White Heron Cellars

Located in the ghost town of Trinidad, White Heron Cellars is the creation of Swiss-trained vintners Phyllis and Cameron Fries. The winery is about 1,000 feet above the Columbia River Gorge between Wenatchee and Quincy. If your wine travels include Cave B Estate Winery, then you will want to add White Heron Cellars to your itinerary; it’s a mere 30-minute drive away. Dry weather, the moderating influence of the Columbia River, the slope of the land, and the soil itself all conspire to create a unique terroir that’s perfect for growing wine grapes.

As you enter the White Heron property, you’re forgiven if you suddenly stop and fish for your camera. Perched on the hillside, the White Heron Cellars winery and the Fries’ contemporary-style home pop out from the rest of the scenery. With acres of vineyard rows between your lens and the winery, you have a perfect picture moment.

Well over 6 feet tall, Cameron possesses a big, toothy smile and a deep voice to match his height. In the winemaking community, he’s a bit of an iconoclast, using techniques he learned in Switzerland. For example, he doesn’t believe in using fresh oak. He wants the wines to express the true taste of the grape rather than reflecting the taste of the oak. Most of White Heron’s wines are estate wines and include cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, malbec, petit verdot, pinot noir, gamay, syrah, roussanne, and viognier. As you sample his roussanne, Cameron notes that it is more popular than viognier in the Rhone region of France, and he characterizes it as a “syrah in drag.” His wines are refreshingly honest, devoid of the puckering power of tannins you find at other wineries.

Because their winery is off the beaten path, Cameron and Phyllis began hosting summer concert series, guest-chef nights, and shellfish festivals long before other wineries got in on the act. They also built a Pétanque court (a French game similar to bocce) and each summer they sponsor a Pétangue tournament at the winery. We told you White Heron Cellars is unique. Cameron is a self-described “stupid optimist,” and we suspect that with the emergence of the surrounding wine industry, White Heron Cellars will become a popular stop along the North Central WineTrail.

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  White Heron Cellars was featured in WineTrails of Washington as part of the Columbia River WineTrail on page 222!