A Collaborative Spirit

Friday, May 2, 2008

Collaborative spirit pairs winemakers in Washington state's wine regions

Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - by Heidi Dietrich Staff Writer

When Waters Winery winemaker Jamie Brown needs to borrow a pump, he heads across the vineyard to Va Piano Winery. There, neighbor and former classmate Justin Wylie is happy to lend a hand.

It's the kind of relationship that's common in the Washington wine industry, winemakers say.

"We're all so new at this, everyone is hungry to learn," Wylie said.

Collaborations are taking form across the state's wine regions. While some are no more than a neighbor loaning out gear, others involve formal business partnerships, tenant and landlord arrangements, and special programs in which veterans aid emerging wineries.

In Walla Walla, a single address now leads to four separate wineries: established brands Waters Winery and Gramercy Cellars, and the brand new Wines of Substance and 21 Grams.

The collaboration began when master sommelier Greg Harrington, then living in New York City, tasted a 2002 Syrah made by Walla Walla winemaker Jamie Brown, who at that time was working for James Leigh Cellars. Harrington called up Brown and ordered all the 2002 Syrah he had left.

Soon after, Harrington traveled to Walla Walla to look for land to start growing grapes. Brown suggested he forgo the grape growing, which would require a four-year investment before he could even begin to make wine, and just start a winery. Harrington founded Gramercy Cellars in 2005.

Brown, in turn, formed Waters Winery with business partner Jason Huntley, and they invited Harrington to make Gramercy wine in the same building. This year, the three together formed two new brands -- Wines of Substance, which sells wine for under $20, and the high-end 21 Grams. All four wine brands are now made in a new facility on 60 acres in South Walla Walla.

The tasting room offers Gramercy and Waters wines. Brown doesn't plan to offer samples of Wines of Substance, as he doesn't want a far cheaper cabernet sauvignon standing side by side with the more expensive Waters cabernet. With the limited production of 21 Grams, the winery's mailing list has been buying all the wine that's made.

Brown said the four brands must distinguish themselves by each creating their own style. He doesn't believe a joint production facility and tasting room will confuse customers.

"We're confident that each tells a cool story," Brown said.

Just across the vineyard, Brown's winemaker neighbor, Justin Wylie, is building his own kind of team. When building Va Piano Winery in 2004, Wylie created six spaces in his winemaking facility for emerging wineries to rent out. Rent includes use of all equipment, including tractor, trailer, truck, pumps, forklift, hoses, clamps, pressure washer and crushing equipment. Wineries are on their own for bottling.

Wylie figured the arrangement would help him cover construction costs and fill space that he didn't initially need. For the startups, the monthly rental fee offered a more affordable way to begin making wine.

That first year, Wylie and the six tenants found they were forced to juggle schedules when trying to get their hands on the same equipment at the same time. When the tenants began to grow larger, they jostled even more for space.

In the last few years, all but one of the six tenants have grown too large for Va Piano's facility and moved on. Chateau Rollat remains in the space, though, and Wylie plans to continue renting space for some time.

Assisting startup wineries is also the notion behind the recently opened Artifex Wine Co. in Walla Walla. A custom crush facility, Artifex supplies labor, equipment and winemaking consulting for burgeoning winemakers, at a cost of $25 to $35 per case.

The clients bring their own grapes, barrels, and winemaking talents. In three to four years, Artifex founders expect, clients will have their wine on the market and be able to move into their own home.

Artifex opened last July in a warehouse that once housed Continental Cannery. Once the facility is fully built out, Artifex will have 22,000 square feet of space for barrel room, storage and office space.

While many of Artifex's clients are startup wineries, some are larger wineries looking to enter the Walla Walla scene without investing the money to build a facility. King Estate Winery in Oregon, for instance, just started making Washington wine, and signed on with Artifex to avoid a major investment.

Artifex came about when Pepper Bridge winery managing partner Norm McKibben and winemaker Jean Francois Pellet kept receiving phone inquiries about whether Pepper Bridge had room for additional winemakers in its Walla Walla facility. It didn't. Artifex was granted a long-term lease in the old cannery building, which is owned by the Port of Walla Walla.

This year, Artifex plans to have 10 clients, producing a total of about 25,000 cases of wine. Artifex can be choosy about who it works with because there is substantial demand, McKibben said. The Artifex team expects it will take eight to 10 years for Artifex to make back the initial $2.5 million investment in the facility.

Artifex isn't the first time the Port of Walla Walla has collaborated with winemakers. For the past eight years, the port has used a good chunk of its 2,700-acre industrial park and airfield to lease former barracks space to wineries.

The port also just used a $1 million state grant to build new facilities that act as temporary incubators for three startup wineries, each of which can stay there for no more than six years. With an additional $500,000 grant from the state, the port is currently constructing two more.

The port's property was built during World War II to house B17 and B18 bombers. Though two-thirds of the original barracks were torn down, some of the remaining structures serve as low-cost rentals for 20 winemakers.

While the port first lured wineries with the promise of reasonable rent, winemakers now find that the location has become a tourist draw. Wine aficionados like to visit the port because they can hit more than 20 tasting rooms in a short proximity and parking is ample. During tourist season, limos now regularly drop off tourists at the port's property.

Outside of Walla Walla, a collaboration can be found in the Red Mountain region. Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery and the Italian winemaking company Antinori teamed in 1995 to form Col Solare. Last year, Col Solare opened a winery next to its Red Mountain vineyard.

Chateau Ste. Michelle jumped at the chance to work with Antinori, a company that's made wine in Italy for over 600 years. Antinori President Piero Antinori, in turn, heard about the quality wine coming out of Washington and wanted to get his foot in the door.

"The goal was to produce the top cabernet in Washington," said Marcus Notaro, winemaker for Col Solare.

Col Solare's founders always intended to build a winery next to its vineyards, just as the Antinoris have done for generations in Italy. The partners selected Red Mountain for its reputation for rich wine with dark fruit and ripe tannins.

Notaro now collaborates with Antinori's chief winemaker, Renzo Cotarella, when creating Col Solare's wines. The winery adopted Antinori's style of growing higher density, smaller grape vines than is typical.

"Antinori is a wealth of knowledge for us," Notaro said. "I really value my relationship with Renzo."

HRDIETRICH@BIZJOURNALS.COM | 206.876.5421