Swiftwater Cellars

New head winemaker

Andrew Wisniewski took the reins as head winemaker at Swiftwater Cellars in October 2014, but he's not 'new.' He came in as assistant winemaker in April 2013 and has worked closely with then head winemaker Linda Trotta, who is now in Napa.

Andrew worked in Oregon and loved the wine. But his go-to wines were Washington reds. "Oregon has my heart for Pinot Noir," he says. "When it comes to quality for price points, Washington reds are the best. Washington wines are still comparatively young. The fact they're so good really turned my head and I wanted the opportunity to work with varietals I'd worked with before in Australia. After the 2012 vintage, I started seriously considering transitioning to Washington."

Andrew heard that Linda was looking for an assistant winemaker at Swiftwater. They started talking and discovered their style and philosophy were similar. "We both feel that Washington wines already have power, what we wanted to add was elegance and a sense of place. As we started working together and blending, we discovered our palates were very similar. We'd blind taste things and realize we agreed on the direction the wine should take." They blended 2011 reds and 2012 whites and are just getting feedback. "I can't give specifics now, but we've gotten some of the highest scores we've ever received."

Swiftwater is more than a winery. "This is a world-class dynamic winery, with corporate events and weddings. It takes a lot to ensure everyone's on the same page. Taking over this position is such an awesome thing. I love what I do. I find it fun to taste 50 different lots of wine and figure out the blend. You're putting puzzle pieces together. Even though I'm just 28, I have a breadth of experience beyond those years, but am still learning. My parents taught me that if you put your all into anything, you'll be rewarded. I'm relentless in the pursuit of quality and have super high standards. I've been blessed with opportunities that have brought me to where I am now."

Swiftwater great room

One thing he likes about winemaking is that every vintage poses a new opportunity. "You can celebrate your wins, but then you move on. Mother Nature throws curve balls every year. You have to work for it in cool vintages, and in ideal years, you have to step back and let the fruit express itself. You can't run from the vintage, it will shine through. You want to embrace that and look for the subtleties and nuances."

Andrew grew up in upstate New York. His mother managed a fine wine shop in Niagara Falls and there was always wine at the dinner table that he was allowed to sip. "I'd go to the shop as a kid and be intrigued with the labels. Partly I liked it because the owners were brothers named Bert and Ernie. I always watched Sesame Street," he laughs. "When I started working in the industry after high school, I wasn't old enough to drink. But I had respect for the wine from growing up around it."

He followed friends to the Orlando area and took biochemistry classes at University of Central Florida. The program required an internship and Lakeridge Winery had an opening. "It was great experience, lots of hard work and production-oriented. I learned about volume and making wines that agreed with the Southern palate. It was the alcoholic equivalent of sweet tea."

Ultimately they offered him a full-time position; he stayed three years. While there, he started the UC Davis graduate level program in enology and viticulture. The Lakeridge winemaker, who was from Oregon, became his mentor. They tasted wine constantly to keep Andrew's palate astute. He told Andrew that if wine was his path, he needed to go to the West Coast. "I liked wines from the west. The winemaker set me up with some people to talk with and I flew to Oregon. Stoller Family Estate in the Dundee Hills offered me an internship. My fiancé and I packed the car and drove out in March 2008."

Watts family, Swiftwater owners

It was a big change. At Lakeridge they were making 100,000 cases a year. Stoller was making 7,500. He worked hard and absorbed everything, hoping they'd offer him full-time work. Their interns were from all over the world and he learned from them as well. 2008 was touted as one of the best vintages in the Pacific Northwest. At the end of the vintage, he was offered the position of cellar master. He stayed for 4-1/2 years. When he signed on, it was with the caveat that he be able to work vintages elsewhere after Stoller's vintage was complete. He worked in New Zealand and Australia. And he finished the UC Davis program through Chemeketa College. He's now been in the industry for 10 years and worked 12 vintages.

At Swiftwater, he's working with Washington grapes, the only exception being Pinot Noir grapes from Oregon. "I think that crushing releases tannins, flavor and compounds, so control is in gentle extraction. We work toward wines being drinkable now but having the bones to age. What's perfect about Washington wines is their new world expression and old world structure."

He's currently creating special wines for wine club members. They recently bottled their first Cabernet Franc, 2013, and have a 2013 Reserve Syrah. "It's whole cluster fermentation and super distinctive. Wine Club is fun because you interact with your customer and they come into your world. We had a blending party where we deconstructed one of our blends. Then we took the Merlot base and, as a group, created a new blend. We call it Black Diamond Red, the yin to our flagship blend, which is Cabernet Sauvignon dominant.

Swiftwater Cellars

He's looking at a sparkling wine for 2015. "I've made them before, and want to again. We have a block of Chardonnay in our Zephyr Ridge estate vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills perfectly suited for a blanc de blanc." Get your glasses ready.

Swiftwater Cellars
301 Rope Rider Drive
Cle Elum, WA 98922
509-674-6555

www.swiftwatercellars.com

Connie Adams/June 2015