Washington’s Boutique Wineries You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of

Ep 129

Washington may be known for its big-name wineries, but some of the best bottles are coming from the small, family-run spots you’ve never heard of.

In this episode, we’re exploring four boutique wineries that capture the creativity and community behind Washington wine. Discover how a chef’s background in flavor inspires the balanced, aromatic wines at Kinhaven Winery. Learn how Cedergreen Cellars pivoted from restaurant-only sales to a hands-on tasting experience, offering beautifully aged wines that deliver incredible value.

We’ll also explore the organic vineyards and uncommon grapes defining Grosgrain Vineyards, then visit Ducleaux Cellars, where a husband-and-wife team turns personal stories into heartfelt blends. Plus, stay tuned for a few honorable mentions that deserve a spot on your next tasting itinerary.

Whether you’re dreaming of a Walla Walla getaway or just want new favorite bottles to ship straight to your door, this episode will help you uncover the hidden gems of Washington wine country.

Thank you to the following brands for sponsoring this podcast:

• Vacu Vin: Go to us.vacuvin.com and use code CORKANDFIZZ for 20% off your order!

Resources:

• Kinhaven Winery - https://kinhavenwinery.com/
• Cedergreen Cellars - https://www.cedergreencellars.com/
• Grosgrain Vineyards - https://grosgrainvineyards.com/
• Ducleaux Cellars - https://www.ducleauxcellars.com/
• Sama Cellars - https://samacellars.com/
• Lushington Wines - https://lushingtonwines.com/
• Michael Florentino Cellars - https://michaelflorentinocellars.com/

Episode Highlights:

• The chef-inspired winemaking behind Kinhaven Winery
• Affordable aged wines and hidden value at Cedergreen Cellars
• Uncommon grapes and organic farming at Grosgrain Vineyards
• The heartfelt blends and family story of Ducleaux Cellars
• Quick shoutouts to Sama Sellers, Lushington Wines, and Michael Florentino

Don't Forget to Download my Free Wine Tasting Guide! - https://www.corkandfizz.com/free-wine-tasting-guide

Connect with me:
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Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/corkandfizz/
Email - hailey@corkandfizz.com

Transcript

0:09

Interested in learning about wine but not sure where to start? You're in the right place. Welcome to the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine Podcast. I'm your host, Hayley Bowlman and I'm so glad you're here. I'm a wine enthusiast turned wine educator and founder of the Seattle based wine tasting business, Corporate Cork and Fizz. It is my goal to build your confidence in wine by making it approachable and lots of fun. You can expect to learn everything from how to describe your favorite wine to what to pair with dinner tonight and so much more. Whether you're a casual wine sipper or a total cork dork like myself, this podcast is for you. So grab yourself a glass and let's dive in foreign welcome back to the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine Podcast. Today I am sharing with you some wonderful Washington wineries and I've definitely learned as someone if you didn't know already. I am based in Seattle, Washington so I have the honor of getting to try so many amazing Washington wineries. But I know these wineries don't always make it out of the state. Many of them offer online shopping and shipping to many states, but if you've never heard of them, you never know to look for them. So I figured I might as well use this opportunity to highlight some of these smaller wineries that you've probably never heard of, but you are going to love their wine. So I hope you take this as you know these wines are not ones that you're going to find in your local grocery store or potentially even in your local wine shop. You're going to have to ask for them or go searching for them. So I will leave links to each of the wineries in the show notes for you so you can look for them. I'm also going to talk about the wine clubs with each of these wineries because for smaller wineries, joining their wine club is such an amazing way to support them and give them a regular income and a great way for you to get amazing wine. So all that said, I mean there are obviously way more than four Washington wineries that I think you should be trying, but I had to limit it. We didn't need a three hour long episode and I do have some honorable mentions at the end. So I think I probably end up saying like eight wineries because I have no self control. So let's dive into it. The first winery that I want to talk about is Kinhaven Winery. Kinhaven all one word K I N H A V E N. I first tried Kinhaven Wine actually at Taste Washington, which if you are anywhere in the Seattle area, this event happens once a year. It happens in March, I believe. And they literally take over a massive conference room area. I don't know, it's over by, like, where all the stadiums are. They take over this area and bring in Washington wineries from all across the state. You just buy a ticket and then you get to go try as much wine. And they have a bunch of food and stuff too. It is amazing. It's one of my favorite ways to find new Washington wines that I have not had a chance to try yet. And this was one of them. Kinhaven wine. Usually when I go, I go to like the first nights go to like, the wineries that I know and I love, and I love the winemakers. And then I ask them, like, hey, where else do I need to try wine at? Because they know what I like and they kind of have a little in as to, like, what other wine I should try. So I went over to Mary over at Damsel Sellers, and she recommended Kinhaven. They had a Carmeniere, which Carmeniere is a really unique grape, typically only found in Chile these days, but I've seen it pop up a little bit more and it is in Washington. And this winery makes a 100% carmenier. So I knew I had to try it. And I'm so glad I did because it was the last delicious. Now I was reminded of this winery because my parents actually came to visit last week. Well, by the time you're listening to this, it was probably a couple months ago, but me recording it, it was, it was just last week. And they wanted to check out a smaller winery. We did the big ones, we did a Chateau St. Michel and one other one. But they're like, what about a smaller winery? You know, a smaller kind of family run situation. I immediately thought of Kenhaven. They just opened up a wine tasting room in Woodinville. They're actually a Walla Walla winery. So they just opened up that tasting room in Woodinville, brought my parents there, and they, they loved it. My mom, the very first wine we tried with a Chardonnay. And my mom said it's the best Chardonnay she's ever, ever had. And she's a big Chardonnay fan, so she's tasted a lot of Chardonnay. My dad loved it. We also had their Viognier, which was amazing. And of course we had their Carmeniere. Everything was so, so good. I'll talk a little bit more about the wines later, but Just know it's not just me that loves this winery. So let's talk a little bit more about the story behind Kinhaven Winery. It was founded by Lisa and Terry Davenport. They are a couple that met in New York over 35 years ago.@ the time, they were working jobs in the ad business that took them all over the U.S. including Seattle, where they ended up moving to in 2006. Now, their youngest daughter ended up going to Whitman College, which is how they fell in love with Walla Walla. So they actually ended up moving out to Walla Walla after that. And they opened a vacation home in Walla Walla called boyer house in 2015. They didn't stop there though. They decided to take the leap and leave their corporate careers to open Kinhaven winery. When in 2020, they discovered a 10 acre parcel that was a former winery, complete with 20 year old vines, a tasting room and a production facility, it was like just made for them. They knew they had to do it and so they purchased the parcel and started their own winery. They are not the winemakers, though. The winemakers and partners and what do they call them like the chief tasting officers is Lisa and Terry's daughter, their oldest daughter, not the one that went to Whitman and her husband. So their daughter, Casey Davenport and her husband Cameron, these two as well, did not start in the world of wine. They both started with careers outside of wine. Casey with her own wedding planning business and Cameron in the cooking world. And Cameron actually became the executive chef at Passa Tempo Taverna, which is a wonderful Italian restaurant in Walla Walla. But when the opportunity arose to work at Kinhaven together, they took it. Now, as I mentioned, the Kinhaven Winery is located in Walla Walla with both a local Walla Walla tasting room and one in Woodinville. Speaking of their winemaker as a chef, Cameron says that the aromatics and the complexity and the balance are always top of mind when he's making his wines. So this is something that totally shows when you're tasting this wine. You can tell that the person behind the flavors understands flavor. And I think it's so cool that a lot of it can come from his cooking background. They produce about 1500 cases of wine, making it a very small boutique winery in terms of wines to be on the lookout for. I'm going off of one that I recently tasted and some of these might only be available in the tasting room now, but you can keep an eye on the website for, for when these will be available. I think they make similar wines Every. Every year. Obviously different based on the vintage a bit, but they're still going to make, like, these. These grape varieties. So as I mentioned, the Chardonnay that my mom said was the best Chardonnay she's ever had, it is Celilo Vineyard Chardonnay. And these grapes actually don't come from Walla Walla. They're the one of the only grapes. One of the only, like, wines they make with grapes not from Walla Walla. The grapes actually come from the Columbia. Gorgeous. And it's the oldest planting of Chardonnay in Washington. The Chardonnay itself is just really well balanced. You can tell there's some oak on it, but it is not overwhelming. It has this really bright acidity as well, and just really delicious, like, spiced pear flavor is what I thought of when I first took a sip. They also make a Viognier. This one is their Walla Walla Viognier. Again, it just that perfect balance between some unctuous fruit and bright acidity. If you're wanting to try something unique, something a little different, definitely check out their Carmen Year. I think we tasted their 2023 Walla Walla Valley Carmen Year. This wine smells like green pepper. I mean, it smells like. They also say shishito pepper, but if you're not as familiar with that, think green pepper. It smells just like green pepper. But then when you taste it, there's so much fruit happening. It is just this fun juxtaposition of things going on. And if you're a big red wine drinker like my husband, they also have a Malbec, a 2022 Malbec that was super good. If you get a chance to try their wines or you just listen to what I'm talking about and want to support them, they do offer a wine club. It is called the Kinship club. They do six or 12 bottles twice a year. You can customize those bottles, which I think is so helpful. I mean, there's great to just like, have the default allotment and be like, yep, just send it to me. I'll drink whatever. But if you have specific wines in mind, you can customize it. And it comes with free tastings. If you're ever out in Walla Walla or over here in Woodinville. Okay, so that's Kinhaven. Let's talk about our next winery. Just a quick reminder. If you are not on my mailing list yet, what are you waiting for? I would love for you to join. When you do, you'll get a free shopping guide that has 15 of my favorite wines under $15. Head to corkandfizz.com, scroll down to the bottom, and there'll be a little section where you can join the mailing list. I send out a weekly newsletter filled with wine tips, recommendations, special offers, and so much more. Now, let's get back to the show. Next one that I want to highlight is Cedar Green Cellars. And this winery. I actually first. The very first time I had their wine, or at least that I remember having it, I was actually on, like, a little just, like, I want to say date night, but it wasn't. It was just with a new friend that I made, and we went to a new wine bar in Seattle, and we both love Cabernet Franc. And so we found a Cedar Green seller's Cabernet Franc to try, and it was delicious. But what I. What I really got to know the winery was from including them in one of my day retreats that I did over in Woodinville. They have a tasting room over there, and so these are ones where I got, like, a small group together. I think it was about, like, eight or so people. And we went to three different wine tasting rooms over in Woodinville, and one of them was Cedar Green Cellars. And what was so cool is when we get there, it's literally the winemaker, like Kevin Cedar Green, comes out, sits down with us, and talks us through all of the wine. I mean, he was there. We were there for, like, an hour and a half, and he was walking us through, you know, how they made the wine, how they chose the grapes. And you could just tell they really cared about making good wine that people would love. And so this. This winery, I think, just. And deserves so much more attention because the wine is so good, and it's really affordable. It's kind of crazy. So I already talked about the. One of the winemakers, but it was founded actually by a couple, Kevin and his wife, Julie Cedar Green. And what they say about why they make wine, there's the excitement of harvest. They really love the cradling of nascent flavors and creating a vignette that grows into a portrait with depth and definition. The piece of art that you believe in. Wine has the most vivid, complex, and intricate of palettes. You can win, you can lose, but you persevere for a vision. Great stuff. The agony and ecstasy. I mean, these people love what they're doing, and I love drinking wine from people who love doing that. A lot of their wine actually used to be. They used to just make wine primarily for restaurants. But then Covid hit in 2020 and they decided to open a tasting room and focus on selling directly to the consumer because, well, restaurants weren't buying as much and it worked out great. The benefit of this is that they're actually already in the habit of aging a lot of their wine before they release it or before they sell it as that's something that's often required when selling to restaurants. So you get the benefit of this. For example, on their website right now, you can get a bottle of 2013 Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon blend for just $28 or you can get a 2015 Chenin Blanc for just $21. And they are good. I think I've had the 2015 Chenin Blanc, so I know that's good. And I'm pretty confident that that Merlot Cab soft blend is going to be great as well. In terms of other wine that they make, they have a large variety. For reds, you're going to find Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Grenache, and even a Gamay Noir, which I'm always a little hesitant about this grape coming from Washington because it is a cooler climate grape. But they get it from a great vineyard and it is so good. It's a great like summer red wine. And in terms of whites, they do a lot of Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc. I love their Chenin Blanc, it's so good. And then they also do sparkling wines as well. In terms of a membership, if you try their wine and love it or if you just want to show them some support, they have a three or six bottle wine club with mixed variety or you can do just reds. They also have a white and only club. If you are preferring that style of wine. They have a tasting room in Woodinville and they're always hosting really fun like food events. Like I swear I get it. You could join their email list. That's a great way to know about like the food events that they're doing. I think you can sign up on their website and they're always just doing really fun pairings and things with their wine. Like I said, they just, they love what they're doing and so it's hard not to not to love their wine and love them. So go check out Cedar Green Cellars. Okay. Next up is Grosgrain Vineyards and this actually looks like gross grain. G R O S G R A I N Vineyards. This is actually one of the Wineries that we visited on my latest Walla Walla wine retreat, and everyone loved it. This winery was founded by Matt and Kelly Austin. Matt was an attorney and Kelly was a fashion designer, both in California. They decided to move to the PNW, the Pacific Northwest, in 2014 and purchased a small vineyard on the south side of Walla Walla after Matt returned to school to study enology. One of their goals with starting the winery and purchasing the vineyard was is they wanted to focus on uncommon varieties. So you'll see a lot of wines that not a lot of other producers are making. Things like Nebbiolo, Aglianico, Grenache and Carignan. They're also dedicated to organic farming, and they want their wines to have this freshness and elegance. And I think they definitely achieve that. What first started as that small vineyard, the 5 acres, has now become over 80 acres of grapes. Like I said, when it comes to the wine, they have so many fun, unique wines. I can't even list them all. But for whites, I've had Albarino. They have a Skin contact Semillon, which is really fun, and then a Ribolla Giala. As for reds, Nebbiolo, Carignan, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, and then Rhone blends, like a GSM blend. They also do sparkling wine. Their wines in general are just like very fresh, higher acidity. They're just different from a lot of Washington wine. I think Washington wine tends to be pretty big and bold and in a very good way. But I love that this winery has focused more on that freshness and the elegance and the aromatics of the wine. And what's really cool is with Kelly's background in design, they care a lot for, you know, the style and the brand that represents their winery. So their tasting room in Walla Walla is gorgeous, like, so beautiful. And they also are right next to one of their vineyards or the really small one. So not only do you get this beautiful tasting room, but then you do get to look out on the vines. You can even go walk over in that area, which is really cool. And then all their labels are really fun and they're designed by Kelly herself. They also have a membership. And one of the things I love is that they literally have a three bottle membership that you can just get three bottles twice a year, which, as somebody who was once signed up for many a membership, it can be nice to just get three bottles twice a year. And then it's not overwhelming. And then you're still supporting the winery and you're still guaranteed to get great wine twice a year. They also do a six bottle club if you want to kind of up the ante a little bit and get a little bit more. As I mentioned, they have a taste stream in Walla Walla and if you're in the Seattle area, keep an eye out because they have a new one opening in Woodinville soon. All right, that was Grosgrain, our last winery that I want to highlight fully. Don't worry, there's a list of honorable mentions, but we're going to talk about Duclos sellers. And let's be honest, I probably talked about Duclos before, but I had to mention them again. I love producing this podcast for you every week, but here's the truth. It's not free. That's why I'm so grateful for sponsors like the following brands supporting me so that I can share everything I love about wine with you. If you're able, show them some support back. Anyone else guilty of opening a bottle of wine for just one glass and then finding it a week later in the fridge? Totally undrinkable. Yeah, that used to happen to me all the time until I started using the Vacuvin Wine Saver. It's so simple to use, easy to throw in my bag if I'm heading to a friend's. And it keeps wine fresh for up to 10 days, proven by independent lab testing. Vacuvin invented the original Wine Saver back in 1986, and now over 40 million wine lovers around the world use it. With Vacuvin, you get to enjoy wine on your terms. Open Italian red for Tuesday pasta night and it'll taste just as good a week later with pizza. Go to us.vacuvin.com and use code corkandfizz for 20% off your first order. To close another Walla Walla winery. I visited them on both of my wine retreats out to Walla Walla. What's actually funny is before I did my retreats, I went out to Walla Walla with my husband to kind of like meet a lot of the winemakers, get a feel for things, kind of figure out how I was going to plan this retreat, right? And one of the wineries we were going to visit was Duclos. And we get there and the thing is, their winery is right next to their house. It's like the definition of a garage winery, which is super cool. But we get there, there's like no one outside, there's like no one around, and we're like, we're not that early, are we? Turns out one of them had Covid. And because it's just this husband and wife team running the winery, they just hadn't gotten around and they'd kind of forgotten about the tasting. We got to meet their adorable dog, Stella, who has since passed. But she was so wonderful, such a wonderful little vineyard pup. And they have lots of other animals too, but we met them and I just, I loved there. Like I reading about them and talking with them on email, I knew we still had to go there. And I'm so glad we did. Even if I never got a chance to try their wines while I did my little pre visit research. But it was so worth it because every time I've taken people there, they've loved it. Now, the story behind Duclos, they like to say that they make serious wine handcrafted by not so serious people, founded by a husband and wife team. I think that is definitely a pattern with all of the wineries that I've mentioned thus far. I just realized, I guess it's a good sign, working with your spouse. I don't. I don't know, I don't know how I feel about that, but I guess it works out with wineries. So it's a husband and wife team. Chris and Toby, they actually met on match.com later in life. They call themselves the real life version of the Brady Bunch. Chris had three boys and a girl, and Toby had two girls. And then, you know, they. They got together and made the perfect family. They are a family winery making really great Walla Walla Valley wines, all in the estate Rocks District vineyard and from a few other select vineyards as well. But they're located in the Rocks District, which is actually, technically, I'm kind of cheating. I just realized technically, their winery is located in Oregon. Believe it or not, the Rocks District of Walla Walla is actually in Oregon. But Walla Walla is a Washington wine region. So we're gonna call it a Washington winery. In terms of the wines that they make, they focus on blends, so you're not gonna find a lot of single varietal. They do a lot of blending, which I think is super fun. It really shows off the winemaker's ability and they get to have a little fun with it. They also have some wines that are really special to them. So one of those is called Jordan. It is a white Rhone inspired blend, and it was in honor of Chris's first daughter, Jordan Duclos, who passed at the age of five of a rare form of brain cancer. And when you purchase a bottle of Jordan Jordan. A portion of that is donated to the Project Violet at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research center in Seattle. Some other blends that they do, they have Love and Chaos. This is a red Bordeaux inspired blend. The blend changes each year. So for 2019, it was Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Bordeaux. And then in 2020, it was 5050 Syrah and Merlot. They also have Anarchy, which is a GSM blend, which is like our Rhone style Grenache Surat moved. They have Stella of the Vines, named after their pup. That is a Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah blend. And they also do sparkling wines and Pet Nats. They also do a membership. You can do a 3, 6, or 12 bottle membership, and they deliver twice a year. You have the ability to customize the selection if you do a six or twelve bottle club. Okay. As I mentioned, I have a few honorable mentions that, like, I still think you should keep an eye out for. They just, like, didn't quite make the huge list. Maybe because they weren't. I don't know, maybe they're not. My pattern so far has been husband and wife teams. So maybe these aren't husband and wife teams. I don't know. I haven't done enough research into them. But I have tried their wine and loved it. So honorable mentions, Sama Sellars. This is a new winery. I met them at Taste Washington. They actually so, so, so wonderful. I went up to the winery and they're like, oh, you're Haley from Cork and Fizz. We were wanting to meet you and have you try the wine. And I just, I felt so special. So that certainly helps. And why they definitely get an honorable mention here, but the wine was really good too. Okay, what we got to try, we mean me and my husband, and we got to try their Cinsault. And this was made from grapes in the Waluki Slope AVA of Washington. They had us try it chilled and then at a typical red wine temperature, which I thought was really fun. I leaned towards the little bit chilled, but maybe that was just because it was summertime and it was pretty warm in that building. Somersellers just opened a tasting room in Redmond. If you're in the Seattle area, you can give them a try. Another honorable mention is Lushington Wines. I got to try their sparkling wine made from Pinot Noir in the Columbia Gorge. Columbia Gorge is definitely an area I have not explored enough, and I definitely want to. So this Lexington Wines was just another example of like you gotta get to the Columbia Gorge, Hailey. It was made by an amazing one woman show in Lyle, Washington. And finally, I have to highlight Michael Florentino. I first tried their wines at a Washington wine tasting event that wasn't Taste Washington, believe it or not. I tried it at Pour, which is an event highlighting Seattle Urban Winery. So they're actually making their wine in the city of Seattle, which is pretty cool. They make really intense, powerful, deliciously aged Spanish and Italian inspired wines. Super, super good. All right. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine Podcast. If you loved it as much as I did, I would so appreciate if you could take a quick second rate it, leave a review and share it with another wine lover in your life. In next week's episode, I'll be interviewing one of South Africa's most talked about winemakers, Duncan Savage of Savage Wines. His commitment to showcasing the diverse terroir of the Western Cape, from coastal vineyards to high altitude slopes, is helping redefine South African wine on the global stage. Thanks again for letting listening. If you want to learn more about wine, come follow me at Cork and Fizz on Instagram. Cheers.