Washington Wines Crafted With Purpose, Shared With Passion
THE CAMARADERIE STYLE
A Focus on Quality Has Led to Over 400 Awards
For a winery our size at only about 2,750 cases a year, we make a wide range of varietals. It gets a little crazy at harvest time, but we feel compelled to make Washington wines we are personally passionate about. These include classic Bordeaux varieties, Rhône blends and even Italian Super Tuscan Sangiovese and Spanish Tempranillo. We are proud that each varietal or blend has been well-awarded in competitions for their stand-alone quality.
We are especially proud of our Cabernet Franc, a wine usually used in blending around the world but shines as a single varietal here in Washington State.
We also make a limited release Sauvignon Blanc to complement our area’s shellfish. Our summer specialty “Rugosa Rosé” is reminiscent of the beautiful dry rosé’s we’ve enjoyed on our trips to France and Italy.
Although the Washington wine industry has grown significantly over the last decades, we have chosen to remain small and focused on small-lot production of wines from great Northwest vineyards.
Our focus on quality has led to over 400 major national and international wine awards. Our consistent quality was noted by the Seattle Wine Awards with the Heritage Winery of the Year award in 2022.
WINEMAKING
Camaraderie’s Philosophy and Style
CRAFTED IN THE NORTHWEST
Rooted in Place and Purpose
“We make wines to go with the meal and not opening the mail.” Well, actually, we make wine for all occasions but our focus is on making wines that complement and hold up to what people like to eat. That means our wines are have structure that balances tannins, and fruit that provide the “yum” to the dining experience.
Most of our wines are named for a variety of wine, like Cabernet Sauvignon, but several blend varieties to capture the essence of a region and are just plain yummy. Our “Grâce” is a blend of the primary wine varieties of France’s Bordeaux region. Another example is our “Cadeaux du Rhône”, a blend of Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache and a couple of other lesser-known Rhône varieties. In both cases, the wines are an “homage” to these great wine regions and varieties.
Well-structured food wines age well. Our wines regularly earn “Diamonds of the Decade” at the Seattle Wine Awards which is an award specifically highlighting Washington wines that have great longevity.
And don’t forget our wine club! Camaraderie Cellars offers our club members a rare opportunity to enjoy a wide range of excellently made wines from superb vineyards that often are only available through membership. Find out more here.
DETAILS FOR WINE GEEKS – We Know Who You Are
Folks that like background info on the what’s and why’s of our winemaking. Here ya go:
Do you grow your own grapes?
The simple answer is “no”, but for good reasons. The climate of the Olympic Peninsula is cool and not conducive to growing classic grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah.
Wine quality always starts in the vineyard and we work with seven heralded vineyards in six distinctive northwest growing areas (AVA’s). All of our grapes are hand picked which is an increasing rarity with the trend of labor-saving vineyard mechanization.
Most of our vineyard partners are small producers like Connie and Charlie Crawford’s in Prosser. That’s where we get small lots of Tempranillo, Malbec and Dolcetto. The site is relatively cool and the fruit has the benefit of long hang time for full flavor development. See vineyard and variety specifics below.
We use oak judiciously with larger-sized barrels than many other wineries to assure our wines maintain the fruit qualities that Washington State grapes are known for. For example, the most common barrel size is 225 liters or about 59 gallons but we like to work with barrels that are 300 to 500 liters. Our “reserve” small lot wines are aged in oak ovals that hold 1000 to 1500 liters.
It’s not just a simple ratio of volume of wine to surface area of oak we are concerned about but also the type of oak and its origin. Most of our barrels are from the forests of France but our larger barrels are built in Austria from Slovenian oak. Staves of American white oak (Quercus alba) are aged full four years before being made into barrels to soften vanillin flavors that we appreciate in moderation.
About our AVA’s and Vineyards … but first an explanation:
When we started in 1992 Washington State only had a couple American Viticultural Areas (AVA’s), the Columbia Valley AVA and the Yakima Valley AVA. Over the last 30 plus years the number of AVAs in Washington State has grown to 21.
Why use so many? Washington State is a mosaic of growing areas and each has its own attributes. Each has its own terroir, or distinctive growing conditions of slope, sun orientation, soil types and depth etc. Cabernet Sauvignon from one vineyard can be very different in taste from another vineyard let alone an AVA many miles away with very different characteristics.
Over our 30 plus years we have come to know the different growing areas and have made lasting relationships with growers who we consider partners and friends. Our winemaking style is to showcase a wine variety’s characteristics and the uniqueness of the vineyard. Sometimes, though, we can’t pass up blending wines from different vineyards or varieties to create a special release. The winemaker’s palette and palate are showcased in all our wines but especially in the blends like “Les Amis”, a blend of warm-site Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
Where we get our Grapes and Names of Vineyards:
- Yakima Valley AVA
- Crawford Vineyard: Tempranillo, Malbec, Dolcetto, Petit Verdot
- Knox Road Vineyard: Grenache, Counois, Cinsault
- Chandler Reach Vineyard: Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Sangiovese
- Snipes Mountain AVA
- Newhouse Vineyard: Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc
- Rattlesnake Mountains
- Elephant Mountain Vineyard: Merlot
- Sugar Loaf Vineyard: Mourvèdre
- White Bluffs
- Dionysus Vineyard: Cabernet Sauvignon
- Waluke Slope
- Weinbau Vineyard: Cabernet Franc
- And, beginning in 2024, Oregon’s Willamette Valley
- Eratic Oaks Vineyard: Pinot Noir
How do you know when to Pick?
Our winery is 300 miles away from our vineyard partners and when to pick for optimal ripeness and flavor is a challenge. Flavors don’t necessarily develop at the same time as technical fruit maturity (no, it’s not just when the grapes turn purple!). We have worked with Cheryl Barber Jones (a famed winemaker and consultant) for years to visit and consult with each of our vineyard managers or owners to sample grapes as harvest gets closer to determine our picking and transportation schedule.
When stars and flavors align Don drives from Port Angeles to eastern Washington to pick up each batch as they are ready.
What is your aging strategy?
Our red wines are typically aged for 20 months in larger format barrels (300 liter and up) compared to the traditional 225 Liter size.
The first ten months wines are aged in approximately 25% new barrels and the rest in 1–3-year-old barrels. Over the second 10 months wines are aged in neutral oak to integrate the first year’s oak contribution.
We predominantly use barrels from multiple forests of France, 1000-1,500 liter ovals made in Austria from Slovenian oak. American oak barrels are used judiciously to complement the complexity of our more robust varieties like Tempranillo.
Want to know more? Come visit the winery and you may be lucky enough for a barrel tasting with the wine making team themselves!