àMaurice Cellars

àMaurice Cellars was founded in 2004 by Tom and Kathleen Schafer with their children Anna and Nick; Nick's wife Stephanie Schafer also contributed to the family project. Tom Schafer spent two years studying the Walla Walla Valley before settling on a south-facing site up Mill Creek for the estate vineyard. The 13-acre planting went into the ground in 2006 at roughly 1,400 feet of elevation in the Blue Mountains foothills, higher than most Walla Walla vineyards and well above the valley floor. The estate is named in tribute to Maurice Schafer, Anna's paternal grandfather and a notable Pacific Northwest timber industry figure remembered locally as a civic leader. The accent on the name (à Maurice) gives the label its French inflection while preserving the family dedication.

• Founded 2004 by Tom and Kathleen Schafer with children Anna and Nick; Stephanie Schafer (Nick's wife) also part of the family operation
• 13-acre estate vineyard planted 2006 on Mill Creek at roughly 1,400 feet, above the valley floor in the Blue Mountains foothills
• Named for Maurice Schafer, Anna's paternal grandfather and a Pacific Northwest timber industry figure
• Estate plantings cover Bordeaux varieties plus Syrah, Malbec, and Viognier; no Pinot Noir on the estate

Anna Schafer Cohen, Tom and Kathleen's daughter, served as winemaker at àMaurice from the project's early years. Her winemaking training included two harvests at Paul Hobbs's Viña Cobos in Mendoza, Argentina, in 2006 and 2007, an internationally visible operation that shaped her stylistic instincts toward ripe-but-structured reds and aromatic whites. Seattle Magazine recognized her as a Top New Winemaker, noting at the time that she was the youngest and the only woman on that list. Her hands-on approach across vineyard and cellar shaped the estate's identity through more than a decade of vintages, and Walla Walla critics regularly grouped àMaurice among the small estate names worth following.

• Anna Schafer Cohen served as winemaker from the project's early vintages
• Worked harvest at Paul Hobbs's Viña Cobos in Mendoza, Argentina in 2006 and 2007
• Recognized by Seattle Magazine as a Top New Winemaker; cited as the youngest and only woman on that list at the time
• Built the estate's reputation for Viognier, Malbec, and Bordeaux-style red blends across more than a decade of vintages

àMaurice produced a Bordeaux-leaning portfolio anchored by Viognier as the signature white and Malbec as a calling-card red, with Bordeaux blends and Syrah filling out the lineup. Estate-grown wines included the 'Amparo' Malbec, the 'Night Owl' estate Bordeaux blend, the 'Owl and Crown' estate Cabernet Sauvignon, and the 'Fred' Syrah, all drawn from the 13-acre Mill Creek planting. Other bottlings sourced fruit from Columbia Valley vineyards including the Chardonnay and a Columbia Valley Malbec, with additional Viognier from Gamache Vineyard and Chardonnay from Conner Lee Vineyard appearing across vintages. The 'Schafer' Artist Series is a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc with composition varying by vintage; the 2017 release was 45 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 38 percent Merlot, and 17 percent Cabernet Franc with two years in 40 percent new French oak. 'The Callahan' red blend remains one of the estate's better-known label names.

• Bordeaux-leaning portfolio: Viognier (signature white), Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah
• Estate-grown wines: 'Amparo' Malbec, 'Night Owl' estate Bordeaux blend, 'Owl and Crown' estate Cabernet, 'Fred' Syrah
• Sourced wines: Chardonnay and Malbec from Columbia Valley vineyards; Viognier from Gamache Vineyard, Chardonnay from Conner Lee Vineyard
• 'Schafer' Artist Series: Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc with composition varying by vintage

The house style at àMaurice paired the ripe-fruited generosity of warm Walla Walla vintages with structured oak handling and ageable backbone, a profile that fit cleanly with Anna Schafer Cohen's Viña Cobos training. The Viognier became a calling-card white in a Walla Walla market dominated by Cabernet and Syrah, and the estate Malbec drew particular critical attention. The estate avoided the broad commercial scope of larger Walla Walla operations and stayed small enough to remain a hand-farmed, family-run project across its production years.

• House style: ripe-fruited generosity from warm Walla Walla vintages with structured oak handling and ageable backbone
• Viognier stood out as a calling-card white in a Cabernet-and-Syrah-dominated Walla Walla market

Tom Schafer built àMaurice around a dry-land farming philosophy from the start. He planted the estate vineyard without irrigation at roughly 1,400 feet in the Blue Mountains foothills, one of the higher and cooler sites in the Walla Walla Valley. The estate is named for Albert Maurice Schafer, Tom's father and a prominent figure in the Pacific Northwest timber industry; the French construction 'à Maurice' means 'to Maurice,' a tribute carried into the label's name and accent. The Schafer family's commitment to the vineyard site shaped the estate's identity, with dry-land vines producing concentrated, structured fruit across Bordeaux varieties, Syrah, Malbec, and Viognier.

• Tom Schafer planted the estate vineyard as a sustainable dry-land operation at roughly 1,400 feet elevation in the Blue Mountains foothills
• No irrigation; the dry-land approach shaped the concentration and structure of estate fruit across all varieties
• Estate named for Albert Maurice Schafer, Tom's father, a noted Pacific Northwest timber figure; 'à Maurice' is French for 'to Maurice'
• Estate plantings cover Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Viognier, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot