Airfield Estates

A family affair

After graduating from the Walla Walla Viticulture and Enology program, Marcus took a job at Tsillan Cellars at Lake Chelan. "It was great. I was in on the ground level—it was a brand new winery in the summer of 2004. I stayed for two harvests there." In 2005, Mike Miller started getting the itch to start his own winery. He had the grapes and a son who was a fully trained winemaker with a few years’ experience. Part of Mike’s eagerness to start a winery sprang from the fact that some of his wine grape contracts with Chateau Ste. Michelle had not been renewed. Planning for the new winery began in 2005 and the first grapes were crushed and fermented. In 2006, they purchased the land for a tasting room in Prosser, breaking ground in August. Construction finished in April of 2007 and they opened their doors just in time for Spring Barrel Tasting, the largest wine tasting weekend of the year.

Photo: Airfield Estates tasting room

When planning the winery, Mike gave Marcus the job of ensuring the winery branded the vineyards. "After a few weeks of thinking about it, it was pretty clear we needed to tell the story of the airbase with our winery," recalls Marcus. To accomplish this, Marcus incorporated the look of the airbase into the new facility. "We patterned the winery after the largest hangar on the farm and we wanted to recreate the water tower. It was definitely the eye-catching feature of the airbase." The story is told inside the winery with 1940s black and white photos of the airbase. Wine packaging also relates their history: all single variety wines have a silk screen of the Stearman aircraft on them and each blend carries a name of a World War II fighter plane.

Today, about seven percent of Airport Ranch grapes go into Airfield Estates wines. "Our wines and tasting room have been very well received," says Marcus. "We had a five year plan to fill our barrel and tank rooms, but it’s happened in two. When we started the winery, we grew three types of red wine grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. We saw the potential in Eastern Washington, with our long hot days, to grow many other types of wine grapes. In 2006, we planted ten new red wine grape varietals, most of which have ended up in blends. For instance, instead of doing a straight Syrah, we now blend Syrah with Grenache, Cinsault, Mouvedre and Counoise to make a very interesting wine. Other grapes like Tempranillo have so much promise that we’re doing standalone varietal wines that are very interesting and unique."

Photo: the Airfield water tower building

Marcus is passionate about winemaking. "Wine is amazing," he proclaims. "There is so much complexity. Each decision I make from the way we grow the grapes to the barrels we choose to creating the blend can change the flavor of the wine. There are a million possibilities." One of his winemaking tenants is to keep varietals as close to 100% as possible. "When people buy my Cabernet I feel they expect to taste Cabernet." His wine offerings are quite ambitious. He currently has 24 different wines offered to wine club and tasting room customers. "Yeah, it’s a lot," he agrees. "We’re using the shotgun approach. We wanted to try a lot of different wines made from a lot of different grapes and see what people are gravitating to."

Like other winemakers, Marcus has seen the growth in value wines. "It’s been a tough economy and people still want to buy wine, but they’re looking for value. One of our value wines is our unoaked Chardonnay at $12. We made 900 cases in 2007 and sold out in 7-8 months. At that time, we had never made more than 350 cases of any single wine. It was a great success. In 2008, we upped production to 1700 cases. Again, we are seeing huge success with that product. We should sell out again before the new vintage is even bottled."

Going forward, Marcus sees a continued focus on value. "Our focus will always be on high quality wines at a great value. Even in Washington where there are a lot of values, we want to be known as a superior product for the price. One of our advantages is that we don’t have to spend a lot to buy great wine grapes. Growing our own fruit helps keep our costs low which allows us to offer our customers a better value."

Photo: Marcus with Airfield award-winning wines

As with any wine-growing/making operation, many people contribute to its success. Mike is a constant fixture at the winery. "Dad loves the winery and can give tours and wine taste with people all day long. I don’t have that kind of endurance," admits Marcus. The marketing is handled by Lori Miller, Marcus’ sister. Her long-time friend, Amy Sonnichson, is in charge of distribution and logistics. "It has taken us awhile to establish well-defined job descriptions, but we are finally there. We’re starting to function like a well-oiled machine."

In addition to wines, they produce pickled asparagus from their farms and have a catering kitchen at the tasting room. The Officers Club, a lovely room in the tower, is used for wine club gatherings, birthday parties and other events. It is also a showcase for the awards they’ve won. Clearly this family will continue to evolve and innovate.

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