In 1998 we planted a test block vineyard just 20 minutes north of Lake Chelan at the bottom of the Methow Valley. It has Pinot noir and Cabernet Sauvignon and everything in between. That was step one. In 2001 we loaded up our car, put our house up for sale, and headed to the Willamette to make Pinot noir. Dean landed a job working for Bud Beck at Advanced Vineyards and then moved on to make wine under Isabelle Dutarte at Deponte and Tony Soter and James Cahill at Soter Vineyards. Heather took the retail side and spent time selling wines from relatively hard to find producers.
The view from Nefarious Cellars in Chelan
On the side, we started a label called Nonni and Zing. It was a small project of about 250 cases annually and was made entirely from fruit sourced from the Dundee Hills AVA. That was a good time.
Step two came to an end in 2004. Washington and the allure of it’s endless possibility lured us home. We found our property on the south shore of the Lake Chelan AVA and closed on it in June of that year.
Nefarious Cellars Chelan Tasting Room
495 S. Lakeshore Road
Chelan WA, 98816
509-682-9505
Check out Nefarious Cellar’s website here.
