Pepper Bridge Winery

As you approach Pepper Bridge Winery, you are likely to see a Swiss flag flying above the handsome tri-level estate and winery. No, you haven’t left the U.S.; the flag honors the home country of Pepper Bridge winemaker Jean-Francois Pellet. It was in Switzerland that Jean-Francois honed his winemaking skills, beginning at his family’s winery/vineyard and later working in Spain.

However, the wonderful thing about Pepper Bridge is the team of people who have come together to create a great winery that is integrated, from “grape buds to bottle.” This team is composed of managing partners, viticulturists, winemakers, marketing and sales staff, and tasting room hosts. Whomever you visit with, you are struck by the professionalism and dedication to Pepper Bridge Winery. You come to understand that the winery is more than the personality of one individual—it is about an organization.

The winery/tasting room sits on a hill on the southern edge of Walla Walla, with Northstar Winery in view in the distance. The hill provides a panoramic vista of the Blue Mountains, but the location was chosen to take advantage of gravity. The three-story production facility allows grapes to gently flow from top to bottom, from destemming to fermentation. It is this design and attention to detail that is responsible for Pepper Bridge’s 100 percent award-winning Walla Walla estate merlots and cabernet sauvignons. As testimony to Pepper Bridge’s excellent grapes, more than 60 wineries purchase its grapes, including Col Solare, L'Ecole No 41, Reininger, Woodward Canyon, Hogue, and Seven Hills, just to name a few.

Pepper Bridge’s quaint tasting room, which sits next to the integrated production facility, possesses a charming “French country” feel inside and out. The lack of any gift shop is purposeful—the focus is the wine. At $8, the tasting fee is a bit steep, but it goes toward any purchases made. Tasting room manager Lisa Schmidt can speak in-depth about Pepper Bridge wines, as well as Walla Walla winemaking in general, having spent most of her life in the Walla Walla Valley.

WineTrails Northwest rarely advocates that you join a particular winery’s wine club. But with the Pepper Bridge Vine Club, we make an exception. Using an innovative approach, Pepper Bridge Winery sells vines to its Vine Club members at the cost of $150 per year. For that fee, members receive a bottle of wine, a certificate of ownership, and a "hands-on" day in the Pepper Bridge vineyard, where they learn pruning, thinning, and harvesting techniques. What’s more, your name is prominently displayed on your vine. Now that’s a different kind of wine club … Viva la différence!

Directions: From downtown Walla Walla, take SR-125 (south) [S. 9th Ave.] for about 4 miles. Turn left onto Old Milton Hwy and continue for about .5 miles. Turn right onto Peppers Bridge Rd and drive 1 mile. Turn left at JB George Rd and drive about .5 miles. At the end of the road, turn left onto limited access road. Drive through grapevine-lined lane and continue straight to Pepper Bridge Winery.

Events: Spring Release Weekend, Balloon Stampede Weekend, Vintage Walla Walla, Holiday Barrel Tasting

Addresses

• Walla Walla WineTrail South

  Winery/Tasting Room

  1704 JB George Road, Walla Walla, WA 99362
  Hours: Daily 10–4
  46.005711-118.369476
• Walla Walla WineTrail South

  Satellite tasting room

  , Woodinville, WA 98072
  Hours: TBD