Sleight of Hand Cellars

Sleight of Hand Cellars was founded in 2007 by Trey Busch and Jerry and Sandy Solomon, a husband-and-wife team. The winery is named after Busch's favorite Pearl Jam song. Its stated goal from the outset has been 'to make world class wines while having the most fun that is legally possible.' In 2011 the winery moved from a 900-square-foot storefront in downtown Walla Walla to its current 10-acre property on JB George Road, on the south side of the Walla Walla Valley. Keith Johnson joined in 2011, right after the opening of the tasting room on JB George Road and before the new winery building was complete. Jerry Solomon, Sandy Solomon and Trey Busch are the winery's co-owners, and Keith Johnson is a partner.

• 2007: founded by Trey Busch with Jerry and Sandy Solomon.
• 2011: moved from a 900-square-foot storefront in downtown Walla Walla to a 10-acre property on JB George Road; Keith Johnson joined the same year.
• Owners: Jerry Solomon, Sandy Solomon and Trey Busch (co-owners), with Keith Johnson as partner.

Jerry Solomon is Co-Owner, President and Director of Winemaking. He spent 30 years as a real estate attorney before turning to wine; he directs the blending sessions, and he and Busch jointly make all picking decisions in the vineyards. Trey Busch is Co-Owner and Winemaker and oversees the winemaking; he shares sales and marketing duties with Jerry Solomon. Busch moved to Seattle in 1992 and worked for Nordstrom for eight years before moving his family to Walla Walla to work with the Dunham Cellars family. Eric Dunham, then the winemaker and owner of Dunham Cellars, gave him the foundation for his winemaking, and his first day of crush was in September 2000; he went on to spend seven years working for Dunham Cellars. Keith Johnson, Partner and Production Winemaker, oversees the winery on a daily basis and manages the harvest team in the cellar while Busch and Solomon make picking decisions in the vineyards; he also spearheads the Devium label. Johnson moved to Walla Walla in the summer of 2009. Baily Weisinger, Assistant Winemaker, holds a degree in enology. Sandy Solomon, Co-Owner, handles the winery's travel schedules and takes charge of getting the Magician's Assistant Rosé just right.

• Jerry Solomon: Co-Owner, President and Director of Winemaking; directs the blending sessions; 30 years as a real estate attorney before wine.
• Trey Busch: Co-Owner and Winemaker; eight years with Nordstrom in Seattle from 1992, then Dunham Cellars, where his first crush was in September 2000.
• Keith Johnson: joined in 2011; Partner and Production Winemaker; spearheads the Devium label.
• Baily Weisinger: Assistant Winemaker. Sandy Solomon: Co-Owner, closely involved with the Magician's Assistant Rosé.

Sleight of Hand makes its wines from a combination of estate vineyards and non-estate vineyards around Washington State. Stoney Vine Vineyard, the estate vineyard in the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater AVA, is an 18.5-acre planting of Syrah (three clones) in the ancient Walla Walla River bed, made up predominantly of basalt cobbles; it supplies The Psychedelic Syrah and part of Levitation. At Blue Mountain Vineyard, established in 2000 in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, the winery planted an 8-acre estate block of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon in 2014; dubbed the Binaural Block, it has become the basis for The Archimage. Elene's Block, a five-acre estate block in Phinny Hill Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA, across the road and uphill from Champoux Vineyard, supplies Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, much of it for The Conjurer. The Ziggy Stardust Estate Block of Elevation Vineyard, up the North Fork of the Walla Walla River, is planted entirely to Syrah at meter-by-meter spacing; its first crop was in 2016, and its wine is Spiders From Mars. Among the sourced sites, Lewis Vineyard sits on the south-facing upper slopes of the Rattlesnake Hills in the Yakima Valley at 1,270 feet; the winery has worked a 4-acre block of Syrah there since 2007, and it is one of the main components of Levitation. Les Collines Vineyard, on the eastern slopes of the Walla Walla Valley in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, supplies two blocks of Syrah, Block 23 and Block 50, that usually go into Levitation. Red Mountain Vineyard in the Red Mountain AVA supplies 6 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot for The Illusionist and The Archimage. Upland Vineyard in the Snipes Mountain AVA, farmed by Todd Newhouse, grows Grenache for The Sorceress, and three blocks of Grenache at WeatherEye Vineyard go into The Sorceress and the single-vineyard Higher Ground. French Creek Vineyard was established in 1980 with 10 acres of Wente clone Chardonnay; the winery contracts 2 acres every year for The Enchantress.

• Estate: Stoney Vine (Rocks District of Milton-Freewater AVA, 18.5 acres of Syrah), the Binaural Block at Blue Mountain (8 acres, planted 2014), Elene's Block at Phinny Hill (five acres, Horse Heaven Hills AVA) and the Ziggy Stardust Block at Elevation (Syrah, first crop 2016).
• Syrah for Levitation: Lewis Vineyard (Yakima Valley, worked since 2007) and Les Collines Vineyard (Walla Walla Valley).
• Red Mountain Vineyard: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot for The Illusionist and The Archimage.
• Grenache from Upland Vineyard (Snipes Mountain AVA) and WeatherEye Vineyard; Chardonnay from French Creek Vineyard (established 1980).

The lineup includes The Magician Riesling, The Magician's Assistant Cabernet Franc Rosé, The Enchantress Chardonnay, The Spellbinder and The Conjurer red blends, The Archimage Reserve red blend, The Illusionist Cabernet Sauvignon, The Sorceress Grenache, and the Syrahs Levitation, The Psychedelic, The Funkadelic and Spiders From Mars. The Magician is 100% Riesling from Evergreen Vineyard in the Ancient Lakes AVA, high above the Columbia River near George; the 2022 has 2 g/L of residual sugar and 11.6% alcohol, from 700 cases. Levitation is 100% Syrah; the 2021 came from Lewis Vineyard (74%) and Les Collines Vineyard (26%). The 2021 Conjurer is a Bordeaux-style blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Cabernet Franc and 7% Merlot, made from 100% free-run juice and aged 11 months in about 25% new French oak. The 2021 Spellbinder is a Cabernet and Cabernet Franc based blend aged in large upright oak tanks and neutral French oak barrels. The 2021 Archimage is 54% Cabernet Franc and 46% Merlot, sourced primarily from the estate Binaural Block at Blue Mountain Vineyard and the estate block on Red Mountain, and aged 20 months in 41% new French oak. The 2021 Illusionist Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, aged 20 months in 60% new French oak. In certain vintages the winery also bottles The Flip Side, a magnum-only 100% Lewis Vineyard Syrah, and Off He Goes, a Les Collines Syrah dedicated to Busch's mentor, the late Eric Dunham. Higher Ground is a single-vineyard WeatherEye Grenache, and Badlands is a Syrah from Borderlands Vineyard.

• The Magician: 100% Riesling from Evergreen Vineyard, Ancient Lakes AVA; the 2022 has 2 g/L of residual sugar.
• Levitation: 100% Syrah; the 2021 is 74% Lewis Vineyard and 26% Les Collines Vineyard.
• The Conjurer 2021: 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Cabernet Franc, 7% Merlot. The Archimage 2021: 54% Cabernet Franc, 46% Merlot.
• The Illusionist 2021: 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot, aged 20 months in 60% new French oak.

The winery's motto is 'Serious wines without the serious attitudes,' and it credits its love of great wines from around the world, and of music, with inspiring its vision. The production facility always has music playing, usually Seattle's KEXP radio station, and the tasting rooms hold over 3,000 albums, with turntables spinning vinyl in all three. The Washington State Wine Commission characterizes Keith Johnson's approach in the cellar as 'decidedly relaxed and lo-fi,' with foot stomping and native yeast fermentations the norm. For The Enchantress Chardonnay, the team picks twice, early for natural acidity and freshness and later for more ripeness and richness; the wine is made by 100% spontaneous fermentation and aged on lees in concrete tanks and old French oak barrels.

The 2015 Levitation Syrah was No. 85 on Wine Spectator's Top 100 of 2018, and the 2016 The Archimage Reserve was No. 88 on its Top 100 of 2020. In Wine Spectator's Washington tasting report in the March 31, 2025, issue, Sleight of Hand had five wines scoring 90 points or more, including the 2022 Levitation Reserve Syrah and the 2022 The Sorceress Reserve Grenache at 93 points each.

• Wine Spectator Top 100: 2015 Levitation Syrah (No. 85 of 2018) and 2016 The Archimage Reserve (No. 88 of 2020).
• Wine Spectator, March 31, 2025, issue: 2022 Levitation Reserve Syrah and 2022 The Sorceress Reserve Grenache at 93 points.

The original tasting room is in Walla Walla at 1959 J B George Road and holds a collection of Pearl Jam and other band memorabilia. Sleight of Hand also runs tasting rooms in Seattle's SODO district, at 3861 1st Ave S, and in the Hollywood district of Woodinville, at 14450 Woodinville-Redmond Rd NE. Members of the wine club, The Wine Illusionist Society, receive songs from Seattle's Sub Pop Records as digital downloads with each shipment.

• Walla Walla: 1959 J B George Road.
• Seattle (SODO): 3861 1st Ave S. Woodinville (Hollywood district): 14450 Woodinville-Redmond Rd NE.
• Wine club: The Wine Illusionist Society, with Sub Pop Records song downloads in each shipment.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.sofhcellars.com/, https://www.sofhcellars.com/team, https://www.sofhcellars.com/vineyards, https://www.sofhcellars.com/contact, https://www.sofhcellars.com/trade, and the winery's technical sheets (PDF): https://www.sofhcellars.com/s/Magician-Riesling-2022.pdf, https://www.sofhcellars.com/s/2021-Conjurer.pdf, https://www.sofhcellars.com/s/2021-Spellbinder-g7wf.pdf, https://www.sofhcellars.com/s/2021-Archimage-Tech-Sheet-2.pdf, https://www.sofhcellars.com/s/2021-Illusionist-Tech-Sheet.pdf, https://www.sofhcellars.com/s/Copy-of-2021-Levitation-Tech-Sheet.pdf. Secondary sources: Jancis Robinson (Tamlyn Currin, The Enchantress Old Vine Chardonnay 2017), Washington State Wine Commission (Keith Johnson alumni interview), and Wine Spectator (wine ratings for the 2015 Levitation, the 2016 The Archimage Reserve and the 2023 The Magician, and the Alphabetical Guide to Washington Wines from the March 31, 2025, issue). Last verified 2026-10-19. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.