Walla Walla Vintners

Started by Dr. Myles Anderson and Gordon Venneri, Walla Walla Vintners was a “hobby business” that morphed into a very successful venture. Both men come from well-ordered, structured backgrounds. Myles Anderson was the founding director of Walla Walla Community College’s Institute for Enology and Viticulture. Gordon is a retired accountant and a retired agent for Knights of Columbus Insurance. You would expect, with these backgrounds, that the two men would operate from a detailed business plan, complete with financial projections that would warm a banker’s heart. Nope, no plan. Nada. Zilch.

Before launching Walla Walla Vintners in 1995 (and becoming the eighth bonded winery in Walla Walla Valley), Myles and Gordon experimented. The winery grew out of a labor of love for handcrafting premium wine. It also grew out of much failure. Here’s what they say on their website: “As winemakers we made home-crafted wines for over 10 years before we considered making commercial wine. This was all done in our backyard using borrowed, makeshift equipment and for a while, a small apple press. …We experimented with oak chips, used oak barrels, beer kegs, food-grade plastic buckets, plastic apple juice containers, Coca-Cola syrup stainless steel containers, and glass carboys. The yeast and chemicals came from a local drug store that specialized in stocking such items for beer and winemakers.” That is passion!

Myles and Gordon have also gained a reputation for being exceptionally generous with their time, expertise, and winemaking equipment. They provide the training ground for the enology and viticulture program’s interns, educate other would-be winemakers, and lend their production facility and equipment to start-ups such as nearby àMaurice Winery. Their winemaker, William vonMetzger, graduated from the enology and viticulture program.

However, Miles and Gordon’s real claim to fame is their wine — premium red wine. The buzz surrounding the release of their 2003 sangiovese was loud, and the wine earned top honors at the Seattle Wine Awards. Their other reds, including cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, and a red-blend cuvée, have also garnered high marks.

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  Order the book!

  Walla Walla Vintners was featured in WineTrails of Walla Walla as part of the Walla Walla WineTrail East on page 500!

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  Order the book!

  Walla Walla Vintners was featured in WineTrails of Washington as part of the Walla Walla WineTrail East on page 500!