Betz Family Winery

Bob Betz spent 28 years at Chateau Ste. Michelle before retiring in 2003 as Vice President of Winemaking Research. During that tenure he worked across multiple divisions of the company and was a figure in Col Solare, then a joint venture between Ste. Michelle and the Antinori family of Tuscany. In 1998 he earned the Master of Wine qualification from the Institute of Masters of Wine in London, one of the earliest Americans to do so, and was awarded both the Villa Maria Award for the highest score on the viticulture exam and the Robert Mondavi Award for the highest overall score across the theory exams. The combination of long industry tenure at Washington's largest producer plus the MW credential gave Betz a distinctive technical and analytical profile within the Pacific Northwest, and his post-Betz consulting and educator work has extended that influence across multiple Washington projects.

• 28 years at Chateau Ste. Michelle (1976-2003); retired as Vice President of Winemaking Research
• Involved in Col Solare during his Ste. Michelle tenure, then a joint venture between Ste. Michelle and Antinori
• MW qualification 1998; Villa Maria Award (highest viticulture score) and Robert Mondavi Award (highest overall theory score)
• Founded Betz Family Winery in 1997 in borrowed space at DeLille Cellars while still at Ste. Michelle

Betz Family Winery's Syrah program is built around named single-vineyard bottlings from across the state rather than estate-grown fruit. La Cote Patriarche is the producer's reference Yakima Valley Syrah and is sourced exclusively from the original Red Willow Vineyard Syrah block since the 2007 vintage. That block was planted in 1986 by grower Mike Sauer in collaboration with the late David Lake MW of Columbia Winery and was Washington's first commercial Syrah planting; a meaningful share of the state's modern Syrah lineage traces back to it. La Cote Rousse was historically a Red Mountain bottling sourced from Ciel du Cheval Vineyard, but starting with the 2021 vintage the wine moved to Olsen Vineyard in the Yakima Valley. Domaine de Pierres is the more recent addition and comes from The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater AVA in Oregon, where large basalt cobbles in the vineyard floor produce a distinctive savory, smoked-meat Syrah register. The three bottlings together give Betz a deliberately diverse Syrah portfolio across multiple Washington terroirs and one cross-border Rocks District site.

• La Cote Patriarche: Yakima Valley Syrah from the original 1986 Red Willow Vineyard Syrah block (sole source since 2007)
• La Cote Rousse: Olsen Vineyard in the Yakima Valley starting with the 2021 vintage; previously Red Mountain Ciel du Cheval
• Domaine de Pierres: Syrah from The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater AVA, named for the basalt cobbles in the vineyard floor
• Sourcing model uses long-term grower partnerships at named single vineyards rather than estate plantings

The Bordeaux-style reds anchor the producer's identity alongside the Syrah program. Clos de Betz is a Merlot-led right-bank-style blend with Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot; the Petit Verdot component adds structure and aromatic lift to what is otherwise a plush, opulent Merlot-driven wine. Pere de Famille (French for 'father of the family') is the Cabernet Sauvignon flagship, dominated by Cabernet with supporting Bordeaux varieties and aged in all new French oak; it shows dense black-fruit concentration, cassis, and the firm structure expected from top Washington Cabernet, with a long ageing trajectory on top vintages. Heart of the Hill is a more recent addition and is a Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from multiple blocks within the Red Mountain AVA, the warmest and most tannic of Washington's AVAs and the source of many of the state's most age-worthy Cabernets. The combination of Clos de Betz (right-bank approach), Pere de Famille (left-bank approach), and Heart of the Hill (Red Mountain single-AVA) gives consumers three distinct Bordeaux-variety expressions from one producer.

• Clos de Betz: Merlot-led right-bank-style blend with Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot
• Pere de Famille: Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated blend aged in all new French oak; the producer's left-bank reference
• Heart of the Hill: Cabernet Sauvignon from multiple blocks within the Red Mountain AVA
• Together the three give Bordeaux-style right-bank, left-bank, and Red Mountain single-AVA reference points in a single producer's lineup

Bob and Cathy Betz sold Betz Family Winery to Steve and Bridgit Griessel in 2011, with Bob staying on as consulting winemaker. The Griessels expanded the winery's reputation as one of the country's premier producers of Bordeaux- and Rhone-style reds over the next thirteen years and added the SuNu Willamette Valley brand alongside the core Betz lineup. On May 10, 2024 the Griessels sold the winery to Seattle-based Ackley Brands, the deal also including SuNu and a second label called The Untold Story. Under Ackley Brands, Will Wiles serves as Director of Winemaking leading the Betz portfolio and Brandon Moss as Reserve Winemaker. Louis Skinner, who was promoted to winemaker in 2016, left Betz in 2025 to become winemaker at Force Majeure Vineyards. Founder Bob Betz MW continues in a consulting role.

• 2011: Bob and Cathy Betz sold the winery to Steve and Bridgit Griessel; Bob remained as consulting winemaker
• Griessel era added the SuNu Willamette Valley brand and built reputation as a premier Bordeaux- and Rhone-style producer
• May 10, 2024: Ackley Brands acquired Betz Family Winery (plus SuNu and The Untold Story) from the Griessels
• Current team under Ackley Brands: Will Wiles (Director of Winemaking) and Brandon Moss (Reserve Winemaker), with founder Bob Betz MW consulting; Louis Skinner (winemaker 2016) departed to Force Majeure in 2025

Betz Family Winery occupies a distinctive position in Washington wine. The producer is one of the older Woodinville-warehouse-district operations, founded in the same late-1990s window that produced peer producers including DeLille Cellars (which provided borrowed space for the first Betz crush in 1997), Andrew Will, and the broader cohort of producers who established Washington's premium fine-wine reputation. Unlike many of those peers, Betz never developed estate vineyards and operates entirely through grower partnerships at named single sites. The Bob Betz MW credential and Chateau Ste. Michelle background give the producer a technical and educational identity that pairs naturally with the structured, single-vineyard-focused house style. The lineup spans Bordeaux-style reds (Clos de Betz, Pere de Famille, Heart of the Hill) and Rhone-style Syrahs (La Cote Patriarche, La Cote Rousse, Domaine de Pierres), with allocations distributed through both the mailing list and broader wholesale distribution.

• Founding-era Woodinville producer; peer cohort includes DeLille Cellars, Andrew Will, and the late-1990s premium-fine-wine wave
• No estate vineyards; operates entirely through long-term grower partnerships at named single sites
• Stylistic identity bridges Bordeaux-discipline reds and single-vineyard Rhone-variety Syrahs
• Distribution: mailing list allocations plus broader wholesale across the United States and select export markets