Robert Karl Cellars

In the mid-’90s, Joseph and Rebecca Gunselman decided to cure their recently acquired wine bug and head west from Virginia. That’s quite a prescription, considering that many physicians are terrible at self-diagnosing and treating their own ailments. Joseph Gunselman is a practicing anesthesiologist and continues his day job at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane. However, truth be told, his real passion is making wine.

Armed with a scientific background, Joe understood that the secret to making great wine begins with the grapes themselves. To this end, he hit a home run with his decision to acquire his grapes from the Horse Heaven Hills AVA, home to vineyards such as McKinley Springs, Alder Ridge, and Phinny Hill. Joe collaborates closely with the growers and tracks vineyard data pertaining to temperature, precipitation, sugar content, and more.

Joe’s wife, Rebecca, assists with winemaking and manages the tasting room and marketing. They also enlist the cooperation of their three cellar-rat sons to help during crush, racking and bottling. Together this family produces about 2,500 cases annually of cabernet sauvignon, claret, merlot, sauvignon blanc, syrah, and a dry cabernet franc rosé. As a consequence of remaining “boutique,” Robert Karl Cellars often has to inform its visitors that a particular label is sold out. We had the good fortune of tasting a recent vintage of its claret before loyal fans snapped it up. As we learned, the word “claret” originates from the French clairet, meaning light red wine that uses varietals from Bordeaux. We promise to get no more cork dorky than that.

The Gunselmans are bullish about the wine industry in their adopted state, because "Washington grapes continue to get better."

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  Robert Karl Cellars was featured in WineTrails of Washington as part of the Spokane-Pullman WineTrail on page 540!