Pioneering winery and vineyard was the primary to plant grapes within the Pink Mountain area of japanese Washington
Benton Metropolis, WA (January 16, 2025)— Kiona Vineyards, a family-owned vineyard in japanese Washington’s Pink Mountain AVA, celebrates its fiftieth yr anniversary in 2025. Since planting the first grapes on Pink Mountain in 1975, Kiona has been on the forefront of Washington’s wine business, and performed an vital position within the state’s wine historical past.
As a winery and vineyard, Kiona grows fruit for greater than 60 Pacific Northwest wineries and crafts their very own property wines together with Cabernet Sauvignon, Chenin Blanc, and the primary Lemberger to be vinified in america, amongst others. Kiona’s fruit has lengthy been acclaimed for high quality, with many vineyard-designated wines successful awards over the a long time. Kiona was one of many first vineyards to be Sustainable Washington licensed in 2022, proving their dedication to the land and the way forward for Washington wine. They use solely light-weight glass, and have campaigned for extra Washington wineries to comply with go well with underneath their “World Class in Lighter Glass” marketing campaign.
Based by John and Ann Williams alongside Jim Holmes, the property was bought in 1972 and the primary vines have been planted in 1975. These preliminary plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, and Chardonnay marked the start of a legacy that has now spanned half a century. Over time, the Williams household has expanded their property to incorporate a number of vineyards, contributing considerably to the realm’s fame for producing wines of distinction. Kiona Vineyards now grows 20 grape varieties on 272 acres, which incorporates 5 property vineyards all throughout the Pink Mountain AVA, and produces about 25,000 instances a yr. Kiona remains to be totally owned and run by the Williams household.
“We owe it to our grandparents to do good, and we owe it to our clients to be good,” says JJ Williams, third era Normal Supervisor of Kiona. “As we transfer into the second fifty years, we’re searching for methods to develop our affect on the wine group, by encouraging extra sustainable farming, selling the usage of light-weight glass, and persevering with to provide world class wines from Pink Mountain.
In 2019, third era Tyler Williams took over as head winemaker from his father, Scott. Tyler labored harvests at different wineries in Washington, in addition to in Bordeaux, Sicily, South Africa, Chile, New Zealand, and Australia, after which returned to Pink Mountain and earned an MS in Winemaking whereas working alongside his father.
Tyler relishes the chance to honor Kiona Vineyards winemaking historical past, together with the legacy of his father and grandfather, and to convey trendy innovation to the household property. Whereas he works with the identical high quality fruit they’ve grown for many years, Tyler has launched clay amphorae and cement eggs to the cellar, and has moved the wine model to suit with present developments: choosing earlier for extra pronounced acidity and freshness, utilizing blond oak as a substitute of closely toasted oak to have much less affect on the wine, and growing older the wine for an extended interval in bottle earlier than they’re launched, with much less time in oak.
Along with these modifications, Tyler labored alongside his brother JJ to provide a brand new line of non-vintage vertically blended wines, their Mythology Collection, which supplies Tyler the chance to honor the grapes and winemaking traditions he realized from his harvests around the globe, and to mix reserve wine with youthful wine to create an intense taste profile. These wines replicate each his world winemaking experience and his dedication to showcasing the distinctive high quality of Kiona’s fruit.
The in depth choice of varieties grown permits Kiona to provide all kinds of wines, together with strong reds like their estate-bottled Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, elegant whites together with their Previous Vine Chenin Blanc, and distinctive choices, such because the Chenin Blanc Ice Wine or Property Lemberger. Their dedication to showcasing the distinctive terroir of Pink Mountain is clear throughout their portfolio, with every wine reflecting the area’s attribute depth, complexity, and steadiness.
For his or her fiftieth anniversary, Kiona will launch a brand new Cabernet Sauvignon blended from their property vineyards on Pink Mountain with an anniversary label modeled after their authentic brand.
Kiona has confirmed their excellence during the last 50 years, and appears ahead to the following half century. The Williams household’s tenacity and innovation has helped place Pink Mountain as a premier winegrowing area within the new world. This milestone celebrates Kiona Vineyards and Pink Mountain, and is an integral a part of Washington wine historical past.
ABOUT KIONA VINEYARDS
Kiona Vineyards is a family-owned and operated vineyard situated within the Pink Mountain AVA of Washington State. Established in 1975 by John and Ann Williams, Kiona is now led by the third era of the Williams household, and has been instrumental in growing Pink Mountain into one in every of America’s premier wine-growing areas. With a give attention to sustainable farming and producing high quality grapes and wines, Kiona continues to be a frontrunner within the Washington wine business, rising and producing a large breadth of sorts together with Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Sangiovese, Chenin Blanc, and extra. For extra details about Kiona and their 50-year legacy on Pink Mountain, go to kionawine.com.
