Jeff and Sheila Jirka

Davenport Cellars

In 1998, Jeff and Sheila Jirka began talking about owning their own business, something that would take them into retirement years. He was working at PACCAR in IT Development and had been there since 1991. She was working at Continental Mills, the makers of Krusteaz mixes, as a Business Systems Manager. They had a varied list of possible businesses: bed and breakfast, plant nursery, bookstore with a coffee shop, campground. In the mid-'90s, they started getting into wine and asked each other "What about a vineyard and winery?"

They began doing homework about growing grapes and making wine in 2003. They read, studied and began taking classes. Jeff's first class at South Seattle Community College (SSCC) was a viticulture class-and he was hooked.

In the fall of 2005, SSCC established a bonded winery on campus. Jeff and Sheila were in the first production class. All in all, they attended nine classes between September 2005 and June of 2006.

In July 2006, they established Davenport Cellars LLC and began acquiring equipment. Davenport is Sheila's maiden name. Her family has been in the United States since the 1600s, but there are no male heirs in the family now. The winery was a way to keep the family name in existence a little while longer. Jeff's family has a creative streak: his grandfather attended the Art Institute of Chicago, his mother paints, his brother is a photographer, and Jeff painted in high school.

During 2007-2008, Jeff completed the University of California, Davis, Winemaking for Distance Learners course. Sheila completed the Washington State University Online Viticulture Program in 2009. He was going to concentrate on winemaking while she focused on the vineyard.

The SSCC production course was 80% hands on practice and 20% theoretical. UC Davis and WSU were almost 100% theoretical, so the combination was good.

Their first two crushes, 2007 and 2008, were done at Covington Cellars in Woodinville. In February of 2009, they got their Federal bonding, and in March of 2009, their Washington State licensing. Their 2009 crush was done in their own space which they had leased in August of 2008.

In June 2007, they purchased five acres of vineyard property on Red Mountain for future use.

In July 2009, they opened their first tasting room in Woodinville.

In late 2010, they sold the Red Mountain property. They hadn't planted, could potentially lose their water rights, and knew they were already getting great fruit. Could they grow better fruit than others who had been doing it for 30 years?

In 2012, they started their wine club.

On November 28, 2014, they opened their new tasting room in a larger space, including a kitchen. Jeff did most of the construction (framing), getting professional help on electrical and plumbing. They continued their practice of exhibiting local artist's work on their tasting room walls.

Sometime in 2013, they began talking with Chef Anne Marie, a personal cook, caterer and cooking instructor who was looking to do parties with wineries. They agreed to a partnership: she handles the food program, front and back, from staffing to menu selection, etc. The kitchen opened on November 28 with the new tasting room.

Their "official" grand opening for the public was January 24, 2015. Prior to that, it was mostly wine club and weekend wine tasters who were the first to experience the new tasting room as they worked through their processes and procedures.

Jeff retired from PACCAR in July 2013. Sheila is still working at Continental Mills full time.

www.davenportcellars.com

February 2015