In the Beginning

Walla Walla Vintners' Crush Crew

Walla Walla Vintners, bonded in 1995, is a limited-production winery dedicated to making handcrafted, premium red wines --Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cuvée, Malbec, Merlot, and Sangiovese. We often blend small amounts of Carmenéré, Malbec, Petit Verdot and Syrah to elevate the charm and elegance of our wines. We released small amounts of Petit Verdot, Syrah and Malbec.  We specialize in making wines from grapes grown in the Walla Walla AVA. The wines are crafted using labor-intensive traditional wine making techniques, i.e., frequent visits to the vineyards to hand sample and taste the fruit before harvest, fruit sorting and picking by hand, manually punching down in open-top fermenters, gentle squeezing in a basket press, individual topping off of barrels each month and hand racking each barrel four times a year. The wines are unfiltered, unfined and cellared in separate vineyard lots in American, French, and Hungarian oak barrels. The “free run” and “pressed wines” are placed in separate barrels for aging, and then later blended by discerning palates.

Fourteen Years Old

Winemakers, Myles Anderson and Gordon Venneri

The owners and winemakers are Myles Anderson and Gordon Venneri, who celebrated their fourteenth anniversary of making commercial wine together in December 2008. Over these years, they have assisted other wineries by custom crushing or making wine for Cadence, Spring Valley Vineyards, “K” Vintners, College Cellars of Walla Walla and  a’ Maurice Cellars. In 2001 and 2002, they donated the use of their winery to the Institute of Enology and Viticulture so students would have a place to learn to make wine while the college winery was being constructed.  Since then, two Institute graduates have been employed at Walla Walla Vintners and many students have interned at the winery.  Bill vonMetzger an Institute graduate is now the winemaker along with Gordy and Myles.

Making Homemade Wines

This duo produced homecrafted wines for many years before making commercial wines. The homecrafted venture permitted them to practice winemaking, take mistakes to the dump, and forge a successful partnership.  Gordon is a CPA and a retired field agent for Knights of Columbus Insurance and Myles is the founding director of the Walla Walla Institute for Enology and Viticulture and retired in 2007.  

As winemakers we made homecrafted wines for over ten years before we considered making commercial wines. This was all done in our backyard using borrowed, makeshift equipment and for a while a small apple press. Muscle and Phillip Wagner's wine making books were our greatest assets. Although we lacked experience, we had passion for tasting and creating quality wines and cooking food. We now have a wood fired oven at the winery --- the roasted chicken and pizzas are hits.  
Gordon had visited his family in Calabria in Southern Italy and sampled their homemade wines. He returned from the trip with a desire to make homemade wines. He and Myles began the adventure.

First, we crafted both white and red table wines. The white wines required a lot of work and equipment and were not that impressive. Later, as we gained experience and secured grapes from local growers, we focused on red wines specializing in Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc.

We experimented with oak chips, used oak barrels, beer kegs, food-grade plastic buckets, plastic apple juice containers, Coca-Cola syrup stainless steel containers, and glass carboys. The yeast and chemicals came from a local drug store that specialized in stocking such items for beer and winemakers.

Eventually, we were able to purchase our first new French Oak Barrel - a thirty galloner. Wow, what a difference quality oak made on the Cabernet Sauvignon. We were hooked! We raised the monthly ante, and bought more and larger oak barrels. We loved experimenting with wine and oak. We learned the most from our failures - over oaking wine, sour barrels, barrels with mold, unsanitized conditions, too much sulfur, over using sulfites, not using enough, etc.

Our wine improved. We made around 200 gallons of finished wine a year for home consumption and for friends. During the early days, our friends politely took the wines we gave them. Some tasted bad and some blew up in wine racks. However, they stuck with us, and as our wines got better they began to look forward to the holidays when we gave wine as gifts. They also encouraged us to consider making commercial wines.

Crafting Commercial Wines and Our First Releases

In January, 1995, we decided to take a chance and become the eighth bonded winery in the Walla Walla AVA. We made 675 cases the first year, 820 cases the second, and now we are producing 4,500 to 5,500 cases a year and distributing in California, Idaho, Illinois, Montana, Oregon and Washington. The goal is to remain small and focus on making premium, world-class wines for wine enthusiasts who seek out quality wines from small producers. Please click on “Accolades” on this Web site to learn about the great reviews we have received for our wines.

Since 1995, we have sourced grapes from the best vineyards in both Walla Walla and Columbia Valley AVAs --- Cordon Grove, Desert View, Dwelley, Frazier Bluff, Goose Ridge, Killian, Kiona, Morrison Lane, Pepper Bridge, Sagemoor, Seven Hills, Spring Creek, Tokar and Weinbau. Over the years, these vineyards have consistently provided us with stunning grapes for crafting some of the best red wines in Washington.

Wine Farming and Establishing the Estate Vineyard

New Estate Vineyard at Walla Walla Vintners

In the spring of 2008, viticulturist Ken Hart designed the estate vineyard at the winery. In preparation for the vineyard, the soil was enhanced by adding a crop of oats and large amounts of grape-plant compost in order to return the terroir to its original biology after many years of farming wheat that left residuals of herbicides and pesticides.  The vineyard is sustainable and a member of Vinea.  The estate vineyard neighbors the vineyards of a’ Maurice Cellars, Chan Family, and Leonetti Cellar. The terroir is exceptional and has produced some of the best grapes in Walla Walla Valley for Leonetti Cellar Reserve wine.  

A total of eleven and one-half acres of certified grape stock was planted --- 1,210 plants per acre.  The grapes will be dry farmed since the vineyard site receives on average 22-24 inches of rainfall per year. This approach to wine farming will produce lower grapes yields and more intense wine with concentrated flavors.  We have also put in wind machines to protect the vineyard from late and early frosts.

The eleven and one-half acre vineyard is host to the following varietals:

                                                __ One acre of Brunello clone #6, Sangiovese Grosso
                                                __ One-half acre of clone #2, Petit Verdot
                                                __ Two acres each of clone #3 and clone #15, Merlot
                                                __ Two acres each of clone #4 and clone #6 Cabernet Sauvignon
                                                __ One acre each of Tablas Creek and Phelps clones, Syrah

2010 will be the first year we expect the estate vineyard to be at full production, baring an Artic winter freeze. At that time, one-third of our grape production will be dedicated to estate bottled Walla Walla Vintners’ wines.

The winery is open by appointment and on Saturdays for complimentary tastings and sales. We hold several weekend “Open Houses” each year.  The dates of these open houses are available by clicking on “Events”. To reach the winery and estate vineyard from US 12, take Rooks Park exit; turn left at the ‘stop sign’ on to Mill Creek Road.  Drive 3 miles and turn left at the Walla Walla Vintners’ sign on to Vineyard Lane.