Gramercy Cellars

Gramercy Cellars began with a Manhattan-based sommelier, Greg Harrington, who tasted some Washington State wines and was so inspired that he sold everything to move across the country and make his own. Harrington had passed the Master Sommelier exam and left a restaurant company to do so. The Harrington family moved to Walla Walla in 2005 to make old-world-meets-new Rhône and Bordeaux varietals, and Gramercy launched that year. Harrington arrived with two vineyard contracts and a shared space in a new winery, and Gramercy bought fruit from Forgotten Hills Vineyard for its first harvest in 2005. The first vintage of the John Lewis Syrah was 2006, and the winery began working with Southern Rhône varieties in 2008. In 2024 Gramercy marked its 20th year making wine in Walla Walla.

• 2005: the Harrington family moved to Walla Walla and Gramercy launched; its first harvest included fruit from Forgotten Hills Vineyard.
• 2006: first vintage of the John Lewis Syrah.
• 2008: the winery began working with Southern Rhône varieties.
• 2016: last vintage of the Inigo Montoya Tempranillo; in early 2017 the Tempranillo block was replaced with Cabernet Franc.
• 2024: Gramercy's 20th year making wines in Walla Walla.

Greg Harrington is Gramercy's founder, and he hand-picks the wines for its wine club. Gramercy celebrated Brandon Moss's 15th year with the winery in 2024, and Harrington wrote that Moss's friendship and partnership have been instrumental in making Gramercy what it is today. The winery credits the Forgotten Hills Syrah with Moss's decision to stay in Walla Walla to make wine instead of moving to the Willamette Valley. In the Fall 2020 release letter, Harrington named Chris Banek as the grower who farms Gramercy's estate vineyards.

• Founder: Greg Harrington, a Master Sommelier (as of 2025).
• Brandon Moss: his 15th year with Gramercy was celebrated in 2024.
• Estate vineyards farmed by Chris Banek (as of the Fall 2020 release).

Gramercy owns three estate vineyards and controls several others so that grapes are grown and picked for the profile it wants. Forgotten Hills, an estate vineyard in the Walla Walla Valley, was planted in the late 1990s by Jeff Hill in his backyard near the base of the Blue Mountains; Gramercy bought its fruit from 2005 and later purchased the site. It is not in the Rocks District but sits on an old river bed. After making it an estate vineyard, Gramercy began farming it organically and replanted portions by sélection massale; Hill had planted both the Phelps Clone and Clone 99. Red Willow Vineyard in the Yakima Valley, farmed by the Sauer family, entered the portfolio after Harrington sat on a Syrah seminar panel with Mike Sauer in 2010 and Sauer offered an acre of Syrah; Gramercy now contracts about 5 acres there, built around the Chapel Block and the Marcoux block. Les Collines Vineyard, in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, supplies Syrah from its upper blocks and from the mid-slope Block 46. Olsen Vineyard, adjacent to Red Mountain, is the site Gramercy considers the top one for Southern Rhône varieties in Washington State and supplies its Grenache, Mourvèdre and Rosé. For the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, the winery draws on Sagemoor's Bacchus Vineyard, on a hillside overlooking the Columbia River, and Phinny Hill Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills. Other sources include Holy Roller Vineyard for Rocks District Syrah, Antoine Creek just east of Lake Chelan for Viognier, Los Oidos and Les Collines for Picpoul, and Sojeau Vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills of the Willamette Valley for Pinot Noir.

• Estate: three vineyards owned, including Forgotten Hills, planted in the late 1990s by Jeff Hill and farmed organically since it became an estate vineyard.
• Red Willow Vineyard (Yakima Valley, Sauer family): about 5 contracted acres, built around the Chapel and Marcoux blocks.
• Les Collines Vineyard: the mid-slope Block 46 is the base of the John Lewis Reserve Syrah.
• Olsen Vineyard, adjacent to Red Mountain: Grenache, Mourvèdre and the Rosé.
• Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon: Bacchus Vineyard (Sagemoor) and Phinny Hill Vineyard (Horse Heaven Hills).

The lineup spans Rhône and Bordeaux varieties. In the winery's words, Forgotten Hills 'is all about acidity, mineral, smoke, blood, and iron'; the 2019 was destemmed, fermented with native yeasts in concrete and aged 19 months in neutral foudre. The Lagniappe Syrah comes from Red Willow Vineyard; the 2016 was the first single-vineyard Red Willow bottling outside the wine club, and the 2019 was fermented 100% whole cluster in concrete and aged in a 2000-liter Austrian oak cask and neutral 500-liter puncheons. The John Lewis Reserve is made each year from the best barrels: the annual blending week, a three-day tasting marathon in which all wines are tasted blind, begins with it, and the 2021 came from Les Collines (93%) and Forgotten Hills (7%). Other Syrahs include a Les Collines bottling, a Walla Walla Syrah that combines fruit from the Rocks with higher-elevation hillside fruit, the wine club's Holy Roller Vineyard, and the Lower East label, which Gramercy created as a thank-you to its customers and industry friends. The Grenache 'The Third Man' and the Mourvèdre 'L'Idiot du Village' come from Olsen Vineyard; the 2021 Third Man was 77% Grenache, 13% Mourvèdre and 10% Syrah, and the 2020 L'Idiot du Village was 100% Mourvèdre fermented 60% whole cluster. The white and pink wines are a Picpoul from Los Oidos and Les Collines in the Walla Walla Valley, a Provence-inspired Rosé from Olsen Vineyard modeled on the classic blend of Cinsault, Grenache and Syrah, and a Viognier from Antoine Creek and Forgotten Hills. Bordeaux varieties include a Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, a Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, the Gramercy Estates blend made from the best eight barrels from the estate vineyards, and wine-club bottlings of Phinny Hill Cabernet Sauvignon, estate Merlot and estate Cabernet Franc. The Inigo Montoya Tempranillo ended with the 2016 vintage, after Harrington and Moss decided in early 2017 to replace the Tempranillo block with Cabernet Franc.

• Syrah: Forgotten Hills, Lagniappe (Red Willow), John Lewis Reserve, Les Collines, Walla Walla, Holy Roller (wine club) and Lower East.
• Other Rhône varieties: Picpoul, Rosé, Viognier, The Third Man Grenache and L'Idiot du Village Mourvèdre.
• Bordeaux varieties: Columbia Valley and Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Gramercy Estates, and wine-club Phinny Hill Cabernet Sauvignon, estate Merlot and estate Cabernet Franc.
• Pinot Noir from Sojeau Vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills.
• Inigo Montoya Tempranillo: made through the 2016 vintage.

Gramercy describes its approach as grapes picked for almost-peak ripeness and mostly organic, minimalist winemaking with no or little new oak and no additives, and a lot of time in extended aging. Fermentations take place sometimes in concrete and sometimes in oak, and concrete is the winery's preferred vessel for Rhône varieties; the 2019 Lagniappe, 2020 L'Idiot du Village and 2021 Third Man were all fermented with native yeasts and wholly or partly whole cluster. The winery's about page puts the aim this way: 'Elegant wines take some thought. Think Miles Davis versus Vanilla Ice. They take time to open up and develop, but they don't fall apart in 5 years.' In a 2025 release letter Gramercy wrote that it has never been in the business of chasing 100-point wines and is after 'elegance, finesse, and a sense of place you can taste.' In 2018 the winery decided to give its top Syrah cuvées an additional six months of age before release.

• Picking for almost-peak ripeness, mostly organic; no or little new oak; no additives; extended aging.
• Concrete is the preferred fermentation vessel for Rhône varieties; the 2019 Lagniappe, 2020 L'Idiot du Village and 2021 Third Man were fermented with native yeasts and wholly or partly whole cluster.
• Top Syrah cuvées receive an additional six months of age before release (since 2018).

Decanter's Tina Gellie included two Gramercy Syrahs, the 2015 John Lewis Les Collines Vineyard and the 2014 Lagniappe Red Willow Vineyard, in her December 2019 list of top 20 Washington State wine buys, calling the John Lewis 'a stellar, meaty Syrah that typifies the ‘iron fist in a velvet glove’ idiom.'

• Decanter top 20 Washington State wine buys (December 2019): 2015 John Lewis Les Collines Vineyard Syrah and 2014 Lagniappe Red Willow Vineyard Syrah.

The tasting room is at the winery, 635 N 13th Ave in Walla Walla; appointments are recommended and walk-ins are welcome when seating is available. As of October 2026 the tasting room flight features six wines from the most recent releases for $25, waived with a $50 purchase, and the Elevated Experience adds reserve wines, a library selection and wine club exclusive offerings for $50. The wine club, the Master Tasting Association, ships twice a year in six- or twelve-bottle allocations. Gramercy lists distributors across much of the United States and importers in markets including Canada, England, Germany, Japan, Sweden and Switzerland.

• Tasting room: 635 N 13th Ave, Walla Walla; appointments recommended, walk-ins welcome when seating is available.
• Master Tasting Association wine club: two shipments a year of six or twelve bottles.
• Distributed across much of the United States and exported to markets including Canada, England, Germany, Japan, Sweden and Switzerland.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://gramercycellars.com/, https://gramercycellars.com/about/, https://gramercycellars.com/trade/, https://gramercycellars.com/visit/, https://gramercycellars.com/news-events/, https://gramercycellars.com/club/, https://gramercycellars.com/news/2025/03/spring-release-wines-for-2025/, https://gramercycellars.com/news/2024/10/fall-release-wines-for-2024/, https://gramercycellars.com/news/2025/09/fall-release-wines-for-2025/, https://gramercycellars.com/news/2025/03/2021-vintage-reserve-wine-release/, https://gramercycellars.com/news/2024/02/2020-vintage-reserve-wine-release/, https://gramercycellars.com/news/2024/02/spring-release-wines-for-2024/, https://gramercycellars.com/news/2024/02/fall-release-wines-for-2023/, https://gramercycellars.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2019-FH-Syrah-Tech-Sheet.pdf, https://gramercycellars.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2014-Forgotten-Hills-Syrah.pdf, https://gramercycellars.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/2019-Lagniappe-Syrah-Tech-Sheet-2.pdf, https://gramercycellars.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2019-John-Lewis-Syrah-Tech-Sheet.pdf, https://gramercycellars.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/2024-Picpoul-Tech-Sheet.pdf, https://gramercycellars.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/2024-Rose-Olsen-Vineyard-Tech-Sheet.pdf, https://gramercycellars.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2020-LIdiot-Mourvedre-Tech-Sheet.pdf, https://gramercycellars.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2021-Third-Man-Grenache-Tech-Sheet-2.pdf, https://gramercycellars.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2019-Reserve-Cab-Sauv-Tech-Sheet-2.pdf, https://gramercycellars.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2023-Viognier-Tech-Sheet.pdf, https://gramercycellars.com/news/2021/02/fall-release-2020/, https://gramercycellars.com/news/2018/02/spring-release-2018/. Secondary sources: Decanter (Tina Gellie, published 12 December 2019; Elaine Chukan Brown, last updated 30 May 2017) and Wine Spectator (8 July 2014). Last verified 2026-10-18. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.