Hestia Cellars

Unedited

The next time you’re at a party and want to share some great trivia just mention the name Hestia and explain that in Greek mythology Hestia is the virgin goddess of “hearth” or “fireside”, architecture, and of the right ordering of domesticity and the family. In other words, she’s all about family and the coming together of family by the fireside perhaps with a glass of wine.

Given the connection to family, it’s not surprising to learn that Hestia Cellars is a family-owned enterprise located in Western Washington’s Snoqualmie River Valley. Family member Shannon Jones is responsible for crafting a limited number of voluptuous red wines. As he states on the Hestia website, “Remaining a small family winery allows us to be intimate with each and every barrel of wine in our cellar. All of our red wines are gently moved by gravity flow, and are bottled unfined and unfiltered. Cellar techniques are continually fine-tuned as we identify opportunities to enhance our wines. We have a passionate and uncompromised focus on quality at every step in the life of our wines.” As proof positive, the explosive taste of the 2008 Hestia Cabernet Sauvignon demonstrated why Wine Enthusiast gave this vintage a 92 with its tamed tannins and good acidity leading to a long finish. Lovely.

On the white side (assuming they have any inventory left) try their lively citrus-packed Chenin Blanc and perhaps wonder as I did why we don’t see this French-derived variety more often in Washington. While tasting also check out the vineyards where they source their grapes and note the number of sub-appellations of the Columbia Valley represented by these wines: Horse Heaven Hills, Red Mountain, Yakima Valley, Wahluke Slope representing a patch quilt of different soils, climate and grape varieties.

Incidentally, we’re sure Dionysus (the Greek god of wine) would suggest that Hestia cook up some lamb to go with Hestia Cellar’s Syrah. Well at least the folks at Seattle’s 2011 edition of the Lamb Jam thought when they tasted Chef Wayne Johnson’s Rioja braised lamb shank paired with Hestia Cellar’s 2008 Syrah. Both are rich and flavorful on their own but tasted even better when paired.