Cascadia Winery
New to the north-central Washington wine region is Peshastin’s Cascadia Winery. Although a fresh face, winemaker/owner Alan Yanagimachi is not new to winemaking. In 2005, Alan came north from California following a stint at Monterey Wine Co., where he learned the technologies necessary to produce 1.5 million gallons of wine annually. That’s fermentation on a grand scale. Now he looks forward to producing 1,500 cases per year and relishes the idea of creating “artisan” wines. Among other winemaking stops, Alan worked at Arbor Crest Wine Cellar in Spokane (where he met his wife, Lilith). He also traveled to the former Soviet Republic of Georgia and, for 18 months, experienced winemaking in one of the oldest winemaking areas in the world. He also worked for a winery near Angels Camp in California, made famous by Mark Twain’s short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." Alan doesn’t mention if the winery’s sales leapfrogged over its competitors.
Added to his working experience is a degree in fermentation science/enology from the University of California–Davis. The degree came about after a chance meeting with Robert Mondavi in 1985 at a dinner/jazz concert at Mondavi Cellars. Because of his science background, Alan has found it helpful to offer lab services to other wineries as well as wine enthusiasts while he gets Cascadia Winery off and running.
Despite his recent migration from California, Alan hasn’t wasted any time getting started. Already, his ’07 offerings include a dry “Pinnacle Rosé,” a riesling, a wine labeled “Apple Andy,” made from Gala and Golden Delicious apples, and a chardonnay with tropical flavors and full finish. His plans are to produce a larger portfolio of wines, in particular, red wines, but those will take time to age. Still, Alan loves the idea of staying small and producing handcrafted wines relying on fruit from his new home, Washington.
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Cascadia Winery was featured in WineTrails of Washington as part of the Leavenworth-Peshastin WineTrail on page 208!
