Zerba Cellars, Northwest Winery of the Year

A question we are regularly asked is, “What is the best winery?” And this time of year, we can answer that definitely.

Wine Press Northwest has just published its spring issue, in which we feature our annual wineries of the year. This year, our Pacific Northwest Winery of the Year is Zerba Cellars in Milton-Freewater, Ore.

How do we come to such a conclusion? How do we sort out the finest amid more than 1,200 wineries in Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Idaho? This year, it was easier than it would seem, thanks to the stylistic winemaking of Doug Nierman and the progressive business thinking of owners Cecil and Marilyn Zerba.

Since releasing its inaugural 2002 vintage, Zerba has proven to be a creator of remarkable wines, first with Cecil Zerba as grower, winemaker, salesman, carpenter and chief bottle washer and then with the arrival of Nierman in 2007. Zerba’s wines — in particular its reds — have shown a remarkable ability to rise to the top in nearly every one of our blind judgings, as well as other … Continue Reading

Seattle’s Precept Wines buys Walla Walla’s winery Canoe Ridge

Walla Walla winery Canoe Ridge has been purchased by Seattle’s Precept Wines, officials announced this morning.

Precept, the second largest and reportedly fastest growing wine company in the Northwest, said it has acquired Canoe Ridge and Sagelands from Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, the London-based company that closed the public tasting rooms for both operations last year.

“The addition of Canoe Ridge and Sagelands to our portfolio of wines greatly strengthens our commitment to quality winemaking in Washington state,” said Precept Wines’ CEO and founder Andrew Browne, in a release. “We are dedicated to investing in both brands for the … Continue Reading

Chateau Ste. Michelle white wines more than just Riesling

Chateau Ste. Michelle gets much of the credit for the resurgence of American Riesling — and properly so. The Woodinville, Wash., winery makes more Riesling than any other in the world. Riesling makes up 45 percent of all Ste. Michelle wines, and two-thirds of the production at the state’s oldest winery is white wines.

Bob Bertheau arrived in 2003 from California as Ste. Michelle’s white winemaker and a year later was promoted to head winemaker. In 2007, Wendy Stuckey arrived from Australia and now oversees white wine production. Bertheau’s focus was on Chardonnay when he arrived because he hadn’t made much Riesling in California, and Stuckey’s global reputation on Riesling made her a perfect fit with Ste. Michelle.

Bertheau takes the lead in setting the style for each wine, and Stuckey is the on-the-ground winemaker and manages the staff. The white wines are made in Woodinville, while the red wines are made at Ste. Michelle’s Canoe Ridge facility in Eastern Washington.

While the focus certainly is on the million cases of Riesling the winery produces, Bertheau and Stuckey also craft a lot of different whites, including Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewürztraminer and … Continue Reading

Northwest wines win big in country’s largest competition

During the first week of January, Pacific Northwest wines more than held their own at the largest wine competition in the United States.

More than 60 wine professional descended on the Northern California town of Cloverdale to judge 5,050 wines from 23 states in the annual San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. The event began in 1983 as the Cloverdale Citrus Fair Wine Competition and has been known by its current name since 2000.

We have been judges at this competition for the better part of a decade, and it’s always one of the most enjoyable experiences on the wine judging circuit.

This week, we will take a look at how a few Northwest wineries fared in this year’s judging, which is the first major wine competition on the calendar. In summary, one Northwest wine earned a … Continue Reading

Walla Walla wine served at Obama state dinner

Downtown Walla Walla tasting room renovates, changes its name

A downtown Walla Walla tasting room that opened late last year amid its development is back in the construction zone.

Plumb Cellars tasting room, which closed for renovation at the end of December, will soon re-open as Wine@NINE S. First.

The new name is an umbrella for the tasting room that will be shared by Plumb Cellars and Mansion Creek Cellars, according to an announcement.

The tasting room, located at 9 S. First Ave., is expected to open in February. Plumb Cellars is owned by Edie and Dale Johnson, Margo and Gary Kagels and Crandall Kyle. Mansion Creek is a partnership of Julia and Roger Russell and winemaker Jerry Myrick.

Plumb Cellars opened in the space before work was complete for Fall Release last November and … Continue Reading

New K Vintners tasting room under construction

A link on the K Vintners Facebook page this week offers a tantalizing peek into the construction taking place on downtown Walla Walla’s Spokane Street.

The construction of a tasting room and retail space for Charles Smith Wines has been under way, but few details about the project have been revealed.

According to a posting on the K Vintners page, the new tasting room is slated to open this spring. Seattle firm Olson Kundig Architects is designing the project. The company’s work includes museums, commercial design, academic buildings, exhibit design, interior design, places of worship and residences.

A few renderings viewable on the website of the Walla Walla project convey a retail storefront with the name “The Velvet Devil.” Check it out at olsonkundigarchitects.com and linking to projects in progress.

Pacific Rim Winemakers focuses on Riesling

In the New World, a winery can get away with focusing narrowly on Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel or Syrah. But few would think about building a winery around Riesling. And perhaps only one could do it successfully.

That winery is Pacific Rim Winemakers in West Richland, Wash.

One of the wine world’s true iconoclasts, Randall Grahm, came up with Pacific Rim. The owner of famed Bonny Doon Vineyard in Santa Cruz, Calif., began Pacific Rim in 1992. He used grapes from Washington as well as Germany, a previously unheard-of combination.

By 2006, Grahm’s operation had grown greatly in size, and he didn’t necessarily care for that. So he sold his popular Cardinal Zin and Big House brands and decided to spin off his Pacific Rim wines as a standalone winery. It made sense to Grahm that he should locate his new operation in Washington, where … Continue Reading

Former Patit Creek Cellars co-owner buys Trio Vintners

Syrah a natural fit for Pacific Northwest

Syrah is a red grape with a lot of history, and it has been making its mark in the Pacific Northwest for more than a decade.

One famous story tells the tale of Alexander the Great bringing a Syrah vine from the ancient Persian city of Shiraz back to Europe, while another asserts the vine is Egyptian in origin and was brought across the Mediterranean through the Sicilian city of Syracusa. While both stories provide fanciful romance to Syrah’s backstory, neither is true. In fact, Syrah is indigenous to France and has been grown in the Rhône Valley for as long as anyone can remember.

Its history in the Northwest is much more clear. Mike Sauer of Red Willow Vineyards in the Yakima Valley planted the first block of Syrah in Washington in 1984, and David Lake of Columbia Winery made the first wine from it in 1988. Still, the grape did not catch on for several years because growers feared the tender vine could not survive Washington’s occasional harsh winters. But when Red Willow’s Syrah came through the near-apocalyptic freeze of 1996 with little … Continue Reading

Walla Walla Wine Rewind – 2010

Wow! That was fast. 2011 is already here. Let’s rewind and take a look at our southeast corner of Washington State.

The last count of wineries, based on the new wine maps by Tourism Walla Walla, is 103 wineries are operating in the valley and more than 1,800 acres of vineyards are part of our agricultural landscape. Sure – lately wineries have come and come, but usually very few go. Unfortunately, 2010 bought to a close, Yellow Hawk Cellars and Nicholas Cole Cellars. Yellow Hawk Cellars had been operating since 1998 and been known for their affordable Italian varietals. For Yellow Hawk partner’s, Tim Sampson and Barbara Hetrick, their decision to leave their business was based on taking advantage of their stationary condition and leave while the going was good. Their last day of business was July 3.

Mike Neuffer of Nicholas Cole Cellars will be known for his beautiful red Bordeaux-style blends affectionately named after the women in his family. Mike’s wines were founded on the belief that “great wines are made one vine at a time” and released his inaugural Bordeaux blend in 2001. Indeed it was a sad announcement to hear, just before Christmas, that he would be placing an indefinite hiatus on wine making and future vintages of Nicholas Cole and GraEagle wines. Mike relocated to Seattle to be with his children, Michele and Nicholas, after the loss of their mother, Susan, in August due to cancer. I wish Michael, his family and the Nicholas Cole Cellars staff all of my best.
… Continue Reading