Andrew Will Winery

Chris Camarda founded Andrew Will Winery in 1989 in Seattle, relocating in 1994 to Vashon Island, a small island in Washington's Puget Sound just west of Seattle accessible only by ferry. Camarda named the winery by combining his son Will's and his nephew Andrew's names rather than using his own; the family naming emphasized the producer's family-business character from the outset. The Vashon Island winery sits geographically in the Puget Sound AVA (Washington's lone maritime climate appellation west of the Cascade rain shadow), but all red-wine fruit is sourced from Columbia Valley vineyards east of the Cascades; harvested grapes are trucked across the Cascades and ferried to Vashon for vinification. Camarda anchored single-winemaker leadership from 1989 through 2013, when his son Will Camarda joined the operation and took over winemaking responsibility. The father-son transition has continued the producer's vineyard-first identity while Chris remains involved as founder. The Vashon Island winemaking facility has remained the producer's home since the 1994 relocation.

• Founded 1989 in Seattle by Chris Camarda; relocated to Vashon Island (Puget Sound, just west of Seattle, ferry access only) in 1994
• Naming: son Will plus nephew Andrew (Camarda did not use his own name); emphasized family business character
• Winemaking transition: Will Camarda (Chris's son) joined 2013, now leads winemaking; Chris remains involved as founder
• Operational logic: Vashon Island winery for vinification, all red fruit trucked and ferried from Columbia Valley vineyards east of the Cascades

Andrew Will's vineyard strategy combines a single estate planting with long-running grower partnerships at premier Washington sites. In 2000, after a decade of purchasing fruit from top Washington vineyards, Chris Camarda planted Two Blondes Vineyard in the Yakima Valley (near Zillah) as Andrew Will's estate site. The 30 acre planting is dedicated to Bordeaux varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec) and is named for Camarda's late wife Annie and his partner Bill Fleckenstein's wife Melody (the two blondes of the vineyard's name). Two Blondes is farmed by Patrick and Matthew Rawn of Two Mountain Winery, longtime Yakima Valley growers. Beyond the estate, Andrew Will sources from Champoux Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills (planted in 1972 by the Mercer family and purchased in 1996 by Paul and Judy Champoux with a consortium of Andrew Will, Powers, Quilceda Creek, and Woodward Canyon), Ciel du Cheval Vineyard on Red Mountain (Jim Holmes's site that supplies dozens of top Washington producers), and Discovery Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills (the May's Discovery site overlooking the Columbia River). Single-vineyard bottlings carry the vineyard name on the front label, a Camarda signature since the first vintage in 1989.

• Two Blondes Vineyard (estate, planted 2000, ~30 acres near Zillah in Yakima Valley): Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec; named for Annie Camarda and Melody Fleckenstein
• Champoux Vineyard (Horse Heaven Hills): planted in 1972 by the Mercer family, purchased in 1996 by Paul and Judy Champoux with a consortium of Andrew Will, Powers, Quilceda Creek, and Woodward Canyon
• Ciel du Cheval (Red Mountain, Jim Holmes site) and Discovery Vineyard (Horse Heaven Hills, the May's Discovery overlooking the Columbia River): premier grower partnerships
• Vineyard-name-on-front-label since 1989: signature Camarda practice emphasizing site over variety; focus on blends within single vineyards by 2003

Sorella (Italian for sister) is Andrew Will's flagship bottling and the upper tier of the producer's lineup, sourced 100 percent from Champoux Vineyard since its first vintage in 1994. Block 1 of Champoux, the vineyard's oldest section dating to the 1972 planting, anchors Sorella. The blend is Cabernet Sauvignon dominated, typically around 80 percent Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot completing the cuvée. Sorella spends approximately 22 months in French oak with around one-third new wood. The Cabernet-led composition places Sorella squarely within Washington's Cabernet Sauvignon dominant Bordeaux blend tradition shared by Quilceda Creek, Cadence, and Leonetti Cellar, rather than functioning as a Merlot-led right-bank reference. The wine has earned strong critical reception across multiple vintages and is widely cited as a Horse Heaven Hills Bordeaux blend benchmark. The Sorella name (sister in Italian) reflects Camarda's family-naming convention paralleling the Andrew Will brand itself.

• Sorella (Italian for sister): Andrew Will flagship since 1994; sourced 100 percent from Champoux Vineyard Block 1 (oldest 1972 planting)
• Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon dominated (~80% Cab Sauv with Merlot, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot completing)
• Aging: ~22 months in French oak, ~one-third new wood; classical Bordeaux-discipline cellar approach
• Stylistic register: Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet-led Bordeaux blend benchmark; aligned with Quilceda Creek/Cadence/Leonetti Cab-led WA tradition rather than right-bank Merlot framework

Beyond Sorella, Andrew Will bottles a complete single-vineyard lineup of Bordeaux blends and varietal wines from each of its four primary sources. The Champoux Vineyard bottling shows the structured Horse Heaven Hills register from the heritage 1972 plantings; Champoux Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot single-variety bottlings have appeared in selected vintages. The Ciel du Cheval bottling shows the dense extracted Cabernet register that defines Red Mountain's basalt-influenced sites. The Discovery Vineyard bottling shows another facet of Horse Heaven Hills site expression; the May's Discovery Cabernet Sauvignon has been issued separately. The Two Blondes estate bottling shows the broader Yakima Valley register from estate-farmed Bordeaux varieties, joined by Two Blondes Merlot and Two Blondes Cabernet Franc varietal bottlings. From Two Blondes, the Cuvée Lucia bottlings (Sauvignon Blanc, around 75 percent Sauvignon Blanc with 25 percent Semillon, plus a separate Semillon bottling) provide the winery's white-wine identity. Involuntary Commitment is the value-tier Bordeaux blend, a Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot cuvée drawn from the winery's Columbia Valley vineyard sources and lots that do not fit the single-vineyard flagship blends; the wine offers an accessible entry at roughly one-third the price of the flagship single-vineyard bottlings, with current releases through the 2022 vintage. The Involuntary Commitment positioning reflects Will Camarda's commitment to maintaining the producer's flagship single-vineyard quality while creating an entry-tier expression of the Andrew Will house style.

• Single-vineyard reds: Champoux, Ciel du Cheval, Discovery (May's Discovery), Two Blondes (estate); each shows distinct site register
• Single-variety bottlings: Champoux Cab Sauv, Champoux Cab Franc, Champoux Merlot, Two Blondes Merlot, Two Blondes Cab Franc, Two Blondes Cab Sauv (selected vintages)
• Whites: Cuvée Lucia from Two Blondes (Sauvignon Blanc ~75/25 with Semillon, plus separate Semillon bottling); Bordeaux-blanc framework
• Involuntary Commitment: value-tier Columbia Valley Bordeaux blend from the winery's vineyard sources and non-flagship lots; current vintages through 2022; ~one-third price of single-vineyard flagships

Andrew Will's philosophical commitment to vineyard primacy (the site speaks louder than the variety) has been the producer's defining identity since the 1989 founding. Chris Camarda labeled wines with the vineyard name on the front label from the start, and by 2003 had focused on blends rather than single-variety bottlings within each vineyard cuvée, on the conviction that blends express vineyard character more completely than mono-varietal expressions. The producer pioneered the Washington single-vineyard Bordeaux blend identity through long-running grower partnerships, predating the broader Washington single-vineyard movement that subsequent producers such as Avennia and Long Shadows adopted. Distribution combines direct-to-mailing-list (primary access to single-vineyard bottlings and Sorella) with broader wholesale presence through premium retailers in Seattle and other regional markets; the broader distribution distinguishes Andrew Will from the strictly mailing-list models of Cayuse, Reynvaan, and Quilceda Creek. The father-son operating model under Will Camarda's winemaking leadership since 2013 represents continuity of the vineyard-driven house identity that has defined Andrew Will across three-plus decades of Washington wine evolution.

• Vineyard primacy: vineyard name on front label since 1989; blends within single vineyards by 2003 (Camarda conviction that blends express site more completely than mono-varietal)
• Distribution: direct-to-mailing-list plus broader wholesale through premium retailers; distinguishes from strictly mailing-list Cayuse/Reynvaan/Quilceda models
• Pioneered WA single-vineyard Bordeaux blend identity; predated broader movement adopted by Avennia, Long Shadows, others
• Father-son continuity: Will Camarda has led winemaking since 2013