Yakima River Winery

John and Louise Rauner have focused on creating big, red Yakima wines for nearly 30 years. Beginning in 1977, in an unassuming winery and tasting room in Prosser, John began making wine under the Yakima River Winery label. Since those early beginnings, John has become a huge proponent of the Yakima Valley appellation; a visit with him reveals his deep love of Yakima grapes. Because of the intense concentration of flavor and deep red color of these grapes, he finds no need to go beyond his beloved Yakima Valley for fruit. Move over Napa. Through years of perfecting his craft, John has gathered a loyal following of Yakima River wine lovers who shun Bordeaux in favor of Yakima appellation wines.

Yakima River Winery is a white-wine-free zone. John focuses on cabernet sauvignon, merlot, syrah, petit verdot, cabernet-merlot blends, and ports. His passion for Yakima varietals overflows, and he cares for each wine as if it were his offspring. And really, they are. With nearly 30 years of wine making under his belt, John is constantly tinkering with perfecting the ultimate Yakima wines. He collaborates closely with Yakima Valley grape growers about vineyard management issues, such as canopy size, pruning, irrigation, picking, and sorting. But that’s just the beginning. He also works closely with world-class coopers, paying attention to the source of the oak, toasting, the curing of the staves, and more. He’s intimately involved; even the choice of yeast gets due consideration. Once the grapes have come under his control, he performs myriad time-tested tasks, from crushing to bottling. As a testament to his love of winemaking, he posted on his website an article nearly 2,000 words in length explaining his philosophy about winemaking. Now that’s passion!

But to enjoy his wine, you don’t need to read his treatise in advance. All you have to do is head to the winery’s North River Road location, near the Yakima River, and sample his big reds. Don’t forget to ask him about the source of his fruit, his choice of oak, and his philosophy about winemaking. He will turn you into a believer.

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  Yakima River Winery was featured in WineTrails of Washington as part of the Prosser WineTrail South on page 356!