ABOUT
OUR WINES
Making wine is both an artistic and scientific endeavor. Owner/Winemaker, Mike Thiede has a background as a botanist, biologist, and scientist, coupled with his natural curiosity, which has resulted in more than 50 different wines – innovative New Organic wines, Bordeaux wines, Rhone wines, Italian wines, Pinot Noir and Whites. In addition, he has vinted several port-style wines and dessert wines. Mike strives to make wines that taste good to him. Fortunately, they also taste good to customers and wine judges as evidenced by more and more wines awarded gold medals. While most wine-makers find a few wines to focus on, Mike thrives on being able to constantly experiment and make new kinds of wines.
OUR LOCATION
Good wine grapes just get better as they are stressed. With meager soils, limited rainfall and lots of sunshine, the Wahluke Slope has a winning combination. Millions of years ago fissures opened up along the Washington eastern border sending large amounts of hot lava to wend its way to the Pacific coast. Following the basalt flows, gravel and deposits from the Ice Age Missoula floods preceded the wind-blown soil which set the terroir of the Wahluke Slope. This area was also the center of a tropical forest which included ginkgo trees. Bounded by the Saddle Mountains and the Columbia River, the area is only 81,000 acres. When water was brought to this area, almost any type of plant flourished. Wine grapes seem to particularly develop intense, rich flavors.
A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE WINE AWARDS
Named Best Red and Best of Show at 2010 Capital Food and Wine Festival
Named a Diamond of the Decade at 2016 Seattle Wine Awards
Won the Pinot Noir competition at Ray's Boathouse of Retrospective Wines
Won Double Gold at 2013 Wenatchee Festival
Awarded a Platinum medal at the 2013 Best of the Best
Named Best of Varietal at 2014 Tri-Cities Wine Awards
Named by Andy Perdue as one, #31, of the Top 50 Wines of 2018 and recommended it as a complimentary wine for Christmas Dinner of beef
Awarded Double Gold and Best Dessert wine at 2020 Seattle Wine Awards
Basalt flows covered this area
Dinosaurs roamed the earth
Ginkgo trees thrived in this area
Glacial Lake Missoula floods
A few acres of vines were planted on today’s Wahluke Slope
Wahluke Slope named an American Viticultural Area (Washington State Wine Commission photo)
Ginkgo Forest Winery opened with the only tasting room on the Wahluke Slope
Many wineries produce award-winning wines from grapes of the Wahluke Slope