Reynvaan Family Vineyards

Reynvaan Family Vineyards was founded in 2004 by Mike and Gale Reynvaan, with their son Matt Reynvaan brought into the project as the eventual winemaker. The family planted their first estate site, the In the Rocks vineyard in the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater AVA, in 2005 on an ancient alluvial fan of the Walla Walla River dense with river-tumbled basalt cobblestones. The first commercial Reynvaan wines were released in 2007. The operation has remained tightly family-owned and operated through its history, with Mike and Gale anchoring the broader business and Matt running winemaking. A second estate vineyard, Foothills in the Sun, was developed in the foothills of the Blue Mountains at roughly 1,600 feet elevation, expanding the program beyond the Rocks District into one of the highest-elevation sites in Washington. The Reynvaan project sits squarely within the broader Walla Walla Rhône-variety movement initiated by Christophe Baron's 1997 Cayuse founding, but the family planted, built, and grew the estate as a fully independent operation with its own vineyard sites, its own house style, and its own mailing-list customer base.

• Founded 2004 by Mike and Gale Reynvaan; son Matt Reynvaan as winemaker; family-owned and operated throughout
• In the Rocks vineyard planted 2005 in the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater AVA on cobblestone-basalt alluvial fan
• First commercial release 2007; second estate vineyard Foothills in the Sun developed in the Blue Mountain foothills at ~1,600 feet
• Independent operation within the broader Walla Walla Rhône movement Cayuse initiated in 1997

Matt Reynvaan trained in enology and viticulture at Walla Walla Community College and worked with Mike Sharon of L'Ecole No. 41 in Walla Walla as well as Fabien Teitgen of Château Smith Haut Lafitte and consulting winemaker Michel Rolland in Bordeaux before joining the family project. He took over as lead winemaker at Reynvaan around 2010. From the founding through the 2017 vintage, Christophe Baron of Cayuse Vineyards consulted on the Reynvaan winemaking program, a roughly 12-year relationship during which Matt worked alongside Baron in the cellar and in the vineyards. Baron stopped formally consulting after the 2017 vintage, and Matt has been the sole winemaker since. The Cayuse relationship is the single most important external influence on the Reynvaan house style: cool-climate Northern-Rhône-leaning Syrah from cobblestone-basalt sites, restrained alcohol, savory and ferrous palate signature, and a strong vineyard-designate orientation. Reynvaan has carried that framework forward into its own distinct expression rather than imitating Cayuse, with the Hills-vineyard bottlings in particular expressing a higher-elevation register that no Cayuse bottling addresses.

• Matt Reynvaan: enology training at Walla Walla Community College; experience with L'Ecole No. 41, Château Smith Haut Lafitte, and Michel Rolland in Bordeaux
• Took over as lead winemaker at Reynvaan around 2010; worked alongside Christophe Baron in cellar and vineyards
• Christophe Baron of Cayuse consulted from launch through the 2017 vintage (~12 years); Matt has been sole winemaker since
• House style: cool-climate Northern-Rhône-leaning Syrah, restrained alcohol, savory and ferrous palate signature, strong vineyard-designate orientation

The In the Rocks vineyard sits in the heart of the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater AVA on the same cobblestone-basalt alluvial fan that defines the appellation. The site was planted in 2005, predominantly to Syrah with smaller plantings of Grenache, Viognier, and other Rhône varieties. The cobblestone surface produces the appellation's signature heat retention, drainage, and ferrous mineral signature, all of which translate into the wines as savory smoked-meat, olive brine, and dark blue and black fruit on a restrained 13 to 14 percent alcohol frame. The Rocks-sourced bottlings include the In the Rocks Syrah, the producer's most widely cited Rocks-vineyard wine and one of the benchmark Rocks District Syrahs alongside the Cayuse range; Stonessence, a Syrah-led bottling expressing a specific block within the vineyard; and The Unnamed, a more accessible Syrah positioned as a gateway to the heavily allocated estate lineup but produced with the same fruit sources and cellar approach as the flagship bottlings. Small quantities of Rocks-vineyard Viognier and Grenache Blanc are produced as Rhône whites.

• In the Rocks vineyard: planted 2005, in the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater AVA on cobblestone-basalt alluvial fan; predominantly Syrah with Grenache, Viognier, and other Rhône varieties
• Stylistic signature: savory smoked-meat, olive brine, dark blue and black fruit, ferrous mineral, restrained 13-14% alcohol
• In the Rocks Syrah: benchmark Rocks-vineyard bottling; Stonessence: Syrah-led bottling from a specific block; The Unnamed: gateway Syrah with the same fruit and cellar approach as flagship bottlings
• Rhône whites: Rocks-vineyard Viognier and Grenache Blanc produced in small quantities

The Foothills in the Sun vineyard sits at the base of the Blue Mountains on the Washington-Oregon border at roughly 1,600 feet elevation, one of the highest-elevation vineyard sites in Washington. The soils are a mix of deep silty loam shaped by wind-blown loess, interwoven with clay, iron, and pockets of large rocks left by the Missoula Floods. The site is planted to Syrah, Viognier, and a smaller block of Cabernet Sauvignon. The elevation, the diurnal swing, and the loess-clay-iron soil profile produce a Syrah register quite distinct from the cobblestone-basalt Rocks District: brighter aromatics, more red and dark blue fruit, more mineral lift, and a structural backbone that supports long cellar trajectories. The In the Hills Syrah is the standard Hills-vineyard bottling, co-fermented with a small percentage of Viognier in the Northern Rhône Côte-Rôtie tradition. The Foothills in the Sun Syrah is a single-vineyard expression of the site, and the Foothills Reserve is a top-tier barrel selection drawn from the highest-scoring lots of the Foothills in the Sun vineyard, sitting at the apex of the entire Reynvaan lineup alongside the In the Rocks Syrah and earning high critical acclaim. A Bordeaux blend called The Classic uses Cabernet from this site and other Walla Walla fruit.

• Foothills in the Sun vineyard: ~1,600 feet elevation in the Blue Mountain foothills; one of the highest-elevation sites in Washington
• Soils: deep silty loam from wind-blown loess interwoven with clay, iron, and Missoula Flood rock pockets
• Bottlings: In the Hills Syrah (co-fermented with small percentage of Viognier in Côte-Rôtie tradition), Foothills in the Sun Syrah (single-vineyard expression), Foothills Reserve (top-tier barrel selection), The Classic Bordeaux blend
• Foothills Reserve is a top-of-program barrel selection from the highest-scoring lots; sits at the apex of the lineup with the In the Rocks Syrah and is highly rated

Reynvaan distributes exclusively to its mailing list with no wholesale or retail presence beyond a small number of restaurant accounts, and the list has been fully allocated with multi-year waiting lists since the mid-2010s. The combination of small estate production, the Cayuse-consulted pedigree, the consistent critical reception across both the Rocks and Hills bottlings, and the cobblestone-basalt and high-elevation distinctiveness of the two estate vineyards has made Reynvaan one of the most prominent Rocks District and broader Walla Walla producers after Cayuse itself. The Result of a Crush Christmas Cuvée is a holiday-release Syrah bottling released under the Result of a Crush label, with the Reynvaan Christmas Cuvée and related Unnamed Series Christmas releases offered seasonally to the mailing list and a small number of retail partners. The Reynvaan operation represents the broader pattern of family-scale, vineyard-driven, mailing-list-distributed Rocks District production that defines the appellation's contemporary commercial profile, alongside Cayuse, No Girls, and Maison Bleue in shaping the broader Walla Walla cult-Syrah register.

• Distribution: exclusively direct-to-mailing-list with limited restaurant placements; list fully allocated with multi-year waiting lists since mid-2010s
• Among the most prominent Rocks District and Walla Walla producers after Cayuse; cobblestone-basalt and high-elevation estate vineyards anchor the cult status
• Result of a Crush Christmas Cuvée: holiday Syrah release under the Result of a Crush label; offered seasonally to the mailing list
• Family-scale, vineyard-driven, mailing-list-distributed model shared with Cayuse, No Girls, and Maison Bleue in the broader Walla Walla cult-Syrah register