Cadence Winery

Little Cara Smith’s feet don’t touch the foot pedals of the forklift—at least not yet. But we suspect that in about 10 years, Cara will be the chief cellar rat for Cadence Winery in South Seattle. She may be destined for that role, given the fact that Ben Smith and his wife, Gaye McNutt, owners of Cadence Winery, named their 10-acre Red Mountain vineyard in their daughter’s honor: Cara Mia Vineyard. Like Cara, the vineyard is young and full of promise, with maturing cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc grapes managed by Ryan Johnson of Ciel du Cheval fame.

The name “Cadence” reflects the qualities of balance, harmony, and precision. And these qualities are precisely what Ben Smith and Gaye McNutt aspire to achieve: a harmony of blended red varieties. A graduate of Ohio State University, Ben made his way west and worked for Boeing in Seattle. While there, he immersed himself in Boeing’s winemaking club and volunteered at Chris Camarda’s Andrew Will Winery on Vashon Island. Encouraged by winemaking friends at Boeing, Ben decided to make wine commercially and in 1997, Cadence Winery was born. Today, Cadence Winery is one of 13 bonded wineries in Washington started by Boeing employees, which demonstrates just how much engineers love to tinker. Gaye recently left her legal position with Microsoft to be a key part of the winemaking operations.

In early 2007, Ben and Gaye moved their winemaking operations to a South Seattle industrial park within a stone’s throw of OS Winery and :Nota Bene Cellars. The winery’s high ceiling and 4,000-plus square feet of space provide an ideal environment for blending reds and creating luscious flavors exhibiting lots of fruit and spice. Cadence Winery is certain to continue receiving high marks from Wine Spectator and other publications. But when asked if he would eventually move family and operation to Red Mountain, Ben replies, “It’s not in the cards. I’m sure my wife would object to that.” It appears this transplanted couple likes the Puget Sound region’s harmonic blend of salt air and lush evergreens.

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  Cadence Winery was featured in WineTrails of Washington as part of the South Seattle WineTrail on page 92!