Episode 14 | Col Solare’s April Reddout and the Future of Red Mountain
April Reddout
Guest Services Manager, Col Solare Winery | Chief Judge, 2019 Cascadia Wine Competition
The Future of Red Mountain AVA
This episode is Part 1 of 2 with April Reddout, who is teaming with wine knowledge. Listen to her passion for the Red Mountain AVA, her thoughts about its future on the world stage and how Col Solare Winery is a shining example of what this region has to offer.
April Reddout started in wine in 2008, curious and ready to learn. A part-time job in a tasting room in Prosser led to full-time, which led to management and the desire to keep learning. April enjoys helping other people learn about wine in an approachable and non-intimidating setting and strives for each guest experience to be positive and inspiring.
April judges on panels for Great Northwest Wine, Winepress Northwest and the San Francisco Chronicle. She enjoys sharing her enthusiasm for great wines and telling the story of Washington wine, in particular.
Visit Col Solare Winery
Get to know Red Mountain AVA
Visit Chateau Set. Michelle Winery
Current Rosé style trends
April also shares her insights about everyone’s favorite pink drink. She discusses style trends, why there really is NO Rosé season, price point and she takes us through a tasting of the 2017 Shining Hill Rosé from Col Solare.
Episode 10 | It was Destiny for Alexandria Nicole Cellars
Ali and Jarrod Boyle, Alexandria Nicole Cellars
It was Destiny for Ali and Jarrod Boyle. He is the winemaker of Alexandria Nicole Cellars and grower for their Destiny Ridge Vineyard. His wife, Ali, who the winery is named after, works on the business marketing side. On this episode of Decanted, this dynamic duo talk about their partnership and how their vineyards, winery and Destiny Ridge vineyard tiny houses came to be.
Vist Alexandria Nicole Cellars
Vist the ANC tasting rooms
Destiny Ridge’s Glamperous Tiny Houses
When you visit Alexandria Nicole Cellars in Paterson, WA, stay in a cozy tiny house as seen on HGTV Tiny House Big Living. Currently, there are four houses with a total of 10 planned through 2019. Jet Black and Gravity and were constructed in competition style on HGTV Tiny House Big Living. Jet Black is 392 sq. ft, with a contemporary design and gourmet kitchen. Gravity is 384 sq. ft. shabby-chic style using re-purposed materials and reclaimed wood. The 210 sq. ft. Affinity Alberiño house is perfect for a single traveler or a couple who crave closeness. The Epiphany Viognier house is 380 sq. ft. and has two sleeping areas, a cozy loft or a petite bedroom. Epiphany would be a great choice for a small family as there’s really room for four. Kids would love to sleep in the upstairs loft as you can’t get to adult standing height there, and climbing up the steep staircase has a tree-fort kind of feeling. And if you don’t have kids, the loft has a large meditation poof to sit on as you gaze at the view of the Columbia River.
Book a Tiny House
Horse Heaven Hills Trail Drive Event
The 13th Annual Horse Heaven Hills Wine Growers Trail Drive event is coming up July 21, 2018 participants are Columbia Crest, Water From Wine, CSM Canoe Ridge Estate, Canoe Ridge Vineyard, Destiny Ridge-Alexandria Nicole Cellars and Coyote Canyon Vineyard.
Website
Episode 29 | Red Mountain’s vine pioneers—then and now
Tyler and John Williams
3rd and 1st generation winemakers | Kiona Vineyards & Winery
This episode is Part 1 of 2 about the heralded Red Mountain AVA and the generational stories that carry these wines into the future.
To pinpoint the origins of Red Mountain, you’ll need go back as far as 1961. That’s when GE employees John Williams and Jim Holmes met and struck up a friendship around their mutual appreciation of wine. By 1965, they had begun a side education with Washington wine legend Dr. Walter Clore, who planted the seed in their heads that Red Mountain was prime vineyard material.
By 1972, John and Jim had purchased land on Red Mountain, ignoring the jibes of those that thought they were crazy. Looking back, it did seem like a leap to invest in what resembled a dusty desert only suitable for growing sagebrush. Fortunately for wine lovers, they didn’t listen to the nay-sayers and planted the first Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling and Chardonnay on the mountain.
Kiona has been making wine since 1980 with John’s son Scott who followed his father as Vineyard Manager and Winemaker. Scott’s sons also joined the family business, with JJ taking the role of Director of Operations and most recently, Tyler taking on every aspect of winemaking.
Visit Kiona Vineyards
Red Mountain: Your next wine destination
Red Mountain is 15 minutes away from Richland, WA and may be the smallest AVA is Washington, but it’s full of more adventures and award-winning wines than visitors can experience in one day. Listen to our journey through this prized wine growing region’s must-see tasting rooms, nearby restaurants and the stories that started it all.
Plan your trip to Red Mountain wineries here.
Visit Hightower Cellars
Visit Hedges Family Estate
Visit Tapteil Vineyards
Book your stay at The Lodge at Columbia Point
Thank you, Erin Osborne, President of Osborne Northwest Public Relations, a boutique PR agency specializing in lifestyle and hospitality public relations. AND thank you to Alicia Brown, the Executive Director of The Red Mountain AVA Alliance for helping to arrange the weekend’s events.
Episode 23 | Taste Washington 2019 Winemakers to Watch
A record-breaking number of food and wine lovers attended the 22nd annual Taste Washington festival. We chose three winemakers we want listeners to know more about and swept them away to the press room for lightening interviews. We gave them one shared question and they delivered three, very different answers: ”What life lesson has winemaking revealed to you?”
Justin Neufeld
JB Neufeld | Gilbert Cellars
Justin has been the winemaker for Gilbert Cellars since 2007 and in 2009, he took over management of the estate vineyards as well. Since the moment he became interested in wine Justin knew he wanted to start his own winery. As he learned more about viticulture and enology the more he became obsessed with the process, rather than the product. When he started his side label, JB Neufeld, his goal was to create a Cabernet Sauvignon that truly showcased the place it was grown. Justin believes it to be one of the best varieties for communicating a sense of place without too many outside interruptions. He sources from some of the best vineyards up and down the Yakima Valley and Red Mountain like Andrew Will’s Two Blondes Vineyard, Red Willow Vineyard, and the acclaimed Ciel Du Cheval.
Buy directly from JB Neufeld
Buy directly from Gilbert Cellars
Mari Womack
Damsel Cellars
Not every Damsel is in distress. In fact, this damsel seems to have things pretty well in hand. Damsel Cellars is a boutique winery owned and operated by winemaker, Mari Womack. She spent several years in the restaurant business and transitioned to working in Washington wineries such as Obelisco, Baer and as the assistant winemaker at Darby Winery. Mary is cleverly blending sophistication with a playfulness and joy that comes from doing what she loves. Now releasing her sith vintage, this Damsel is amassing a loyal following and Damsel Cellars is quickly becoming a winery to watch.
Buy directly from Damsel Cellars
Casey Cobble
Goose Ridge Estate Vineyards and Winery
The spark that brought Casey to wine was speaking with a winemaker across the tasting bar at a small winery in Prosser in 2007. He described his work routine, and to her, it seemed to be the perfect marriage of intellect, creativity, and being physical. Casey took classes at the NW Wine Academy while she worked as a Lead Wine Educator at the Columbia Winery tasting room in Woodinville. After her course work was complete, she was chosen for a harvest internship at Betz Family Winery, learning under Master of Wine Bob Betz and then hired as Cellar Assistant until 2014. After a stint as Winemaker to Robert Ramsay Cellars, in 2018, she moved across the state to work as Winemaker for Goose Ridge Estate Vineyard and Winery. This extremely dynamic and growing family-owned winery has given her the opportunity to learn winemaking on a larger scale and has allowed her to be in the vineyard more often. This means that no two days are the same in her world and she loves the cyclical nature of the wine industry.
Buy directly from Goose Ridge
You got to have Taste
We’ve caught up on our sleep now that the plethora of Washington Wine Month events has come to a close.
Taste WA, held at CenturyLink Field Convention Center, was the big kahuna. This year’s festival featured more than 240 Washington wineries and more than 70 celebrated restaurants. Per tradition, we call attention to newer wineries or ones we were less familiar with and winemakers with side label projects. This is not an exhaustive list so we encourage listeners to attend and adventure for themselves.
The NW Women Stars of Food and Wine was held at “The Sanctuary,” a converted church in downtown Seattle. Maybe it was the ascending escalator ride to the space of wine worship or the cool lighting inside the sanctuary, but we think that was the best “church service” we ever attended!
Check out the list of our favorite wines below the photo gallery and support these boutique winemakers.
Wines to Taste
Book and Bull
Buy 2016 Come Hell or High Water GSM
Côte Bonneville
Buy 2018 Cabernet Franc Rosé
Rocky Point Cellars
Buy 2014 Boushey Vineyard Grenache
Eagle Harbor Wine
Buy 2014 Founders Merlot
Idiot’s Grace
Buy all of Idiot’s Grace wines
Hawkins Cellars
Buy 2017 Underwood Mountain Chardonnay
Pollard Vineyard
Buy 2017 Merlot
Reasons Wine
Buy 2015 Red Excuses
Episode 7 BONUS | Tasting Notes with Gård Vintners
Gård Vintners
Winemaker: Aryn Morell
Estate Lawrence Vineyards: Royal Slope—The Royal Slope is a relatively young farming area located in eastern Washington almost halfway between Seattle and Spokane in the Columbia Valley AVA, just northeast of the Wahluke Slope AVA and southeast of the Ancient Lakes of Washington AVA.
Gård Vintners was created in 2006 and run by co-owners Josh Lawrence on the orchard side and Lisa Lawrence on the sales and marketing side. They are joined by winemaker Aryn Morell took over the winemaking at Matthews Estate in Woodinville, and along with Gard, also makes wine for Tenor, Mullan Road, and his own label, Alleromb. Oh, and Aryn’s worked for 14+ other wineries, so there’s a ton of expertise going into Gård wines.
We feature a wonderful representation of an estate white, rosé and red.
2016 Freyia
63% Viognier and 37% Roussanne
2017 Rosé Grand Klasse Reserve
100% Grenache
2014 Vaucluse
68% Syrah, 29% Grenache, 3% Viognier
Website
Episode 44 | Greg & Shae Frichette: Red Mountain’s winemaking power-couple
Greg and Shae Frichette
Winemakers, Frichette Winery
In this episode, we chat with Greg and Shae Frichette, a husband and wife winemaking duo. Hear how they changed their lives with a flip of a coin that landed them in the fabled Red Mountain AVA of Washington State where they planted an estate vineyard. We’ll also open some bottles of Frichette so you know what to expect from this iconic region. Plus, we discuss the new Alliance of Women in Washington Wine and make a few buying highlights from some of its members.
Visit Frichette Winery’s website
Frichette wines featured in this episode:
2018 Red Mountain Malbec: Deep, dark purple color with blackberry and blueberry on the nose. On the first sip, you may be overwhelmed by the boldness of the blackberry flavors which quickly take a turn to a ripe raspberry, and finally a hint of caramel on the finish.
2018 Punctual: This Cabernet Franc dominant blend features blueberry and caramel on the nose. On the palate: dark cherry, ripe raspberry, olive, and baking spices with a hint of caramel on the long finish.
2018 Quintessence Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon: The biggest, boldest wine from the Frichette 2018 vintage. Big blackberry and baking spices on the palate with a hint of caramel on the finish.
Alliance of Women in Washington Wine: Selected favorites
Goose Ridge Winery 2016 Syrah: Aged in a mix of French and American oak barrels, so you kind of get the best of both worlds there.
Cascadian Outfitters wines-in-a-can series: All good quality and portable for all your hiking trips, like the fun Cascadian Rainbow Rose Bubbles, with the Rainbow sasquatch on the label!
Columbia Winery 2018 Cabernet Franc: Sourced from the Alderridge Vineyard of the Horse Heaven Hills AVA.
Smak Wines: 2020 Spring Rosé
Make an individual donation to the Alliance
