Isenhower Cellars

Brett Isenhower grew up in rural Lebanon, Indiana and earned a Bachelor of Pharmacy from Purdue University in 1992. Denise grew up in rural Fairland, Indiana in a farming family and earned a Bachelor of Pharmacy from Butler University in 1993. The two married in 1995 and moved to Boulder, Colorado, where Brett completed an MBA at the University of Colorado in 1997. Finding corporate health care unsatisfying, Brett researched winegrowing regions across the Western United States and chose Washington for the open, entrepreneurial character of its young wine industry. Brett and Denise moved to Walla Walla in 1998 and bonded Isenhower Cellars in 1999, making it the 18th winery in the valley at a time when the regional industry was still small but accelerating.

• Brett: BS Pharmacy Purdue 1992, MBA University of Colorado 1997
• Denise: BS Pharmacy Butler 1993; from a Fairland, Indiana farming family
• Married 1995, relocated to Walla Walla 1998, bonded the winery 1999
• 18th winery in Walla Walla at founding; continuously family-owned since

The dedicated production winery on Pranger Road in Walla Walla was completed in 2002, replacing the makeshift early facility used for the first vintages. In 2009 the Isenhowers opened a satellite tasting room in Woodinville to bring the wines closer to the Seattle metro market, joining the cluster of Walla Walla and Columbia Valley wineries that maintain dual Walla Walla and Woodinville pour rooms. The Woodinville location has since closed, and the operation is now anchored at the Walla Walla winery, which serves both as the production facility and the primary tasting room. Annual production sits at approximately 2,200 cases across the full red-and-white range, a scale that places Isenhower among the small-to-medium tier of Walla Walla producers and supports a direct-to-consumer sales emphasis through the tasting room and wine club.

• Pranger Road winery in Walla Walla completed 2002
• Woodinville satellite tasting room opened 2009; has since closed
• Walla Walla winery now serves as both production facility and primary tasting room
• Approximately 2,200 cases per year; small-scale for Walla Walla

Isenhower's bottling lineup is distinctive for its naming convention: most wines carry the names of Western wildflowers, meadow plants, or other botanical references rather than vineyard or proprietary names, a personal motif that reflects Brett and Denise's rural Midwestern origins and Pacific Northwest setting. The naming pattern is a recurring source of confusion because the wildflower name does not telegraph the varietal: Snapdragon is a white Rhône blend (Roussanne and Viognier), not a red as the name might suggest; Batchelor's Button is a Cabernet Sauvignon from Red Mountain, not a Roussanne; Wild Alfalfa is a Syrah; Rara Avis is a Grenache-led GSM blend. The portfolio spans Bordeaux varietals (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot), Rhône varietals (Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Viognier, Roussanne), and Italian varietals (Sangiovese for rosé, with small Barbera inclusions in some blends), with bottling categories that include single-varietal wines, multi-varietal blends, a NV Holiday Red, and occasional small lots like a sparkling Roussanne.

• Snapdragon: white Rhône blend of Roussanne and Viognier (a 2007 reference release was approximately 72 percent Roussanne, 28 percent Viognier)
• Batchelor's Button: Cabernet Sauvignon from Red Mountain biodynamic vineyards (Jolet, Shaw 32), some vintages with small Cab Franc and Petit Verdot additions
• Wild Alfalfa: Syrah, typically aged in 100 percent new French oak puncheons
• Rara Avis: Grenache-led GSM blend (a recent release was 77 percent Grenache, 18 percent Mourvèdre, 5 percent Syrah)

Isenhower is a négociant-style operation in the contemporary Washington sense, buying fruit under long-running contracts from named vineyards across four Columbia Valley sub-AVAs rather than farming a large estate vineyard. Red Mountain is the most prominent source, with Batchelor's Button drawing from the biodynamic-certified Jolet and Shaw 32 vineyards and the Bordeaux blend program incorporating Shaw 32 Cabernet Sauvignon, with Cabernet Franc from Wallula Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills. Yakima Valley sources include the Olsen Ranch for Wild Alfalfa Syrah and the sparkling Roussanne program. Horse Heaven Hills is represented through Champoux Vineyard, which supplies Malbec for the À Bloc bottling, and Dionysus Vineyard, which supplies Petit Verdot for several bottlings. The Walla Walla Valley contributes additional small parcels to the broader range. This multi-AVA sourcing allows the winery to compose blends that draw on the distinct character of each appellation: structural depth from Red Mountain, aromatic lift from Yakima Valley, and ripeness from the warmer Horse Heaven Hills sites.

• Red Mountain: Jolet (biodynamic) and Shaw 32 for Cabernet Sauvignon
• Yakima Valley: Olsen Ranch for Wild Alfalfa Syrah and sparkling Roussanne
• Horse Heaven Hills: Champoux Vineyard (Malbec for À Bloc), Dionysus Vineyard (Petit Verdot), Wallula Vineyard (Cabernet Franc)
• Walla Walla Valley: smaller estate-area parcels rounding out the range

Beyond the four core wildflower bottlings, the broader Isenhower range includes several other current and recent-vintage wines worth knowing for anyone exploring the portfolio. The À Bloc Malbec is a Malbec-led Horse Heaven Hills bottling (recent release approximately 92 percent Champoux Malbec, 8 percent Dionysus Petit Verdot) that has become one of the more sought-after bottles in the lineup. The Last Straw is a multi-varietal red blend drawn from leftover lots at the end of the vintage, with composition varying year to year (the 2018 was approximately 28 percent Cabernet Franc, 27 percent Malbec, 21 percent Syrah, 12 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 7 percent Merlot, 1 percent Barbera). The Road Less Traveled is a single-varietal Cabernet Franc; Jongleur is a Petit Verdot; the Wild Thyme is a Bordeaux-style Merlot-Cabernet blend with smaller Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc additions. The NV Holiday Red is a value-priced multi-vintage blend designed for everyday drinking, and occasional small-lot bottlings (sparkling Roussanne from Olsen Ranch, Sangiovese rosé) round out the seasonal and limited-release side of the portfolio. Most wines remain in the moderate to upper-moderate price tier, with the À Bloc Malbec and Batchelor's Button Cabernet pushing toward the premium tier in recent vintages.