Paul Beveridge (yes that’s his real name) founded Seattle’s first urban winery in 1988. An environmental lawyer by day, Paul produced 1,500 cases per year out of a 1,500 square foot cellar in the Madrona neighborhood of Seattle before “retiring” from his law firm in 2006. He founded Washington State’s first offsite tasting room in Seattle’s Pike Place Market in 2001 with six other wineries. In 2007, Paul fulfilled every winemaker’s vineyard dream by purchasing an abandoned apple orchard on Naches Heights west of Yakima, Washington, and adjacent to the Cowiche Canyon Nature Preserve. Paul planted 23 different grape varieties on a ten-acre test plot at the 85 acre property to see what would grow best. Two years later he “recycled” an old apple packing warehouse into a 6,000 square foot gravity flow winery. Paul obtained TTB approval of Naches Heights as Washington State’s thirteenth American Viticultural Area in 2010. In 2016, just to make sure he didn’t get bored, Paul added a distillery to the winemaking operations on Naches Heights, focusing on fruit brandy and grappa.
Over the years, Paul has achieved many firsts by using his legal training to reform the antiquated and anti-competitive laws applicable to alcohol. He lobbies pro bono on behalf of craft wineries and wine consumers as president of Family Wineries of Washington State. He is one of the pioneers of the Washington wine industry and believes that since Washington State has the perfect weather climate for wine, it should also have the perfect legal climate for wine. paul@wilridgewinery.com https://www.wilridgewinery.com/
What’s the ONE THING most unique, authentic, & memorable about your winery brand?
Wilridge is the self-proclaimed “Greenest Winery in Washington.” As an environmental lawyer, when we planted our vineyard in 2007, it was natural that we would certify organic. At the time, I had two young boys and wanted them to feel free to play in the vineyard without fear of toxic chemicals. At the same time, we decided to pursue Biodynamic certification. I came to Biodynamics from a wine quality standpoint. It was clear that the best wines in the world come from Biodynamic vineyards and I wanted to join the club. As we have implemented Biodynamic practices over the years, we have seen the benefits in the vineyard and no one can argue with the results in the wines.
In addition to being Washington State’s first certified organic and Biodynamic vineyard, winery, and distillery, Wilridge does everything else it can to be the Greenest Winery in Washington. For instance, we are solar-powered, we use refillable bottles and kegs, and return all waste products to the vineyard. We believe our wines have the lowest carbon footprint of any wines from the state.
Describe how and what you’d do with your winemaking career or winery business if you were not constrained. Sky’s the limit!
I would expand our winery and vineyard! We have 85 beautiful acres, over half of which are on perfect south-facing slopes for viticulture. We have slowly expanded from the original 10-acre test block to 15 acres in grapes, and have proven that we can grow just about any vinifera variety with success, but we have much more room to expand. We have a “back forty” just waiting to be planted and a large south-facing slope above Cowiche Canyon that would be perfect for heat-loving varieties such as Grenache and Mourvedre.
If money were no object, we would turn the existing winery/distillery over to 100% brandy and build a new winery across from our current farmhouse tasting room. Working with the University of Washington, we have had twenty architecture students visit our property and design gravity flow wineries for us as part of their senior projects. One of those designs is brilliant. It would involve a three-story winery terraced down the slope from the vineyard. The top floor would be a tasting room with a huge deck overlooking Cowiche Canyon. A glass floor would allow guests to watch the winemaking operations beneath the second floor. The bottom floor would be barrel aging and bottling. We are actively looking for investors!
What is the One Wine most emblematic of your brand and/or winemaking style? Tell us its story.
Wilridge Vineyard is known for its many different grape varieties. We were the first vineyard to plant Sagrantino and Touriga Franca in the Pacific Northwest and were the second to plant Zweigelt. However, if Wilridge has one wine that has achieved “cult” status, it has to be our Nebbiolo. In 1990, we gained access to the second oldest planting of Nebbiolo in Washington State – from Klipsun Vineyard on Red Mountain. Adding the famous northern Italian grape to our portfolio immediately differentiated us at that time from other Washington wineries that focused on Bordeaux red varieties. But Nebbiolo is a fickle grape and it took several years working with Klipsun Vineyard manager Fred Artz to learn how to both tame the vigorous vines while also coaxing the sensitive grapes to fully ripen. We were twice invited by the Consorzio di Nebbiolo to bring our wines to northern Italy, where we were honored as the best Nebbiolo made outside of Italy and featured in La Stampa – the Torino newspaper. I think the Piemontese respected us because our wines exhibited classic Nebbiolo varietal character. Click here for the wine review.
Shortly after planting Nebbiolo at Wilridge Vineyard in 2007, I traveled to Piemonte and studied pruning techniques for Nebbiolo with growers from Produttori del Barbaresco. Based on these studies, we have implemented specialized trellising and pruning techniques that we think are a key to getting Nebbiolo to ripen consistently. The long growing season and lack of rain at harvest are other reasons why our Naches Heights Nebbiolo has been so successful. In the rare years when we cannot get the grapes fully ripe, we make a delightful sparkling rose’ of Nebbiolo.
Bonus Question – What’s the one thing people would be surprised to learn about you?
Folks might be surprised to learn that my real hobby is not winemaking — it’s ceramics. I took a pottery throwing class on the side during law school in New York in 1985 and have been hooked ever since. Among other things, I make very large ceramic wine bottles. For instance, I donated a huge bottle to the Auction of Washington Wine for Children’s Hospital. It held a blend of 19 cases of red wine, one case each donated by 19 wineries that made wine from Klipsun Vineyard on Red Mountain that year. One can see examples of my work while hiking around Wilridge Vineyard, including one of my ceramic totem poles, and buy some of my large decorative platters in our tasting room. We are in the process of installing a pottery studio at the winery.