Jessica DellaTorre & John Erickson of Apple Valley Emporium (AVE), Central WA’s only board and bottle shop!! Jessica DellaTorre and John Erickson came to California from different sides of the US, she from Florida, he from Washington.  John grew up skateboarding, and all his jobs have involved the skateboard industry.  Jessica had a variety of jobs in CA, including at a spa, winery and other venues as a hospitality manager.  She and her family opened a bar and restaurant in Los Angeles, and that’s where she and John met.  During the pandemic, they moved to Yaki ..read more

Dusty Jenkins of Sage Rat Wine Dusty Jenkins grew up in the Yakima Valley, never imagining he would one day settle there to make wine.  He studied film in college, and spent lots of time in dark rooms in New York and elsewhere.  He had friends making wine in WA, and their more physical, outdoor life grew increasingly attractive to him with every hour he spent in the dark room.  In 2015, Dusty left the film world to enroll in Walla Walla Community College’s Enology and Viticulture Program.  Two years later he was Assistant Winemaker at Gilbert Cellars in Yakima, an ..read more

Sebastien Leroy, Product Manager with AmaWaterways Photos courtesy of AmaWaterways, used with permission. Sebastien Leroy grew up in Normandy, France where he spent many weekends during his first 10 years on his dad’s boat.  He joined AmaWaterways as a cruise manager in 2012, and ten years later became the company’s Product Manager for France, Iberia and the golf program.  Sebastien was instrumental in creating the itinerary for AMA’s Flavors of Burgundy wine river cruise, which is the focus of this interview.  In June 2025, Ellensburg Travel and I will be helping to ..read more

Rick Small, co-founder of Woodward Canyon Winery The Small family has deep agricultural roots in Walla Walla going back multiple generations, with a focus on cattle and wheat farming.  So it was more than a surprise to his parents when, in 1977, Rick Small expressed a desire to plant some wine grapes on family wheat land in Woodward Canyon.  He had a degree in agriculture, but no schooling in growing grapes and making wine.  His good friend Gary Figgins was making homemade wine, and Rick was really enamored with the process.  He wrote to the University of CA at D ..read more

Rich Funk of Saviah Cellars When Rich and Anita Funk moved from Montana to Walla Walla in 1991, they never imagined they would one day be part of the Washington wine industry.  In fact, their dream was to stay in Walla Walla a couple of years and then return to Montana to open a microbrewery.  Rich had a strong science background and knew something about making beer.  But they both had good jobs in Walla Walla and fell in love with the community at a time that was magical for the emerging wine industry.  The couple drank more and more Walla Walla wines and met the ..read more

Steve Kenyon and Dave Stephenson of Otis Kenyon Wine Otis Kenyon Wine has the most dramatic backstory of any winery in Washington state.  I don’t want to ruin the interview, so will just say the drama involves some F words:  fire, family, forgiveness, and fine wine.  The star of the story is James Otis Kenyon, a practicing dentist near Milton Freewater in the 1920s.  The winery logo is his silhouette, complete with bowtie and bowler hat.  His grandson Steve Otis Kenyon started the winery in 2004, and is still the owner along with his daughter Muriel.  The ..read more

Richard Holmes and Paul Vandervort of Cotes de Ciel Wines and Ciel du Cheval Vineyard To talk about Côtes de Ciel wines, we have to start with the coveted estate Ciel du Cheval Vineyard on Red Mountain.  In 1973, engineers Jim Holmes and John Williams purchased land there with the intention of growing wine grapes.  No other agricultural endeavor had succeeded in this sea of sagebrush, and there was no road, water, electricity, or building on the mountain.  People laughed at the idea of scientists planting anything, but Jim and John were determined.  In 1975 they pl ..read more

George-Anne Robertson of Yellowhawk Sparkling House George-Anne Robertson engaged in a variety of pursuits before settling on sparkling wine, including restaurant and hotel management, Japanese language study, raising a family, body building and personal training, fitness videos, teaching yoga and spin classes, and more.  In 2014 she decided to become a sommelier, but soon discovered her interests weren’t in line with that course of study.  She was more interested in the science of wine, and so enrolled in the Walla Walla Community College’s Enology and Viticulture Program ..read more

Mark and Lexi Garvin of Tipsy Canyon Winery Mark and Tami Garvin spent 30+ years at Boeing, he doing many different jobs, especially Project Management.  They had a vacation home on Lake Chelan, and always dreamed of retiring to the area.  Tami converted Mark from a Rainier Beer drinker to a wine lover, mostly by taking him to wine regions, including Lake Chelan wineries.  Mark got really interested in wine, and imagined himself pouring wine for wineries once he retired.  But then he acquired 400 lbs of grapes and started making wine for friends in his vacation hom ..read more

Lisa Callan of Callan Cellars In 2009, Lisa Callan had spent years as a court clerk, real estate agent and mother of three.  With the real estate market in steep decline, she was looking for a new career.  Her brother-in-law signed her up for WSU’s Enology Program without telling her, because he thought she had a great palate.  When she eventually got a call in 2010 letting her know she had a place in the program, she decided to take the plunge and accept.  She first started making her own wines at home, but by 2016 things had gotten too far out of control to cont ..read more