Kendall Mix is the winemaker at Lawrelin Wines in the Columbia Valley, WA. He was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, where he earned a BSc in Microbiology from the University of Alberta. A course in brewing and winemaking sparked his interest and led him to pursue formal studies in Viticulture and Enology at the University of California, Davis. While at UC Davis, he completed vintages at Robert Mondavi in 1988 and 1990 and RH Phillips in 1992, building a foundation in California winemaking before moving north.
In 1993, Kendall relocated to Washington State, where he worked at both large-scale and boutique wineries, including Chateau Ste. Michelle’s Canoe Ridge Estate, Corliss Estate, Tranche Cellars, Goose Ridge Estate, Cadaretta Winery, and his current role with Wahluke Wine Company, Milbrandt Vineyards, and Ryan Patrick Cellars. In 2000, he founded Lawrelin Wine Cellars, releasing his first Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah in 2012 and maintaining a small production of 200–400 cases annually. He opened a Walla Walla tasting room in 2020, expanding the portfolio to include white and rosé blends. His career reflects a balance of scale and craftsmanship, shaped by decades of experience across Washington’s evolving wine landscape. Media Inquiries: kendall@lawrelin.com | https://lawrelinwines.com/
What’s the ONE THING most unique, authentic, & memorable about your brand?
I was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta—hardly a traditional path to winemaking. Lawrelin’s most distinctive trait is our extended aging program. What began as circumstance became philosophy: we release our reds only after significant bottle age. Our current releases are the 2016 Cabernet and 2017 Syrah and Rhône blends, with the 2018 Rhône wines scheduled for spring 2026.
The delay traces back to our first vintage. We made the wine at a friend’s facility, then discovered that, as NAFTA work visa holders, we couldn’t hold a business license or apply for a winery permit. We began the green card process—expected to take five to six years—but after 9/11, immigration cases stalled. It ultimately took seven and a half years to secure permanent residency. By then, I was making wine at Corliss and Tranche, and later moved to Goose Ridge Estate. We finally received our winery permit after another 20 months and released the 2000 vintage in fall 2012—after two years in barrel and ten in bottle. Today, every Lawrelin release is well within its ideal drinking window. The aging is done. The wines are ready.
Describe how and what you’d do with your winemaking career or winery business if you were not constrained.
Currently, we produce our wines under an AP license in our friends winery. If money was no object, we would have our own facility with a gravity flow design, our own equipment, a fleet of different fermentors (SS, oak, concrete), underground caves. Sorting equipment, basket press, etc, but it would continue to be very small, a few hundred cases per year.
What is the One Wine most emblematic of your brand and/or winemaking style? Tell us its story.
Our 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon, this is the wine that started it all. I was the red winemaker for Chateau Ste Michelle, in August of 2000 they told the winemakers that we could make a little wine for ourselves. Mike Januik and Charlie Hoppes had both left close together to launch new projects, and I think it was meant to be a carrot for the rest of us, so that everyone didn’t jump ship. I had a big interest in working with Red Mountain fruit, but never had the chance as CSM wasn’t sourcing anything off Red Mountain. I reached out to Scott Williams to see if he had any fruit available, he did. I had heard that a lot of Red Mountain Cab Sauv needed to be tempered with other fruit with softer tannins, my next call was to Butch Milbrandt to see if he had any Wahluke Slope Cab Sauv. He did. Our 1st vintage was set, called a couple of coopers to line up some barrels. We got roughly 1 ton from each grower. Fermented in small ½ ton poly fermentors, manually punching down. Aged in barrels for 22 months.
In all honesty, I wasn’t trying to make a wine that possessed great age-ability, just focused on what I thought were sound winemaking decisions, to create balance of expression. Turns out, that makes exceedingly ageable wines. Read my review of the Cab Sauv here.