Our Story
It all began with a chance meeting
Little did Lee and Emily know that a chance meeting on a cold and rainy December afternoon in Seattle would profoundly change the rest of their lives.
When you come for a visit, be sure to ask them to share the story. It's "meet cute" for sure!
Fast forward to today -- the two are married, living in the Yakima Valley and embarking on the vintners' life!
Located in the Yakima Valley (Wash.) and established in 2017, Lee and Emily Fergestrom work closely with wine grape growers to select fruit that showcase the best of the Yakima Valley. Quality is top priority and the results are bright, fruit-driven wines – perfect for pairing with food!
Lee Fergestrom, Owner/GM/Winemaker
Emily Fergestrom, Owner/Chief Brand Officer/Winemaker
In the early days
We didn’t start with much. Just some quality fruit (Chardonnay), a borrowed truck and trailer, 6 white wine barrels, and 700 sqft of leased production space located inside Yakima Valley College. Later that same year we purchased some stainless steal tanks to make our Viognier and rosé wines. We use these same tanks today… but we have a few more tanks and barrels now.
The launch phase
Now with wine in bottle we were ready for our initial market release. Launch party, wine walks, wine festivals, farmers markets. It there was a place to introduce our wines to people, we were there… and we met a lot of new friends and wine club members along the way!
The building phase
After establishing our initial market presence we turned our focus to designing and developing our Yakima Valley winery and tasting room. In 2018 we worked with our general contractor and architect to draft the design. In 2019 we began construction. Construction completed in Feb 2020. Winery facility licensed in March 2020. Then after a short delay (due to Covid pandemic) we were open to the public in Aug of 2020.
The expansion phase
In the fall of 2022, we took an old music store located in historic downtown Ellensburg and restored it to it’s original glory. Turning it into the hippest wine + art hangout you’ve ever seen. Turned out real nice! But the most rewarding part is the new friends and partnerships we developed throughout the process. Amazing team and local partners!
And we’re just getting started
We’re busy growing both locations, shipping wine to club members all over the place, expanding into new restaurants and wine bars, European river cruises, and of course making some stellar new wines! Follow us on Instagram or Facebook to see what we’re up to now!
