Avennia

Avennia was founded in 2010 by winemaker Chris Peterson and Marty Taucher, a former Microsoft executive who had stepped away from corporate life to pursue a long-standing interest in wine. Taucher had spent a 2009 crush as an intern at DeLille Cellars, where he met Peterson, and the two began developing a business plan together; Peterson, who had spent seven years as a winemaker at DeLille under Chris Upchurch, was ready for a new chapter. The vision was sketched out across the bar at Fiddlers Inn, a small Irish pub in Seattle's Wedgwood neighborhood, and the first crush followed in fall 2010 with sixteen tons of fruit. Peterson continued consulting through the 2010 harvest and joined Avennia full-time in 2011. The name comes from Avennio, the ancient Roman name for the city of Avignon in the Southern Rhone, derived from the Avennius clan, a Gallic tribe present in the area roughly fifteen hundred years ago. The choice signals the founding intent: classically French stylistic frameworks (Bordeaux and Rhone), applied to top-tier Washington fruit, with the discipline of grower relationships, complemented since 2021 by its own Red Mountain estate vineyard (the former Tapteil).

• Founded 2010 by Chris Peterson (winemaker) and Marty Taucher (former Microsoft executive); first crush of sixteen tons in fall 2010
• Peterson spent seven years at DeLille Cellars under Chris Upchurch; consulted through the 2010 harvest and joined Avennia full-time in 2011
• Founding vision developed at Fiddlers Inn in Seattle's Wedgwood neighborhood after Taucher's 2009 crush internship at DeLille
• Name comes from Avennio, the Roman name for Avignon in the Southern Rhone; signals classically French stylistic orientation

Avennia's stylistic identity is built around what Peterson describes as an Old World approach: classically French frameworks (Bordeaux and Rhone) applied to Washington fruit, with the goal of wines that feel structured, savory, and site-expressive rather than overtly ripe or extracted. The cellar work emphasizes native-yeast fermentation rather than commercial inoculation, gentle handling, restrained extraction, and judicious oak; new oak proportions are calibrated to support rather than dominate, and aging vessels include both French barrique and larger format. The lineup organizes cleanly along varietal-family lines. The Bordeaux register includes Gravura (entry-level appellation-style blend), Valery (Merlot-dominant blend), and the flagship Sestina (Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant blend). The Rhone register includes Justine (Grenache-Syrah-Mourvedre blend), Arnaut Syrah from Boushey Vineyard, and, in vintages through 2017, the Le Corbeau Syrah from Discovery Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills. The whites are Oliane Sauvignon Blanc and La Perle, a Roussanne-Marsanne blend in the Rhone-white mold.

• Native-yeast fermentation, gentle handling, restrained extraction, and judicious oak; French barrique and larger-format aging
• Bordeaux register: Gravura (entry-level blend), Valery (Merlot-dominant), Sestina (Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant flagship)
• Rhone register: Justine (Grenache-Syrah-Mourvedre), Arnaut Syrah (Boushey); Le Corbeau Syrah (Discovery) was produced through 2017
• Whites: Oliane Sauvignon Blanc and La Perle (Roussanne-Marsanne blend in the Rhone-white mold)

Avennia works primarily from grower partnerships, complemented since 2021 by its own Red Mountain estate vineyard (the former Tapteil, managed by Dick Boushey); the grower model allows access to a deeper roster of top Washington sites than estate ownership alone would permit. Boushey Vineyard in the Yakima Valley, managed by Dick Boushey, was the first grower partnership and remains central: Boushey supplies dedicated Syrah blocks for the single-vineyard Arnaut, Merlot for the Right Bank-style Valery, and Sauvignon Blanc for Oliane. The Sauer family's Red Willow Vineyard at the western edge of the Yakima Valley supplies the rocky-saddle Cabernet Sauvignon that anchors Sestina, joined by the historic Dionysus and Bacchus vineyards, both Sagemoor properties on the Pasco-area Columbia River bench. Klipsun on Red Mountain and Discovery Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills contributed to earlier vintages. The choice of growers reflects an interest in old-vine sites with established track records and the long-term contractual stability that lets Peterson farm-to-cellar each component intentionally rather than chase spot-market lots.

• Boushey Vineyard (Yakima Valley, Dick Boushey): first grower partnership, supplies Syrah for Arnaut, Merlot for Valery, and Sauvignon Blanc for Oliane
• The Sauer family's Red Willow (western Yakima Valley) anchors Sestina's Cabernet, with Bacchus and Dionysus on Sagemoor's Columbia River bench properties
• Klipsun on Red Mountain and Discovery Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills (source of the discontinued Le Corbeau Syrah) among earlier-vintage sources
• Primarily a grower-partnership model, complemented since 2021 by Avennia's own Red Mountain estate vineyard (the former Tapteil); emphasis on old-vine sites and long-term contracts for cellar continuity

Sestina is the wine that defines Avennia's intent. A Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant Bordeaux blend with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot completing the assemblage, it draws from several of Washington's most decorated old-vine sites: Red Willow, Bacchus, and Dionysus. The wine is built for the structural-savory register rather than overt fruit weight, with the Red Willow rocky-saddle Cabernet providing the spine and the Bacchus and Dionysus blocks contributing dark-fruit depth and graphite minerality. Arnaut is the Syrah flagship, drawn from dedicated Syrah blocks at Boushey, and represents Peterson's argument for what northern Rhone-inflected Washington Syrah can look like when picked for structure rather than power: smoky, savory, lifted, with the cool-edge Yakima Valley character intact. Justine sits alongside as the Rhone-blend counterpart in the Grenache-Syrah-Mourvedre tradition, while the Le Corbeau bottling, produced through 2017, added a second single-vineyard Syrah from the higher-elevation, basalt-influenced Discovery Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills. Across the flagships, the through-line is restraint paired with site specificity, which is the practical expression of the Old World framing the name promises.

• Sestina: Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant Bordeaux blend (with Merlot, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot) from Red Willow, Bacchus, and Dionysus
• Arnaut Syrah: dedicated Boushey blocks; structural, smoky, lifted; the Syrah flagship and Peterson's argument for cool-edge Yakima Valley character
• Justine: Grenache-Syrah-Mourvedre blend in the southern Rhone tradition
• Le Corbeau (produced through 2017): second single-vineyard Syrah from Discovery Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills; higher-elevation, basalt-influenced site

Avennia operates at a deliberate scale of approximately 7,500 cases per year across all labels, large enough to support broad national distribution but small enough that Peterson can stay closely engaged with each lot. The Woodinville tasting room and production facility has been the home base, joined by an estate tasting room on Red Mountain after the 2021 estate purchase; in 2023, the winery added a third tasting room in Walla Walla, reflecting both the growing share of customers visiting the eastern Washington wine country and a broader pattern of Woodinville-based wineries establishing a Walla Walla presence. The Avennia profile has steadily risen since the early releases: the winery was named a Washington Winery to Watch in 2014, has accumulated consistently strong scores from Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, and Northwest critics across the Sestina, Arnaut, and Justine bottlings, and is regularly grouped with the small set of Washington producers (Gramercy Cellars, Owen Roe, Andrew Will, Cayuse, Reynvaan) defining the state's restrained, Old World-leaning stylistic register. The partnership remains intact under Peterson and Taucher's joint stewardship, with the Bordeaux-and-Rhone framework, native-yeast cellar work, and grower-partnership model serving as the consistent organizing logic.

• Production around 7,500 cases per year across the labels; small enough for hands-on winemaking, large enough for broad national distribution
• Tasting rooms in Woodinville, on Red Mountain (the estate), and in Walla Walla (opened 2023)
• Named Washington Winery to Watch in 2014; consistent strong critic scores across Sestina, Arnaut, and Justine
• Grouped stylistically with Gramercy Cellars, Owen Roe, Andrew Will, Cayuse, and Reynvaan in Washington's Old World-leaning cohort