Brian Carter Cellars

Longtime winemaker Brian Carter celebrated his 30^th vintage in Washington state in 2009. While he's made many an excellent varietal, he has always enjoyed blending. From the very first vintage of Brian Carter Cellars, Solesce in 1997, he has stayed with blends and is the first winery in Washington to solely produce European-style hand-crafted blends.

Photo: Brian Carter in his tasting room

"I started making my own wine when I was still working with Apex," recalls Brian. "I wanted to do something that was not competitive with them, yet focused on a particular theme. To be labeled a varietal, a wine has to be 75% from that grape. Even when making varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon, I would often get very close to that limit through blending. With my own wine, I'm not restricted to varietal limitations and it's a lot of fun."

Testing the waters, he saw an interest in blended wines. "Its time had come in Washington state. In the past, you couldn't get certain grapes: Mourvedre, Petit Verdot, Roussanne, Malbec. There's been an explosion of different varietals and the blending possibilities are much more interesting," he says happily. "Blending adds intrigue and it's the next logical step in appreciating wine. People new to wine get familiar with the character of the grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Riesling. Once they've learned the character of those grapes, they move to blends and can taste the complexity when those characters are put together. It's another level of sophistication."

Although blending may make it easier to produce a similar-tasting wine each vintage, Brian's curiosity doesn't always allow that. "Most of my wines are similar blends each year, but the Southern Rhone-style blend Byzance, for instance, has evolved. Originally it was just Grenache and Syrah. We started adding Mourvedre where the last few vintages it's been about 25% of the blend and has changed the wine considerably. It has added spice and earthiness, more like an old world wine. I like to have a number of ‘colors,' because each ‘color' you use adds complexity." His Le Coursier and Solesce Bordeaux-style blends both use five different varietals. Abracadabra, his ‘magical' red blend changes each year based on the amount of grapes he's used in other blends. "If one of the blending grapes is especially good, I can use less of it in the other wines. That means there's more of it to use in Abracadabra," Brian explains. "Abracadabra also spends less time in the barrel (18 months) before being bottled." Most of his reds spend 22 months in the barrel, while Solesce spends 30 months.

As a teenager in the Willamette Valley, Brian was given a microscope which he used to look at "ditch stuff." After hearing about yeast and fermenting, he took a look at some yeast under the microscope and his interest in the process of making wine began. His early interest in yeast stays with him today. "Sixty percent of my wines are now native yeast fermented vs. using freeze-dried yeast," Brian explains. "Letting them ferment on their own yeast goes against what I learned in school, but I have a firm belief that if you stay with what is taught, you can make good wine, but not great wine. While I can't overemphasize the importance of great grapes, the act of winemaking is nearly as important. If you follow the straight and narrow, you may not get a great wine. You need to take chances to create wine that has intrigue, finesse and complexity. Each year I try something new; for example, I use lees contact, experiment with temperatures of fermentation and punching down in different ways. Winemaking is not a static thing, you never stop learning."

After reading H.E. Bravery in high school about making wine out of almost anything, he made wines from blackberries he foraged and even a beet wine (color good, taste bad). He got his degree in microbiology from Oregon State University, but his interest in wine continued and led him to meet with winemakers: David Lett, Dick Erath, Charles Coury, Ron Vuylsteke, all early pioneers of wine in Oregon. He attended the UC Davis graduate program and, while there, worked his first crush job at Mount Eden in California. "While I would have taken a good job in either Washington or Oregon, I felt Washington was more dynamic," says Brian. Paul Thomas asked him to come to Bellevue and work with both fruit and grape wines in 1980. "I'd made fruit wines as a teenager and in college, so they didn't scare me as they should have. They can be more difficult, so it's quite a learning curve to master them." He stayed until 1988.

Deciding to consult at that point, he became the winemaker who worked with Hedges wines, working on site and helping with blending. He worked with Harry Alhadeff to create Apex, moving from consulting to having some ownership and returning to consulting over a period of 18 years. He helped Silver Lake get started and they became the Washington Winery of the Year their first year. He assisted other small wineries get started, like McCrea, Soos Creek and Camaraderie Cellars. He also worked with Washington Hills. For eight years, he lived in Yakima.

Wanting to control the process led him to create his own first vintage in 1997. In 2002, he started a whole line of blended reds and in 2004 his first and only white blend. In 2005 he met Mike Stevens and they became business partners. "Mike found the building for our tasting room and does a great job of managing the staff here," says Brian. "The tasting room opened in 2006." Their back room is used for wine club events while the front room is the official tasting room. "Finding this spot was a great boon for us. We're near Ste. Michelle, Columbia and Januik and since we've been here, dozens of tasting rooms have opened around us."

Brian buys grapes from about a dozen vineyards and 15 varieties resulting in 50 different lots, broken out even by blocks in one vineyard, working with two different clones. "I use at least two vineyards for each varietal to get the diversity I'm looking for," he explains. His reds age well due to the balance of acid, fruit and tannin, with oak and alcohol on top.

They've just released Corrida, a Spanish-style red blend and their next new release will be a port blend. Certain wines are made just for club members. You can call the tasting room or go to their website to become a member. All Brian's wines are made to pair with food although, naturally, can be enjoyed on their own. There is much to enjoy at Brian Carter Cellars.

Connie Adams/March 2010