John Freeman is the winemaker at Browne Family in Walla Walla, Washington. John was raised in Napa Valley, California, and began a lifelong wine career with seven years at Franciscan Vineyards and five years as cellar master at Miner Family. Intrigued by the growth of Washington state, John joined the Waterbrook and Browne Family winemaking teams in 2003. John’s passion is evident with his ever-present smile and optimism, and his winemaking philosophy is simple: Make the best wine possible. To that end, John has been deeply involved in designing and furnishing his “dream winery” since the construction of our new facility in 2008. With his years of experience and natural talent, John masterfully approaches the unique qualities of each vineyard and vintage to produce highly acclaimed wines year after year.
Media Inquiries: Erin Fogarty erinf@preceptwine.com | https://www.brownefamilyvineyards.com/
What’s the ONE THING most unique, authentic, & memorable about your brand?
At Browne Family, we crush over 1,000 tons each vintage from over a dozen growers. My team and I have long-term relationships with growers that have been producing wine grapes for generations, while also creating new relationships each year. This gives our offerings diversity with hundreds of wines to create distinct wines every vintage. As we are not directly tied into any particular AVA, if there is an event like a hard freeze or fire, we can use fruit that has not been damaged every single vintage.
Describe how and what you’d do with your winemaking career or winery business if you were not constrained.
If I had unlimited resources, I would create a beautiful fishing lodge with a winery attached. There would be a lake with trophy catch-and-release trout, a restaurant that served surf and turf, row boats for guests at the lodge, and fishing guides available to float the local river. The winery would have estate-planted grapes for educational purposes as well as purchasing grapes from local farmers. The winery would be small and intimate with a cave for barrel storage and daily tours. There would be top-notch hospitality hosts to educate guests on the wines and history of the lodge, and to surprise and delight each guest would be top priority. Our wines would be exclusive to the restaurant as well as to take home – a special find and story for the guests at the Lodge.
What is the One Wine most emblematic of your brand and/or winemaking style? Tell us its story.
Without question, our flagship wine is Bitner Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. This was the first wine we made for Browne Family in 2005 at 250 cases. While the vineyard sourcing may have changed over the last couple of decades, the quality and winemaking style have not. We only use French oak, sourced primarily from the Red Mountain and Walla Walla AVAs, and barrel age for around 22 months. The wine is bold with the notorious Washington fruit flavors and big round tannins for ageing and or drinking right away. It’s a very well-known wine here in the Northwest and continues to be a top-selling wine for Browne Family. Check out my wine review here.
Bonus Question: Why Winemaking?
I grew up in the Carneros region of Napa, California. Back then, that area was still walnuts and Italian plums used for making prunes. While there were some small farms of beets, carrots, and corn, there were no grapes. My older brother came home from school one day and taught me what he learned about fermentation that day – how to make methane gas and how to set it on fire.
We gathered the necessary cow pies from a nearby farm, stole some of our mom’s mason jars, and 4 days later we were playing with fire! Within a few years, we were making blackberry wine, plum wine, and apricot wine using one-gallon jugs and Mom’s Red Star bread yeast. While no one dared to try it, I thought back to it a few years later after trying out several other jobs. Working at a winery brought back fond memories of the jar fermentations. I guess it was my calling to be a winemaker!