Tamarack Cellars

Ron Coleman has the nicest smile, and he’s not fazed by visitors to this winery who turn up their noses at the thought of trying his chardonnay or wince when they sample his “Firehouse Red.” He just smiles and conveys a “to each his or her own” attitude. Ironically, his c’est la vie approach wins a lot of converts. Behind his friendly demeanor is a quiet confidence honed by years of experience in the wine trade. With winemaking stints at Canoe Ridge and Waterbrook as well as working as a wine sales representative and sommelier, Ron’s wine background runs deep. These past experiences and his creative talents converge with Tamarack Cellars.

Established in 1998 by Ron and his wife, Jamie, the winery is located in a restored World War II fire station and barracks at the Walla Walla Airport wine incubator complex. Ron is dedicated to making handcrafted wines using varieties from select vineyards in several Washington appellations, including Walla Walla Valley, Horse Heaven Hills, Rattlesnake Hills, Yakima Valley, and Red Mountain. By doing so, he can focus on a single-vineyard reserve wine or blend varieties from a number of different vineyards. He’s like a stage director, and the play can take many twists.

Tamarack Cellars’ current production is approximately 12,000 cases a year, give or take a few pallets. His hugely popular “Firehouse Red” blends a number of black grape varieties that corresponds with the vintage year. For example, his 2008 Firehouse Red features eight grape varieties, including cabernet sauvignon, syrah, merlot, cabernet franc, and four others. It’s a symphony of flavors with no one variety dominating the flavor profile. The 2009 will feature nine varieties, which ultimately begs the question: “Will the 2018 vintage highlight 18 varieties?” Well, why not!

If available for tasting, other got-to-try Tamarack wines are the sangiovese, merlot, syrah, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, DuBrul Vineyard Reserve, Sagemoor Vineyard Reserve, and Seven Hills Vineyard Reserve. Ron’s winemaking style is big and bold, yet very smooth and approachable — in a word, balanced.

The winery is named after the tamarack, a coniferous North American larch tree (Larix laricina) that has needles borne on short spur shoots. This WineTrail enthusiast forgot to ask Ron why he named his winery Tamarack Cellars, but keeping a little mystery in life is not such a bad thing. Besides, this gives other WineTrail explorers something to discover.

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  Order the book!

  Tamarack Cellars was featured in WineTrails of Walla Walla as part of the Walla Walla Airport WineTrail on page 484!

• 

  Order the book!

  Tamarack Cellars was featured in WineTrails of Washington as part of the Walla Walla Airport WineTrail on page 484!