Wines
Whitman Cellars
Walla Walla
Whitman Cellars is a boutique winery located in Washington State with a production level at approximately 5,000 cases per year. They specialize in Bordeaux and Rhone style wines of balance and expression of terroir. The winery started in 1998 by John Edwards and Larry & Sally Thomason and joined by Stephen Lessard in 2002, winemaker and partner at Whitman Cellars. Stephen Lessard has 18 years of winemaking experience both in California and Washington, his experience includes Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars in Napa as an enologist (wine chemist).
Whitman Cellars is proud to work with grape growers and vineyard managers incorporating environmentally safe cultivation practices such as non-herbicide weed control, low water usage drip systems, and organic fertilizers. Fruit is sourced from 19 different vineyard blocks in the Walla Walla and Red Mountain appellations and kept in separate barrel lots until blending trials are complete. The Walla Walla appellation is an amazing diversity in terroir resulting from the great floods from lake Missoula some 2,500 years ago. At Whitman Cellars, they take advantage of this diversity and contract their fruit from vineyards from all different microclimates, which have proven to be the best locations to grow each particular varietal. For example, a slightly cooler site to grow our Viognier to allow for slow ripening and retention of the natural acids for a crisp, clean, fruity wine, or a slightly warmer site for Cabernet Sauvignon to ensure full physiological maturity and big, ripe flavors.
Carefully cultivated at Seven Hills and Pepperbridge Vineyards, Whitman Cellars Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Meritage are full of fruit flavor, dark, luscious, and inviting. One can literally taste the rich earth in the wine, with aromatics balancing perfectly with a fine oak bouquet. Using hand-picked, top of the vine grapes, handcrafted wines are produced in limited quantities.