Figgins Family Wine Estates
FIG-inz
Chris Figgins's single-vineyard Walla Walla project, the second-generation extension of Leonetti Cellar, with Bordeaux-styled reds and a serious dry Riesling.
Figgins Family Wine Estates is a Walla Walla Valley project led by Chris Figgins, son of Gary and Nancy Figgins, who founded Leonetti Cellar in 1977 as Walla Walla's first winery. The Figgins single-vineyard project elevates the dedicated Figgins Estate Vineyard through three distinct wines: the Estate Red Wine (a Bordeaux blend), Figlia, and a dry Riesling. Chris Figgins presides over all viticultural operations across eight distinct vineyard sites in the Walla Walla and Willamette Valleys, including the parallel Toil Oregon Pinot Noir project.
- Chris Figgins is the CEO and Winemaking Director of Figgins Family Wine Estates, the holding company that operates Figgins, Leonetti Cellar, and Toil Oregon
- Chris is the son of Gary and Nancy Figgins, who founded Leonetti Cellar in 1977 as the first winery established in Walla Walla
- FIGGINS itself is an ambitious single-vineyard project elevating the Figgins Estate Vineyard through three distinct wines: Estate Red Wine, Figlia, and a dry Riesling
- Estate Red Wine is a Bordeaux blend; the Figgins Estate Vineyard is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petit Verdot
- Figgins Family Wine Estates' viticultural operations span eight distinct vineyard sites across the Walla Walla Valley and the Willamette Valley
- Toil Oregon, a sister project, extends the Figgins family work into Willamette Valley Pinot Noir at significant scale
- In October 2023 the Figgins family sold its interest in Seven Hills Vineyard and the broader SeVein development, ending a 30-year partnership with Marty Clubb (L'Ecole No. 41) and Norm McKibben (Pepper Bridge)
From Leonetti to Figgins
Chris Figgins grew up at Leonetti Cellar, the foundational Walla Walla winery established in 1977 by his parents Gary and Nancy Figgins as the first commercial winery in the appellation. Chris took over winemaking responsibilities at Leonetti in the 2000s and over time built out the broader Figgins Family Wine Estates structure, an umbrella that today includes Leonetti, the FIGGINS single-vineyard project, and the Toil Oregon Willamette Valley project. The FIGGINS label, launched in 2008 with the inaugural 2008 vintage, was conceived from the outset as a single-vineyard expression of the Figgins Estate Vineyard, distinct from the broader Walla Walla sourcing that defines Leonetti.
- Chris Figgins is son of Gary and Nancy Figgins, who founded Leonetti Cellar in 1977
- Chris took over Leonetti winemaking in the 2000s and built out the broader Figgins Family Wine Estates structure
- FIGGINS launched in 2008 as a single-vineyard project distinct from Leonetti's broader Walla Walla sourcing
- Family wine business holdings include Leonetti, FIGGINS, and Toil Oregon (Willamette Valley Pinot Noir)
Figgins Estate Vineyard and the Three Wines
The FIGGINS project is built around the Figgins Estate Vineyard, a high-elevation site in the foothills of the Walla Walla Valley planted to Bordeaux varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. Three distinct wines are produced from the vineyard. The Estate Red Wine is a Bordeaux blend in the appellation's classical idiom, structured and built for long aging. Figlia is a smaller-production red wine that allows experimental blending decisions across vintages. The estate's dry Riesling is unusual in a Walla Walla project of this profile, reflecting Chris Figgins's interest in the variety and the higher-elevation parcel's suitability for cooler-climate whites. The combination of three wines from a single vineyard provides an unusually focused varietal study within Walla Walla.
- Figgins Estate Vineyard: high-elevation site in Walla Walla Valley foothills planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot
- Estate Red Wine: classical Bordeaux blend, structured and built for long aging
- Figlia: smaller-production red wine allowing experimental blending decisions across vintages
- Dry Riesling: unusual variety choice for a Walla Walla single-vineyard project, reflecting Chris Figgins's interest in the variety
Eight Sites and the 2023 Seven Hills Sale
Figgins Family Wine Estates operates across eight distinct vineyard sites in the Walla Walla and Willamette Valleys, an unusually broad single-family vineyard footprint in the Pacific Northwest. The Walla Walla sites supply Leonetti, FIGGINS, and other internal projects; the Willamette Valley sites support Toil Oregon. In October 2023, the Figgins family sold its interest in Seven Hills Vineyard and the broader SeVein development to its long-time partners Marty Clubb of L'Ecole No. 41 and the McKibben family of Pepper Bridge, ending a 30-year partnership in one of the Walla Walla Valley's most consequential vineyards. The sale consolidated the Figgins family's vineyard work around the Figgins Estate Vineyard and the family's other estate sites.
- Figgins Family Wine Estates operates across eight distinct vineyard sites in the Walla Walla and Willamette Valleys
- Walla Walla sites supply Leonetti, FIGGINS, and other internal projects
- Willamette Valley sites support Toil Oregon, the family's significant Pinot Noir project
- October 2023: Figgins family sold its interest in Seven Hills Vineyard and SeVein development, ending a 30-year partnership with Marty Clubb and the McKibben family
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Look it up →Why It Matters
Figgins represents the second-generation Walla Walla wine industry, the moment at which the children of the founding 1977-era pioneers built their own ambitious projects on the foundations their parents had laid. Where Leonetti Cellar continues to express the broader Walla Walla Valley through fruit from multiple sources, FIGGINS narrows the focus to a single estate vineyard and three wines, providing a different kind of varietal study. Combined with the Toil Oregon project in the Willamette Valley, the broader Figgins Family Wine Estates structure has become one of the most significant single-family operations in Pacific Northwest wine, and the 2023 Seven Hills sale marks a clear strategic consolidation around the family's own estate vineyards.
- Second-generation Walla Walla project, building on the Leonetti Cellar foundation established in 1977
- Single-vineyard focus distinguishes FIGGINS from the broader-sourced Leonetti program
- Toil Oregon extends the family work into Willamette Valley Pinot Noir at significant scale
- October 2023 Seven Hills sale marks strategic consolidation around the family's own estate vineyards
- FIGGINS Riesling$30-42Dry single-vineyard Riesling from the Figgins Estate Vineyard's higher-elevation parcels; an unusually serious Walla Walla white at this price point.Find →
- FIGGINS Figlia$60-85Smaller-production red allowing experimental blending; a useful comparative bottle to the more classically structured Estate Red Wine.Find →
- FIGGINS Estate Red Wine$110-150Flagship Bordeaux blend from the Figgins Estate Vineyard; structured, dark-fruited, and built for 20-plus years of cellaring in the classical Walla Walla idiom.Find →
- Chris Figgins is son of Gary and Nancy Figgins (founders of Leonetti Cellar 1977 = first Walla Walla winery); leads Figgins Family Wine Estates umbrella (Leonetti + FIGGINS + Toil Oregon)
- FIGGINS launched 2008 as single-vineyard project on Figgins Estate Vineyard; planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot
- Three FIGGINS wines: Estate Red Wine (Bordeaux blend), Figlia (smaller-production red), dry Riesling
- 8 distinct vineyard sites across Walla Walla Valley and Willamette Valley; Toil Oregon = sister Pinot Noir project in Willamette
- October 2023: Figgins family sold Seven Hills Vineyard interest to long-time partners Marty Clubb (L'Ecole No. 41) and McKibben family (Pepper Bridge), ending 30-year partnership