The
History of the Whitman Cellars Winery
- 1998
- The winery was started by John Edwards and Larry
& Sally Thomason with their first crush of two
barrels of Merlot, and one of Cabernet Sauvignon,
which were blended into a Meritage.
Pictured
left to right are John, Steve (our head winemaker),
Sally and Larry.
- 2001
- The tasting room was opened in downtown Walla Walla
in September with the release of our 1998 Meritage,
1999 Merlot, and 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon. Sold out
by May of 2002.
- Won
an Outstanding Award for both
our 1999 Merlot and 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon from
Wine Press Northwest magazine.
- Won
a Gold Medal for our 1999 Cabernet
Sauvignon and a Silver Medal
for our 1999 Merlot at the Northwest Wine Summit.
- Won
a Bronze Medal for our 1999 Cabernet
Sauvignon at the Tri-Cities Wine Festival.
- Crushed
our first Syrah with fruit from
the Walla Walla valley.
- 2002
- Joined by Steve Lessard as our
head winemaker and fellow Whitman Cellars member.
- Won
a Silver Medal for our 2000 Cabernet
Sauvignon and a Bronze Medal
for our Meritage at the American Wine Society's
Commercial Wine Competition.
- Won
a Bronze Medal for our 2000 Cabernet
Sauvignon at the Tri-Cities Wine Festival.
- Added
our first Viognier and crushed grapes for our
first Port!
- Started
construction of a new winery facility located
on the corner of 13th and Pine - across from Canoe
Ridge winery. Grand Opening celebrated December
7th and 8th.
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