Kestrel Vintners

A food winery

Passionate about wine and food, Kestrel employees are committed to creating amazing wines that are meant to be enjoyed with food, and to creating food that pairs well with their wines.

Winemaker Flint Nelson (photo) arrived in May 2004. "This time has given me the familiarity and confidence with our fruit sources; I don't have to second guess myself," says Flint. "I believe everything starts in the vineyard. You have to have high quality fruit to make good wine. I want the expression of the fruit to be the main focus. There's alcohol content, acidity, oak, etc., but those should be supports. My goal is to showcase the fruit. I also want the varietal to show through and have a voice."

GM J.J. Compeau adds, "Our wines have above-average acidity, great color, and the minerality from the vineyard really comes through." Kestrel has 120 acres of estate vineyards and makes approximately 85-90% of their wines from these grapes. The rest are purchased from Yakima Valley growers like Olsen Estates and Boushey Vineyard. "Flint always has some projects going where he's tweaking what we do. Since you only have one vintage a year to learn from, you need to experiment. One of our experiments was about grape tonnage. Four tons is good, three tons is better, two tons was amazing, but you wonder if the loss in quantity is made up for in quality. We tried it and couldn't believe the difference. So we now have a two-ton Cabernet that is more modern than our old vine Cabernet which is more like a Bordeaux style with herbal notes. It's a different philosophy, but the same grapes. Sometimes the experiments move the wines in a different direction."

Flint has worked with Brian Carter (who crafted Kestrel's earliest vintages), David Lake of Columbia Winery, and worked at Apex Cellars in Sunnyside. He also interned in Chile and New Zealand. He likes the southern hemisphere take on white wine, but feels Eastern Washington is too warm for Sauvignon Blanc . To mimic New Zealand and South African Sauvignon Blancs, he found grapes that were planted in The Dalles, Oregon, in 1967. Their first vintage received a 92 from Robert Parker and they've taken Double Golds ("Best of the Best") each year in the Seattle Wine Awards.

In addition to the original three varietals grown, Kestrel also grows Malbec, Sangiovese, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, and Viognier. They offer four different tiers of wine: Artist Series, Falcon Series, Winemaker Series, and Signature Series, ranging from table wines to high-end small-production wines, some made mainly with old vines. (Or as Flint says "I make wine for birthdays, anniversaries, and Mondays.") "If you take out our Artist Series table wines, which make up 2/3 of our production, we're a small boutique winery," says J.J. "Flint is a master blender, but sometimes the fruit is so good, he leaves it alone. Our Raptor Red is a blend of our six best barrels. We're really Old World meets New World. We're not following trends; we can be distinctive and different. I think as all our palates are educated, we demand more complexity and balance; we want to taste fruit and subtle notes." Flint adds, "Each vintage is different. Ideally, I do as little manipulating in the winery as possible. It's a new challenge every year. I think the effortless wines are usually the best."

Committed to being a food winery, their Prosser tasting room has a full-time chef, Jessica Smith (at left), who graduated from Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. Through the program she became interested in wine, eventually becoming a distributor. Her professional culinary career began at Miraval Spa in Tucson, then she opened her own restaurant in Cannon Beach. She came to Kestrel in 2011 and leads the team in creative food pairing with Kestrel wines. In June, they held a wine and beer pairing dinner where she created dishes that went with both Kestrel wines and Pike Brewing beers.

Prosser's tasting room offers lunch Thursday-Sunday, and evening events like their monthly Bites and Flights, and Ladies Night. Jessica grows the vegetables they use right at the winery. Last year they created an event called "Big Night" inspired by the movie "Big Night." It was so successful, they are following with their second annual event this September. In the beginning phase is their Big Night Catering. "We want to be in Yakima, Walla Walla and the Tri-Cities to get the word out about what we're doing and draw people to Prosser," says J.J. "Each of our three tasting rooms gives the Kestrel experience, but in their own unique way. Woodinville is close to a big population center and also to most of our Wine Club members. Food-wise, it offers cheese and deli items, as well as catering opportunities for guests. I really love the vibe and ambiance in Woodinville. If you're a Wine Club member, it's a really cool place to go; we even have a private room for members, and that's where we also do cooking classes with our culinary expert Deanna Harris. It's the fun place to hang out in Woodinville. Leavenworth is a tourist area and we see a mix of people: those who know us, those from other parts of the world, and those locals just finding us. I love the energy in Leavenworth; it's a fun place to go. Prosser offers the vineyards and our winemakers on site with a professional kitchen for catering and outdoor seating in our Grotto."

Kestrel offers affordable world-class wines in each of their four tiers, the opportunity to learn about and enjoy food and wine pairing, cooking classes, wine education, interesting and creative events, and several tasting locations. If you're a food and wine lover, you need to get connected!

Connie Adams/July 2013