Den Hoed Wine Estates

Andreas Den Hoed immigrated from Holland with his family in 1948 and built a life in Washington State; he married Marie in 1956. The young couple planted a small vineyard on their property that year and built their farming operation in the Yakima Valley over the following decades, paying the bills in the early years by growing mint, potatoes, and Concord grapes (the historic American hybrid used for juice production). Their two sons, Bill and Andy Den Hoed, joined the family business as partners in 1988, and the family expanded into premium wine grape farming. After several years of searching for a flagship site, in 1997 the family purchased a 550-acre parcel on the southeastern slope above the Columbia River near Wallula Gap, within the Horse Heaven Hills AVA. Ground leveling began mid-summer 1997, and the first Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot vines went in the following spring (1998). The site was developed into one of the most highly regarded vineyards in Washington State, eventually expanded to several hundred planted acres terracing down the southeastern slope where the Columbia River becomes the border between Washington and Oregon.

• Andreas Den Hoed immigrated from Holland with his family in 1948; married Marie in 1956 and planted a small vineyard that year
• Built Yakima Valley farming operation in mint, potatoes, and Concord grapes (juice-grape hybrid)
• Sons Bill and Andy Den Hoed joined the family business as partners in 1988
• 1997: purchased 550-acre Wallula Vineyard parcel above Columbia River near Wallula Gap; first Cabernet and Merlot vines planted spring 1998

Den Hoed Wine Estates was founded in 2006 as a joint venture between the Den Hoed brothers (Bill and Andy) and Washington wine pioneer Allen Shoup. Shoup had served as chief executive of Chateau Ste. Michelle from 1983 to 2000, where he built the international partnerships with Piero Antinori (Col Solare) and Ernst Loosen (Eroica) that elevated Washington's profile in the global fine wine market. After leaving Ste. Michelle, Shoup founded Long Shadows Vintners in 2003, a Walla Walla-based collective that brings together internationally renowned winemakers to produce single-varietal Washington wines under a shared roof with Gilles Nicault as in-house winemaker. The Den Hoed-Shoup partnership formalized a long-standing relationship: Long Shadows had been one of the first wineries to source heavily from Wallula Vineyard, and the resulting wines (Pirouette Bordeaux blend, Saggi Sangiovese-Cabernet) helped establish the site's premium reputation. In 2008, Shoup expanded his interest by leading the formation of Premier Vineyard Estates LLC, an investor group that included Napa veteran Agustin Huneeus Sr. and others; the group purchased an 80 percent majority interest in Wallula Vineyard from the Den Hoed family at a price reputed to be the highest ever paid for a contiguous vineyard in Washington State. The family retained a 20 percent stake and a management contract, and the Den Hoed wine brand continues to source exclusively from the Wallula site.

• Founded 2006 as a joint venture between Bill and Andy Den Hoed and Washington wine pioneer Allen Shoup
• Shoup was Chateau Ste. Michelle CEO from 1983 to 2000 (built Col Solare with Antinori, Eroica with Loosen); founded Long Shadows Vintners in 2003
• 2008: Shoup-led Premier Vineyard Estates LLC (including Agustin Huneeus Sr.) purchased 80% majority interest in Wallula Vineyard from the Den Hoed family at a reputed Washington-record vineyard price
• Den Hoed family retained 20% stake and management contract; wine brand continues sourcing exclusively from Wallula

Wallula Vineyard sits high above the Columbia River south of Kennewick, on the southeastern edge of the Horse Heaven Hills AVA where the river forms the border between Washington and Oregon. The site terraces down a long south-facing slope, capturing extended solar exposure at Washington's northerly latitude and benefiting from the thermal moderation provided by the Columbia River's mass. Soils combine windblown loess over basalt bedrock with gravelly and silty alluvial deposits, contributing to the wines' distinctive mineral signature consistently cited in critical reviews. Beyond anchoring Den Hoed's own bottlings, Wallula has become one of the most highly regarded grower-source vineyards in Washington, supplying fruit to Long Shadows Vintners (Pirouette Bordeaux blend, Saggi Sangiovese-Cabernet), Chateau Ste. Michelle, and other premium Washington producers. The site sits alongside Champoux Vineyard (the Mercer family-origin Horse Heaven Hills heritage planting from 1972, several miles to the west) as the two most-cited premium Cabernet sources in the appellation. The Den Hoed family continues to manage the vineyard under contract following the 2008 majority-stake sale.

• Located on southeastern Horse Heaven Hills slope above Columbia River south of Kennewick
• Soils: windblown loess over basalt bedrock with gravelly and silty alluvial deposits; thermal moderation from Columbia River mass
• Beyond Den Hoed: supplies Long Shadows (Pirouette, Saggi), Chateau Ste. Michelle, and other premium Washington producers
• Cited alongside Champoux Vineyard (1972 Mercer-origin Horse Heaven Hills planting) as the appellation's two most prominent premium Cabernet sources

Den Hoed produces only two wines, each honoring one of the parents who built the family farming operation, and each made by a different prominent Walla Walla winemaker. The flagship Andreas Cabernet Sauvignon (named for patriarch Andreas Den Hoed) is a 100 percent Cabernet from Wallula made by Gilles Nicault, the in-house winemaker at Allen Shoup's Long Shadows Vintners. The wine is a structured, polished Cabernet expression with dense blackcurrant and cassis fruit, integrated tannic backbone, and the distinctive Wallula mineral signature. Marie's View (named for matriarch Marie Den Hoed) is made by Rob Newsom of Boudreaux Cellars in Leavenworth, Washington. Newsom is a Louisiana-born former assistant winemaker under Gary Figgins at Leonetti Cellar (one of Walla Walla's founding wineries) who launched Boudreaux Cellars in 2002 and built a reputation for off-grid, gravity-flow winemaking in the Cascades. Marie's View was originally produced as a multi-varietal red blend (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, and Sangiovese in varying annual proportions); in more recent vintages the wine has been labeled and produced as a Cabernet Sauvignon-led bottling. The two-winemaker structure gives Den Hoed a deliberate stylistic contrast within a single-vineyard, two-wine portfolio.

• Andreas Cabernet Sauvignon: 100% Cabernet from Wallula; named for patriarch Andreas Den Hoed; made by Gilles Nicault of Long Shadows Vintners
• Marie's View: named for matriarch Marie Den Hoed; made by Rob Newsom of Boudreaux Cellars (Louisiana-born former Leonetti assistant under Gary Figgins; founded Boudreaux 2002)
• Marie's View was originally a multi-varietal blend (Cabernet, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Sangiovese); in more recent vintages labeled and produced as a Cabernet Sauvignon-led bottling
• Two-winemaker structure within a two-wine, single-vineyard portfolio gives Den Hoed deliberate stylistic contrast

Den Hoed remains intentionally small, producing only the two flagship wines exclusively from Wallula Vineyard. The brand operates without the broader portfolio breadth typical of established Washington producers; there is no entry-level second label, no white wine production, and no non-estate sourcing. The two-wine focus places Den Hoed in the small cohort of Washington producers built around a single flagship vineyard and a tight single-varietal lineup, similar to Quilceda Creek's tight focus on Cabernet from a small set of partner sites. Critical reception has been consistently strong for both bottlings since the inaugural 2004 Marie's View (made before the formal Den Hoed Wine Estates brand launch) and the early Andreas releases. The brand's positioning as a Den Hoed family wine, paired with the Allen Shoup partnership and the two prominent Walla Walla winemakers behind the bottles, gives Den Hoed a distinctive profile within Horse Heaven Hills wine commerce: a small family producer with deep grower credentials, premium critical reception, and a clear single-vineyard origin story tied to one of Washington's most celebrated sites.

• Intentionally small two-wine lineup; both bottlings exclusively from Wallula Vineyard; no second label, no white wines, no non-estate sourcing
• Single-vineyard focus places Den Hoed alongside Quilceda Creek among Washington producers built around a tight Cabernet-centric lineup
• First Marie's View vintage: 2004 (predates the formal 2006 brand launch); critical reception consistently strong across both bottlings
• Contemporary positioning: small family producer with deep grower credentials, Allen Shoup partnership, and two prominent Walla Walla winemakers behind the two flagship bottles