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™


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



“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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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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