William Church Winery

Unedited

Evidently, the “R” word wasn’t part of Rod and Leslie Balsley’s lexicon when they faced the prospect of retirement. They simply weren’t ready. Too much energy and too many miles to go before settling for a doublewide in Arizona. They already knew they had a passion for wine but a trip to Italy sealed the deal when they discovered how much wine was part of the fabric of life. Wine as a complement to good food, friends and perhaps a little opera thrown in. With that, they returned home and worked with consultant winemaker Matthew Loso to launch William Church Winery in 2005.

Located in Woodinville’s Warehouse Winery District, resides the production facility and tasting room of William Church Winery. For weekend tasters, Warehouse location is perfect for experiencing a half dozen or so wineries. For many WineTrail trekkers the drawback concerns the other days of the week when they are not open. To address that, a second William Church tasting room opened its doors in 2011 in the well-trafficked Hollywood Schoolhouse area. With Lachini Vineyards on one side and Purple Café to the other, the new tasting room is a destination with free parking to boot.
Although Italy might have been the place that ignited their passion, the wine list at William Church is decidedly French persuasion with cabernet, syrah, viognier and malbec leading the charge. It’s a sangiovese-free zone with big Bordeaux and Rhône varieties dominating. This speaks to these two WSU graduate’s palates.

The name “William Church” pays homage to the names of Rod’s father’s first name and Leslie’s father’s middle name and signifies the importance of legacy. For many, having something that lives on – with your signature – is hugely important. Certainly, leaving a successful winery is that legacy for Rod and Leslie for their goal remains to be part of the conversation with Washington top-tier wines. To that end, they rely on the talents of consulting enologist Erica Orr to assist with their most recent vintages.
Speaking of enduring things in life, the rose window design on the label from French Gothic church architecture stands the test of time for its beauty as does the contents of the bottle.