Two weeks ago, my Review of Washington Wines Blog posting was about "The 1980's: a Pivotal Decade for Washington Wines." In it, I should have mentioned one winery that had a tremendous impact: Waterbrook. Last week, I received the following email from Chuck Reininger of Reininger Winery:

"I enjoyed your "1980's" blog but thought that I must give a plug for Waterbrook which started in 1984 with a focus on high quality affordable wines (Cab, Merlot and Chardonnay). Eric Rindal and Janet Byerley were very magnanimous and instrumental in the start of of many Washington wineries.

Here are some of them:

L'Ecole No. 41 - Eric was the Fergusons' cellarmaster when they started in 1983.

Seven Hills - Waterbrook made the first couple of vintages of Seven Hills Winery for Dr. McClelland and Dr. Hendricks.

Glen Fiona - Rusty Figgins made his first wines at Waterbrook

Reininger - Eric, Janet and Brian Carson were my mentors, From its start, I worked on and off at Waterbrook until starting Reininger.

Cayuse - Christophe, not knowing English, came from France to intern at Waterbrook and in 1997 began making his wines there with much help from them. He made his wines at Waterbrook under the tutelage of Eric for several vintages.

Tamarack - Ron Coleman worked in marketing for Waterbrook and received considerable guidance from them.

Three Rivers - It produced its first vintages there with Charlie Hoppes as winemaker. Charlie was once Waterbrook's assistant winemaker before he became a winemaker for Ste. Michelle.

Januik - After leaving Ste. Michelle, Mike Januik started his winery at Waterbrook.

JM Cellars - This winery was started at Waterbrook.

The above is only a partial list. Eric Rindal's and Janet Byerley's tremendous involvement and impact on the formative years of the Walla Walla Valley AVA and the Washington Wine industry, sadly, are being forgotten."

Thanks, Chuck, and I have this to add:

Waterbrook is now part of the Precept Brands portfolio and is the name of a 250,000 case capacity winery on Highway 12, twelve miles west of Walla Walla. The brand is ubiquitous on supermarket wine shelves. Few consumers are aware that the winery was founded in 1984 by an adventurous young couple.

I remember in the 1980's, that Eric would came to Esquin from time to time to pour his wines and talk about them. That was a part of the Waterbrook contribution to the growth of the Washington wine industry during that pivotal decade of the 1980's.

 

Bryant House and Bryant Barn Vacation Rentals

Coincidentally, yesterday evening, Lynn and I were at an Open House for Janet Byerley's (co-founder of Waterbrook) vacation rental properties on Bryant Avenue in Walla Walla. The Bryant House unit is a spacious craftsman style bungalow with a patio, large yard and pool. This can be seen at www.vrbo.com/393713. The Bryant Barn has a contemporary open concept living space with a loft bedroom (and an additional bed in the large wine barrel outside!). Go to www.vrbo.com/485602. They're very nicely done.