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Dundee Hills Pinot NoirIt Started Here for a Reason.
The Dundee Hills Vintage Collection represents the character and range of wines from the Dundee Hills, showcasing the unique quality of each vintage. Available each year from October through February, this collection is a must have for collectors and enthusiasts.
www.dundeehills.org/vintage-collection
Fifty years ago, a small but intrepid group of wine pioneers searched for the perfect place to plant pinot noir.
They chose the Dundee Hills of Oregon’s Willamette Valley, and the legend began.
Open year round, experience the wines, the food and intimate lodging. Visit www.dundeehills.org
The Vintage Collection
The Heart & Soil of Oregon Wine™
41PDX 114-123 Rising Star Winemakers.indd 114 9/11/18 11:21 AM
written by ERIC DEGERMAN
SEVEN RISING STAR
WINEMAKERS
Sarah Cabot
Dundee Hills Pinot NoirIt Started Here for a Reason.
The Dundee Hills Vintage Collection represents the character and range of wines from the Dundee Hills, showcasing the unique quality of each vintage. Available each year from October through February, this collection is a must have for collectors and enthusiasts.
www.dundeehills.org/vintage-collection
Fifty years ago, a small but intrepid group of wine pioneers searched for the perfect place to plant pinot noir.
They chose the Dundee Hills of Oregon’s Willamette Valley, and the legend began.
Open year round, experience the wines, the food and intimate lodging. Visit www.dundeehills.org
The Vintage Collection
The Heart & Soil of Oregon Wine™
41PDX 114-123 Rising Star Winemakers.indd 115 9/11/18 11:21 AM
116 PortraitMagazine.com
SEVEN RISING STAR WINEMAKERS IN THE NORTHWEST are making
their mark in a highly competitive and growing industry. From more than 1,700
wineries, four are from Washington, three are from Oregon. All are passionate
about their journeys, career choices and humble beginnings, ranging from har-
vest interns, growing up in a family of chefs, wine educators, personal fitness,
research, singers, pilots, and bartenders.
We look at who inspired them, where they started, where they’re headed, and
glimpse at their recent gold medals, double golds and other rankings causing all
the attention.
Best to discover young talent before the prices skyrocket, or worse yet, that you
simply cannot find their wines at any price.
Here is an introduction to seven talented winemakers worthy of more attention
and support. In Oregon, meet Sarah Cabot at Battle Creek Cellars and Primarius
Winery in Dundee, Ariel Eberle at Yamhill Valley Vineyards in McMinnville and
Rob Folin at Belle Fiore Winery in Ashland. In Washington, Casey Cobble is at
Goose Ridge Vineyards and Estate Winery in Richland, JJ Menozzi and his wife
Kelly own Aluvé Winery in Walla Walla; and Ryan Rader is at Tertulia Cellars,
another estate project in the Walla Walla Valley.
Taste their juice, join their wine club and meet them at those special events lim-
ited to club members. The hope is that in all six cases you will begin to see why
they made this list.
OREGONSarah CabotBattle Creek Cellars/Primarius Winery, Dundee www.battlecreekwinery.com
Precept Wine, the largest privately owned wine company in Washington state,
took Seattle native Sarah Cabot from a cult producer to corporate winemaker
in 2014.
When adding up the production of Battle Creek Cellars, Primarius, the
Kirkland Signature Series Willamette Valley Pinot Noir on behalf of Costco
and Precept’s growing list of clients and labels, no other female winemaker in
Oregon produces more wine that Cabot.
“I definitely know my region, and I know my varietal,” she said.
Ryan RaberJJ and Kelly Menozzi
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PortraitMagazine.com 117
Acclaim came quickly. The Primarius 2014 Pinot Noir ($15), her debut
vintage, produced a double gold medal at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine
Competition. She produced 32,000 cases of that. This spring, her Battle
Creek Cellars 2015 Roe Vineyard Pinot Noir ($59) took a gold at the Cascadia
International.
“As a winemaker I believe that I’m going to get the first 100 points out of
Oregon,“ she says.
Pinot Noir’s finicky reputation fascinated her as a young bartender, and
she learned winemaking through South Seattle College’s Northwest Wine
Academy.
“I used to work in restaurants like Wild Ginger in Seattle and sold a lot of
Oregon Pinot and loved it,” she said.
She left money on the table at Wild Ginger when she took the plunge as an
assistant winemaker at Belle Ponte. Next was WillaKenzie before taking over
the lead at Omero. Along the way, she’s become a canvas for artist renderings
of grape vines and pruning shears. She ranks as one of the most tattooed
winemakers in the Pacific Northwest, and the first one disappointed her
father, now a professor at Oregon State University. Despite that, they enjoy a
close bond, even after she turned her back on the jazz composition degree she
received from Boston’s vaunted Berklee College of Music.
“My dad still asks, ‘Do you still sing?’ “ she said. “I do. But in order to make
it, especially with jazz, you have to have a strong facility for shameless
self-promotion. And I do not have that — at all.
Ariel EberleYamhill Valley Vineyards, McMinnville www.yamhill.com
Two years ago, the heir apparent took over at historic Yamhill Valley Vine-
yards. It was a transition well-timed as Ariel Eberle took over for Stephen
Cary, who spent 25 years as head winemaker for Yamhill Valley Vineyards.
Together, they’ve done a stellar job with cool-climate varieties, particularly in
the past few years when Eberle spearheaded the white wine program.
“I will be celebrating 10 years with Yamhill Valley Vineyards in October,”
Eberle said. “My winemaking career began as a harvest intern in 2008. From
the beginning I intuitively knew that this place is something special.”
She’s making the winery’s 35th anniversary extra special. This year, the Yam-
hill Valley Vineyards 2017 Estate Rosé of Pinot Noir earned the title of best
rosé at the 2018 Cascadia International Wine Competition. The voting panel
is dominated by winemakers, who by nature are their own worst critics, and
it’s the largest judging of Pacific Northwest wines staged in the U.S.
This summer, Yamhill Valley Vineyards was among the featured wineries at
the International Pinot Noir Conference, a proud moment for the graduate
of Wilsonville High, Oregon State University and Chemeketa Community
College’s Wine Studies program.
“My first job out of college was doing research and development with an
experienced team at a pharmaceutical research laboratory in Corvallis,” she
said. “While I possessed curiosity to seek out answers to questions unknown,
I lacked passion for the repetition needed for this type of research.”
So she took a year off to teach English in South Korea.
Ariel Eberle
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118 PortraitMagazine.com
“My time in Seoul helped me realize my obsession with home. It is true we
often don’t realize what we have until we lose it,” she said.
Alas, her winemaking mentor passed away this spring in Portland at the age
of 71. Yamhill Valley Vineyards staged its celebration of Cary’s life on Aug.
12, and he died knowing that the winery he was a part of for 33 years is in
beautiful hands.
Rob FolinBelle Fiore Winery, Ashland and Ryan Rose Wine, Gold Hill www.bellefiorewine.com and www.ryanrosewine.com
Somehow, Rob Folin remains one of the top winemakers in the Pacific North-
west who few know of. That seems likely to change with his new position at
Belle Fiore, a showpiece winery in Southern Oregon that wouldn’t look out of
place along Napa’s Silverado Trail.
His résumé begins with integrity, an internship at iconic Domaine Serene that
led to seven vintages working in the Dundee Hills alongside acclaimed Tony
Rynders and producing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay for the Evenstads.
“It was really interesting to learn how to make wine when you have the biggest
wallet you can imagine,” Folin said.
He took those talents, returned home to Southern Oregon and adjusted his
winemaking to fit the terroir for the grapes he and his family grew on their
estate near Medford. Folin Cellars became an early champion for Rhône
varieties in the Rogue Valley, and he showed a deft touch with Grenache, Syrah,
Mourvèdre and Viognier. Folin earned a double gold medal at the San Fran-
cisco Chronicle Wine Competition for his work with the robust Spanish grape
Tempranillo.
“I think we’ve finally figured out in Southern Oregon to stop trying to make
California wines,” he said.
His pedigree with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay shows in his new ultra-boutique
brand Ryan Rose, launched when his family closed Folin Cellars. Those early
releases have drawn praise from Wine Enthusiast.
This spring, he took over at Belle Fiore for Gallo alum Heather Nenow, and he’ll
get to play with Tempranillo, Verdejo and fascinating Italian varieties Barbera,
Montepulciano and Teroldego. And while he’s a nose-to-the-grindstone guy,
Folin doesn’t take himself too seriously, listing his work experience at Folin
Cellars as “janitor.” (That’s an inside joke among nearly every winemaker.)
But aside from fly-fishing, Folin is a family man without hobbies.
“Honestly, I like to work,” he said. “I even enjoy being in the tasting room once
in awhile.
Rob FolinCasey Cobble
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120 PortraitMagazine.com
WASHINGTON
Casey CobbleGoose Ridge Vineyards, Richland www.gooseridge.com
Not long after she finished her career as a University of Washington varsity
swimmer, Casey Cobble sought a job that blended physical work with science
and creativity.
“I stayed involved with fitness and strength conditioning and being a personal
trainer, but I burned out on that,” she said.
A tasting room visit with a Yakima Valley winemaker had planted a seed with
Cobble, and she considered a career in the wine industry. Wisely, she picked up
a few science classes at UW on her way to the psychology degree she earned in
four years. So she dived headlong into wine, growing into a role as lead wine
educator at Columbia Winery in Woodinville while going back to school at
South Seattle College and its Northwest Wine Academy. Her classwork, energy
and charisma set her up for an internship with Bob Betz, a Master of Wine and
owner/winemaker at esteemed Betz Family Cellars.
“It was a huge blessing for me to get that internship,” she said.
Cobble stayed there four years, leaving only when offered the lead winemaking
role at Robert Ramsay Cellars, where her work with Rhône varieties set her
apart in Woodinville. Last year, she earned four gold medals at the Seattle Wine
Awards for Cinsault, Counoise, Grenache and the Mourvèdre-based Par La Mer
blend. Her standalone Mourvèdre earned a gold at the Great Northwest Invite.
At Robert Ramsay, she processed 60 tons of fruit and 4,000 cases of wine. This
summer, she accepted a job back home in the Tri-Cities at Goose Ridge Vine-
yards, where she will be in charge of 300 tons and focused club-member wines
and those for the Monson family’s four tasting rooms across the state.
“We love living in this area, and someday I would love to have my own brand,
but my husband is getting his doctorate in physical therapy so we’ll have stu-
dent loans to pay for a few years,” she chuckled.
JJ and Kelly MenozziAluvé Winery - Walla Walla www.aluvewine.com
The Menozzis have spent most of their adult life serving their country as pilots
in the Air Force, and those tours of duty allowed them to travel the globe.
During their 23-year career, JJ flew fighters. Kelly piloted refueling aircraft.
Along the way, they developed an interest in the world of wine, constantly
scouting potential landing spots for a winery and vineyard of their own.
The winery would be called Aluvè, a mashup of the Italian words for “wing” and
“grape.” Reconnaissance in 2000 led them to the Walla Walla Valley, and they
were befriended by the Dunham Cellars family. A decade later, the Menozzis
purchased 10 acres along historic Mill Creek Road. Neighbors include luminar-
ies such as Abeja, Walla Walla Vintners, aMaurice Cellars and Upland Vineyard,
owned by the Figgins family of Leonetti fame.
And JJ and Kelly went back to school, graduating from Walla Walla Community
College’s vaunted viticulture and enology program, to learn how to grow their
grapes for their wine.
Success came early. Their 2012 red Bordeaux blend called Primo Volo, Italian
for “first flight,” earned a gold medal and best of class at the Walla Walla Valley
Wine Competition then a gold medal at the Great Northwest Invitational. The
2015 Menozzi Vineyard Chardonnay won best of class at the 2017 Savor NW
Wine Awards. The 2014 Menozzi Vineyard Cab recently got 92 points from The
Wine Advocate’s Jeb Dunnuck.
“In the Air Force we always talked about procedures and techniques,” Kelly said.
“There are the procedures that you have to follow, and then there are the tech-
niques that allow you to refine your skills, to be a better pilot, to be a better
winemaker.”
Ryan RaberTertulia Cellars, Walla Walla www.tertuliacellars.com
Ryan Raber came from a family with passion for food. His great-grandfather,
a grandfather and two of his uncles were chefs. His mother grew up cooking
dinner for them when they got home from the restaurant.
That begins to explain why there’s a food-friendliness finesse that seems inher-
ent in the wines at Tertulia Cellars.
“We don’t follow a recipe here,” Raber said. “We might pick at 21 or 22 Brix, and
we don’t crush our fruit. I figure going through a 3-inch hose does that.”
And if he’s not in the cellar or checking on estate fruit at owner Jim O’Connell’s
three vineyards — Rivière Galets, Whistling Hills and the terraced Elevation
— you may well find Raber playing pétanque somewhere in the Northwest.
There’s a terrain at the ready at Tertulia, and he totes in his car or scooter a set
of competition boules - the specialized palm-sized steel balls used in France’s
version of bocce.
“You always carry a little measuring tape in your pocket so you can argue with
people,” he smirked.
If pétanque gets added to the 2024 Paris Olympics, he’ll try to qualify for Team
USA. In the meantime, he’s amassing gold medals for Tertulia. Last year, his
Phinny Hill Vineyard Carménère won best of class at the Cascadia Internation-
al. The Carm and his Phinny Hill Cab grabbed golds at the San Francisco Chron-
icle. A rosé from estate Tempranillo earned a gold in a Wine Press Northwest
magazine judging. Tertulia’s Syrah and GSM-style wine — dubbed The Great
Schism — produced golds at the Seattle Wine Awards.
Those seeking intensity shows in his Tierra Labrada line, produced from Eleva-
tion vines in fractured basalt that yield one ton per acre.
Fortunately, his retail team operates tasting rooms in Dundee, Oregon, Wood-
inville, Washington, and at the winery near the Washington/Oregon border.
The problem is - and it’s a good one - inventory. Raber needs to make more
than 5,000 cases.
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