménère, Syrah and Malbec that is bold and well balanced.  These wines and many more are all available both in Spokane and on Red Mountain, as you’ll learn from this interview. 

Listen to the Interview:

Lines on Wines · #132 Joel Mackay of MonteScarlatto Estate Winery

Equus Vineyards

Mark and Debbie Roy of Equus Vineyards

Drawn by the promise of deep soil, abundant sunshine, and newly developed irrigation, French Canadian Joseph Roy settled in the Yakima Valley area in 1908 to pursue the agricultural life.  Over a century later, his descendants are leading producers of hops and tree fruit in Washington state.  Joseph’s great grandson Mark and his wife Debbie hiked up Elephant Mountain the morning of their wedding day, never dreaming that they would one day have a vineyard on the next ridge north of the mountain.  But when a horse farm on the Yakima Ridge came up for sale in 2017, they thought this just might be the perfect place for grapevines.  After consulting with many experienced viticulturalists who gave a thumbs up to the property, they purchased the 55 acre farm and named it Equus Vineyards to pay tribute to the horses that had lived there for 35 years.

Equus Vineyards is located in Moxee, WA in the Columbia Valley AVA just a tad north of the Rattlesnake Hills and Yakima Valley AVAs.  It sits at 1330 to 1410 ft elevation, so above the Missoula Flood line.  The soils are mostly silty loam and ancient river rock from the Columbia River that ran through the area before the Yakima Fold Belt thrust up so many ridges that the river moved east where it runs today.  In 2018 and 19, the Roys planted 27 acres to Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Syrah, Grenache, and Sauvignon Blanc.  They paid careful attention to clones, selecting ones best suited for their cool site.  Sustainability has long been important to the Roys, and you can see that commitment in their LIVE and Salmon Safe Certifications, as well as in their goal to have the vineyard certified organic.  In addition to young vines, the vineyard contains a unique chapel that was once a grain silo.  Instead of grain, it now contains a cross made with 20-year old vines, and a door full of symbolic metal sculptures by artist Primo Villalobos.  Equus Vineyards is a place where science, arts, passion, and hard work come together to create the best fruit possible, as you’ll see in this interview.

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Lines on Wines · #131 Mark & Debbie Roy of Equus Vineyards

Ancestry Cellars

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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Lines on Wines · #130 Jason Morin of Ancestry Cellars

Rio Vista Wines

John Little of Rio Vista Wines

Rio Vista Wines is a family run winery and vineyard operation that is also family friendly.  The log cabin tasting room in Manson on the North shore of Lake Chelan has a kids room upstairs and a fireplace downstairs.  If you prefer a park, beach and plenty of space for outdoor activities, Rio Vista’s riverside tasting room offers all three.  Located about 8 miles north of Chelan, the winery property sits on the banks of the Columbia River and can be accessed by car, boat or helicopter.  There are 7 acres of vines along the river that provide 80% of the grapes for Rio Vista Wines.  If you like sipping while sitting on sand with your feet in the water, this is the place for you!!  It’s no wonder that Rio Vista is a popular site for summer weddings.

When John and Jan started planting grapes along the river in 2000, they knew very little about growing grapes and making wine.  John read lots of books, joined viticultural and winemaking groups, and learned by trial and error.  He has also had a lot of help from family members.  Jan helps with the business side of things, their son John Jr. is now winemaker after completing a degree at the Walla Walla Community College, their daughter Kerry is a watercolor artist who does all the labels and paintings, and granddaughter Kelsey is general manager of the tasting rooms.  They produce a wide variety of blended and single varietal wines using French, Spanish and Italian grape varieties.  This year they released a sparkling wine for the first time called Bubbles on the Beach.   Just the thing to sip riverside in summer while listening to the live music on Sundays!!  Speaking of listening, my interview with John is here:

Listen to the Interview:

Lines on Wines · #129 John Little of Rio Vista Wines

Amos Rome Vineyards

Tom Pettigrew and Travis Clark

When Tom and Teddi Pettigrew purchased retirement acreage on the North shore of Lake Chelan in 2013, they fulfilled a dream born in 1988 when they started vacationing there.  The lands they purchased included a vineyard, which they later found out was the oldest vineyard in the Lake Chelan AVA, planted by Bob Christopher in 1998.  Their goal was to give back to the community by getting actively involved in viticulture.  Tom obtained a certificate in viticulture from WSU, started Chelan Vineyard Management Company, added in 2014 a block next to the original ’98 block, and planted a new high elevation vineyard 3 miles away called High Blossom.  With their very creative logo, these Amos Rome Vineyards pay homage to Wapato John and other native Americans who once lived on these lands.

Tom’s and Teddi’s son-in-law, Travis Clark, first caught the wine bug while teaching English in the country of Georgia.  By 2017, he had studied winemaking and was ready to pursue it as a career.  It was then that Amos Rome Vineyards also became a winery, with a beautiful tasting room overlooking the original vineyard and lake.  Amos Rome is one of the very few entirely estate wineries in the Lake Chelan AVA.  Travis is very active in the vineyards, and makes an array of diverse wines that are outstanding and very affordable.  They really highlight the potential of this AVA to produce world class fruit and wines.  In addition to the tasting room and grounds, Amos Rome also has an events center and beautiful grounds up at High Blossom where they have events such as their annual Wine and Jazz Festival in May.

Listen to the Interview:

Lines on Wines · #128 Tom Pettigrew & Travis Clark of Amos Rome Vineyards

Succession Wines

Brock Lindsay of Succession Wines

2018 WA Winery to Watch by Wine Press Northwest

In 2014, Brock and Erica Lindsay had a series of life-changing experiences that caused them to rethink their careers.  Brock was a bridge builder and Erica a sales and marketing representative for Hewlett-Packard, but their real passion was family and wine.  When adversity struck in 2014 they saw opportunity, and so left their 9 to 5 jobs to start an independent cellar in their garage.  They bottled their first wines in 2016, opened a tasting room in 2017, and a winemaking facility in 2018, all on the north shore of Lake Chelan.  Succession Wines was named 2018 Washington Winery to Watch by Wine Press Northwest, and the name is a nod to the Lindsay family’s renewal and ability to make opportunity “succeed” adversity.  Brock and Erica also co-own Alta Cellars down the road in Manson, but this interview focuses on Succession Wines.

As you will see from listening to the interview, many bridge-building skills are transferable to winemaking, even down to the use of Bentonite Clay.  Brock even makes a Bridge-Builders Blend, which is an impressive mix of grape varieties, vineyards, and AVAs.  But most of his wines are 100% single-varietal, some vineyard designate, others a mix of vineyards, depending on the label.  The outdoor seating for tasting these wonderful wines looks out on the lake and a three-acre estate vineyard of mostly Syrah.  They will soon be planting an 8-acre vineyard down the road with 4 or 5 additional grape varieties.  Listen to this interview to learn more about Brock’s and Erica’s story, the many bridge-building skills relevant to winemaking, advantages of foot-stomping a portion of grapes, the difference between barrique and puncheon barrels, and much more.

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Lines on Wines · #127 Brock Lindsay of Succession Wines

Mellisoni Vineyards

Rob and Donna Mellison of Mellisoni Vineyards

2021 Washington Winery of the Year by Wine Press Northwest

2021 Washington Winemakers of the Year by Seattle Wine Awards

16 March 2022

A vacation trip to Tuscany in 2002 exposed Rob and Donna Mellison to “agritourismo”, and the experience changed their intended life in Lake Chelan.  Rob was working for a company that invented quiet-closing cabinets and Donna was a pharmacist at the time they purchased land in Lake Chelan for retirement and vacationing.  But after they returned from Italy, they were determined to turn their south shore Lake Chelan property into a venue for agritourism.  They started planting vines on what is one of the steepest vineyard slopes in the state, and sold their first wines out of a trailer in 2010.  In 2016, they built their beautiful all-in-one house, tasting room and winery facility surrounded by beautiful grounds and vineyards overlooking the lake.  Five years later, Mellisoni Vineyards was named 2021 Washington Winery of the Year, and Rob and Donna 2021 Washington Winemakers of the Year.  How do they explain their success?

For the answer, you’ll have to listen to their amazing interview below.  They make diverse wines using at least 18 different grape varieties.  Their success is impressive.  One of their very first wines—the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon sold from their trailer—received a Diamond of the Decade Award at the 2020 Seattle Wine Awards.  Rob and Donna have received over a dozen Platinum Awards in just two years, which is truly amazing.  Great Northwest Wine bestowed a Double Platinum and 98 points on their Super Tuscan wine, Best Friends 2018, and the same award and 97 points on their 2018 Forte Rosso blend.  Their wines are outstanding, unique, and fun, with many wine names exhibiting clever plays on words.  To have the “Mellisoni Experience,” is to taste great wine, in a stunningly beautiful setting, with plenty of individualized attention.             

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Lines on Wines · #126 Rob & Donna Mellison of Mellisoni Vineyards

Kana Winery

Palmer Wright of Kana Winery

March 2022

During his very successful career as an ear, nose, and throat doctor in Yakima, Palmer Wright’s winemaking hobby “got out of control.”  It started in the late 1980s, with his first commercial vintage appearing in 2002 under the Kana label.  Located in the bottom level of downtown Yakima’s 1931 Larson building, Kana Winery takes its name from events surrounding Jesus’ first miracle and a Native American term for volcanic activity.   The tasting room is open seven days a week, and has 20 ft ceilings, 18 ft windows, and an outdoor courtyard.  On Friday and Saturday nights, closing time is 10:00 p.m. and patrons can listen to live music from local and national bands as they sip on Kana wines or local craft beer.  It’s no surprise that Kana has been voted best place for music nightlife in the Yakima Valley.

With its tasting fee of $5 and bottle prices ranging from $16 to $22, Kana is one of the most affordable places in Washington to enjoy great wine.  It’s known for Rhone style red blends, but also offers white wines and single varietal reds.  Kana is one of the few wineries still producing a Lemberger wine and does so from old vines.  Many of the wines display a music theme revolving around the Grateful Dead, a nod to Palmer’s musical interests and talents.  The popular Workingman’s Red wine, for example, is a play on words taken from the Grateful Dead album, Workingman’s Dead.  The best selling Kana wine is Dark Star, an excellent Syrah dominated blend of grape varieties, vineyards and AVAs. 

Listen to the Interview:

Lines on Wines · #125 Palmer Wright of Kana Winery

Narratif Wines & NW Wine Collaborative

J.J. Compeau of Narratif Wines & NW Wine Collaborative

February 2022

As his name suggests, Jean Jacques (JJ) Compeau is of French heritage, with family members some of the earliest European fur trappers in North America.  He was born in Yakima, WA, though his family was always on the road following his father who played for 50 years in a rock band.  JJ dabbled in drumming, but found a passion in wine after working in a Yakima restaurant.  He and other staff members had to really learn about the wines, especially about wine and food pairing.  The experience led him to a career in many aspects of the WA wine industry, including retail, managing, and, most recently, winemaking.  He Selah wine shop/bar was the first to sell some of Washington’s premium wines during the mid 1990s.  Now JJ is selling his own wines in a tasting room he opened in Prosser in December 2021.  With his and others’ art on the walls and artifacts displayed from the WA wine industry’s early days, the new tasting room reflects JJ’s interest in wine art and history.

JJ produces wine under two labels.  His first label is Narratif Wines, named for their emphasis on telling a story, particularly the story of vineyards and AVAs.  The goal with this label is to reveal the flavor profiles of specific vineyards and AVAs, such as Dubrul and Red Willow Vineyards, both in the Yakima Valley AVA.  His second label is NW Wine Collaborative, suggesting the goal of collaborating with growers and winemakers to make high quality, affordable wines for restaurants.  The theme of collaboration is reflected by the three interlocking hands on the 2018 Collaboration Red Wine label.  JJ’s collaborators for this wine were winemakers at Hightower and Wit Cellars.  Listen to the interview to learn more about JJ’s wines, food and wine pairings, and much more.

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Lines on Wines · #124 JJ Compeau of Narratif Wines and NW Wine Collaborative

Chandler Reach Vineyards

Len Parris of Chandler Reach Vineyards & Winery

February 2022

After completing two years at Central Washington University, Len Parris became a “Road Scholar” pursuing jobs initially as a ski instructor.  By the time he was 24, he had 22 people working for him in a construction/plumbing business.  That business and a love interest eventually took him to the Seattle area, where he built homes for members of the Seattle Seahawks and Sonics.  In 1991, he ventured into the coffee business with the first drive-thru coffee place in the U.S.  His first trip to Italy in 1997 sparked an interest in the wine business.  He was impressed with the Italians’ agricultural lifestyle, and with the continuity of family ownership of estates, including the estate where he was staying that had been in the same family for over 600 years.  His friends urged him to start his own vineyard, which he did upon returning to Washington.  His father had given him some raw sagebrush acres not far from Red Mountain, and those acres are still the core of what is today an even larger Chandler Reach Estate Vineyard.

The vineyard plans evolved into something more grand, so that today the Chandler Reach Vineyards and Winery website states, “The Map says Washington, The Eyes say Tuscany.”  In addition to vines, the visitor sees a lovely Italian style villa offering rosé and red wines to taste.  Len makes the wines and offers a tasting experience that includes sipping in the vineyard and barrel tasting in the cave.  The signature blend is Monte Regalo, or mountain gift, and the most sought after Chandler Reach wine is Cabernet Franc.  Listen to this interview to find out what the mountain gifts, why the Cabernet Franc is so special, what has surprised Len most about working in the wine industry, and much more.

Listen to the Interview:

Lines on Wines · #123 Len Parris of Chandler Reach Vineyards & Winery

Barrels and Wine

Chris Hansen of Seguin Moreau

January 2022

Barrels are integral to winemaking, and Seguin Moreau has been part of the process since the 19th century.  They began as two separate cooperages in Cognac, Moreau in 1838 and Seguin in 1870, and were merged when Remy Martin acquired both after 1960.  Today Seguin Moreau has production facilities in Cognac, Burgundy, and Napa that together make roughly 75,000 barrels annually, or 300 per day, and have nearly 5,000 customers across the globe.  The cooperage is known globally for state-of-the-art barrel making from only the finest woods, and for cutting edge research on barrels’ sensory impact on wine. 

I know from working in a tasting room that wine lovers have as many questions about barrels as they do about wine.  Barrel making is an ancient highly skilled craft that grew out of shipbuilding.  Today’s coopers still use many hand tools, but also highly specialized machines for precision cutting and bending.  They create liquid tight barrels without using any glue, adhesive or nails to hold the staves (planks) together.  The assembly process is almost as fascinating as the impact that oak barrels have on wine.  Because of the chemical composition of oak, its porosity to air, and the toasting process, oak has a truly transformative effect on wines that are fermented and/or aged in barrels.  In this interview, Chris Hansen, General Manager at Seguin Moreau Napa, talks about key facets of oak sourcing, barrel making, and barrels’ impact on wine.

Listen to the Interview:

Lines on Wines · #122 Barrels and Wine

Lone Point Cellars

Jim and Dana Divis of Lone Point Cellars

For a jaw-dropping panoramic setting, it’s hard to beat Lone Point Cellars.  Located in Brewster about as far north as you can go in the Columbia Valley AVA, the facility sits on a 1200 ft high ridge overlooking the confluence of the Columbia and Okanogan Rivers, where you can take in a view for miles.  Jim and Dana Divis have created a true destination winery complete with wine tasting, dining, and 6 year-round cottage rentals, all within easy driving distance of numerous outdoor activities, including a world-class golf course.  Each 500 sq ft cottage includes a private deck and access to a gazebo-covered barbecue area.  Lone Point is an idyllic get-away spot anytime of the year!!!!

Jim is the winegrower and Dana the chef at what they call their “piece of paradise.”  They started with 12 acres of tree fruit in 1984, and expanded to 200 acres, while also raising 4 kids.  In 2014, Jim decided to plant vines, and they now have a 6 acre vineyard they source from for white and Rosé wines.  For their red wines, they typically use Red Mountain fruit.  The dining room offers a nice list of small bites, salads, paninis, pizzas, and desserts.  On Thursday nights, Dana does a reservations only 4-course dinner with wine pairings.  A passion for hunting is on display in the tasting room and on the wine labels, in that dogs on point are prominent.  A beautiful engraving of Jim’s beloved dog “Grace” graces the label, along with several low-key and artistic symbols of hunting.  There’s also a “Side-by-Side” red wine that’s an homage to hunting, and pairs nicely with many items on the menu. 

Listen to the Interview:    

Lines on Wines · #121 Jim & Dana Divis of Lone Point Cellars