I write this as I am up to my waist in grapes, enjoying my 48th harvest as a professional winemaker. Overall harvest 2025 has been a good one, with lots of good grapes which should translate to very nice wines. Not that things are going without a hitch, a few labor issues and some mechanical problems just to name a couple. Nothing to keep the grapes from rolling on in.

We started about the same time as past years, the first day of harvest being September 9th. That day we picked Tempranillo, Mourvèdre, Malbec, Graciano and Merlot. All nice and ripe. Well in fact, the Graciano might have been a little too ripe. Now, approaching the third week of October, we are 75% of the way there with just the grapes from Jim Willard’s Solstice vineyard yet to come in.

That would include his Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling and Sangiovese both for Rosé and red wine. The Solstice vineyard located in the central part of the Yakima Valley is in a cool site, just what I like, especially for the Sangiovese grape. In the next couple of days, I am heading over the hill to gather what I hope are the last samples of the year. My prediction is we will have all the grapes in before the end of October, which is normal.

In the meantime, we are punching down, checking brix, consolidating barrel lots and trying to do the much-needed maintenance on the equipment to keep it going until all this is over. The wines taste good, with nice fruit in the whites, nice fruit and color in reds. With pretty ripe flavors overall, my inclination is the 2025’s will be ready to drink a bit younger in age than normal.

Cheers! Brian

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For two years now Brian Carter Cellas has offered up rare and beautiful wines from our library as a club release item to the Amour and Devotion Clubs in August. This offers an opportunity to enjoy wines that have received ideal storage conditions for a decade or sometimes two or more! Wine is a unique food: it can get better decade after decade. However, not everyone has had a lot of experience with opening and enjoying older wines so I thought I would write a little piece on that subject.

It is not a safe assumption that all of you have developed an appreciation for older wines. If you are used to drinking your wines within a year or two of release you may find that the taste and aroma on these wines is different from what you are used to. Why do wines change with age? What happens to wines as they age? Small amounts of oxygen flow through the cork, changing the chemistry of the wine. The changes in the wine depend on the conditions the wine ages in, and the chemistry of the individual wines themselves.

The most important factor in the environment the wine is aged in is the consistency of the temperature. The actual temperature is important (ideally between 45 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit) but how consistent the temperature is, especially day to night, is the most important. That is why aging on your coffee table where the temperature can vary over a 24-hour period by 10 degrees or more is not good for the wine. The library wines for Brian Carter Cellars are kept at about 60 degrees consistently every day.

The three biggest factors in wine that determine its ageability are the level of acidity, the tannins and the amount of fruit intensity. All three of these things decrease with time and when they are gone, the wine tends to fall apart. I have often compared wine to a three-legged stool, when any of these factors are gone the stool falls over. That is why the more there is and the balance between these elements determines the ageability of a wine. It is worth noting that Brian Carter Cellars wines have a reputation for aging well because they have that balance of fruit, acid and tannin that is required. When we are talking about white wines, they don’t have much if any tannins, so we are talking about the acidity and fruit.

There is one factor that does increase with time, and that is bottle bouquet: a delightful mixture of dried fruit, dried herbs and flowers. The bottle bouquet is what really makes drinking an old wine a special experience. In my view, this character more than makes up for the drop in fresh fruit but I will admit that it is not for everyone. There is nothing wrong with enjoying a young fruit forward possibly higher tannin wine, but for many of us the experience of a well-aged red wine is well worth the wait.

One other change that can happen with wine aging is the development of sediment or deposit in the bottle. While most of my wines have a minimum of sediment it is generally worth putting a bottle that is ten years old or older, upright 12 to 24 hours before it is consumed so that the wine is not cloudy on the first glass. If sediment is significant, it may be worth decanting the wine. Decanting an older wine is not for the same purpose as decanting a young wine. Young wines benefit from a jolt of oxygen because it pushes them in the direction of an aged wine, so a vigorous splashy decantation is best for them. However, when decanting an old wine oxygen pick up needs to be minimized: be gentle. THEN ENJOY!

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I’m sure that you all have been besieged recently by articles about the health aspects of wine, as I have. There has been a recommendation that a cancer warning be added to the existing warning label on all alcoholic beverages. I thought I would share my thoughts on the subject.

Obviously, since I produce, sell and enjoy wine myself, I have a perspective that favors its consumption. I also understand that there are dangers in excess consumption as well as drinking while driving and while pregnant. The relationship between alcohol and cancer has been known for some time, particularly regarding breast cancer. To my knowledge there is not any significant science that has recently been brought to light showing serious new dangers. This new push is mostly brought on by politics. In fact, recent science seems to be favorable towards moderate consumption. A Congressionally mandated report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering & Medicine (NASAM) recently addressed eight key health questions around alcohol consumption, including cancer. Their conclusion was: “compared with never consuming alcohol, moderate alcohol consumption is associated with lower all-cause mortality.” It is also known that red wine contains resveratrol, flavonoids, and other polyphenols that have been linked to cardiovascular benefits and anti-inflammatory properties. These compounds are largely absent in spirits. A 2022 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found higher cancer risk associated with spirits compared to wine and beer.

Perhaps the best perspective on the subject was written by Karen McNeil in her article What I Wish I Could Tell the Surgeon General, where she writes “…what the anti-alcohol dogmatists don’t seem to get: wine isn’t just alcohol.” I think this is the most important point. When you put a glass of wine to your nose and lips, the experience can take you to a foreign country, perhaps through a memory you had in Tuscany. It can take you to a memory with an old close friend. No beverage is associated with a place, history and a culture like wine. No beverage has the food friendliness of wine, it can make ordinary meals into feasts that will provide you with a lifetime of pleasure. No other beverage has the extraordinary ability to age over sometimes decades of time, giving you an experience of going back to the same wine again and again to discover the discerning changes wine aging provides. Wine is community, wine is friendship, wine is family, wine is the land, wine is jobs and the economy. WINE IS LIFE!

As is so often stated, everyone needs to make their own decisions on what, when and how much to drink. It is a personal decision. I encourage you to take advice from your doctor and your loved ones.

I recently read an article that stated loneliness is at epidemic levels across the U.S. and is correlated with higher risks of many chronic diseases. Apparently doctors and therapists are writing their patients prescriptions for socializing. Well now… what about a glass of wine instead of going to the pharmacy?

Live long and enjoy yourself while you do it.
BDC

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Brian Carter Cellars has finished harvest! On Friday November 8th we pressed off the last of the grapes getting the last skins out.

Well actually we are still cleaning up so there may still be a couple of dozen grape skins hiding here and there). This marks the end of another successful harvest, the 16th   Brian Carter Cellars harvest here at the old Columbia building. Quantity wise it was no record; crushing almost exactly the same 132 tons as last year.  This total includes the 48 tons we did for custom crush, that amount being up about ten tons, correspondingly we are down by 10 tons on the total for Brian Carter Cellars.

The 2024 harvest started a week later in 2024 compared to 2023 and ended just four days later. The weather in eastern Washington was pretty co-operative for the most part, the accumulated heat units being pretty close to average for the year. No major freezes or rain storms pushed us to harvest before we wanted to.

As a result, as we assess wine quality at this early point, we could not be much happier. Time will further define the record for 2024 but for now I am pleased, especially with the red wines. Tannins are ripe, colors are mostly deep, and varietal characters are solid. The whites are also fruit forward, while acidities are just below what I ideally shoot for.

Perhaps what set this vintage apart for me was the almost complete absence of Robert Takahashi the assistant winemaker for some seventeen vintages here. Mandi Letteri who joined us just before harvest began did a noble job of filling in for Robert. It just took a little more effort on my part as I could not lean as heavily on her, not being as familiar with my winemaking style.

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2023 Vintage Review
Here it is May, and I am past due updating on the 2023 Vintage here in Washington. Already we have bottled four wines from 2023: Oriana, Abracadabra Rosé, Désir, our new Semillon + Sauvignon Blanc Blend, and Riesling. I am very excited about the white and Rosé wines from 2023, great acid balance, flavors, and aromas. We should be remembering them for years to come. On the red wine side, I have just started the blending of the 2023 reds with a couple of days on Solesce. Solesce is always the wine I start with because it gets the pick of the crop. Whatever Solesce wants, Solesce gets. Tasting through all the Bordeaux wines from 2023 shows a lot of winners. The resulting Solesce blend is delicious if a bit more approachable than I would have expected.

I have taken considerable notes on the wines for the rest of the vintage and there are many stellar wines indeed. Overall, nice color, expressive varietal character, and richness of mouthfeel. I am looking forward to working on the rest of the blends as the spring and summer progress always with the goal of getting them all done before harvest of 2024 begins.

A quick note on 2024: Seems to be a bit ahead of schedule. Winter freeze has taken its toll in a few spots but does not appear to have been significant in our vineyards. I have also heard at least one report of spring frost in the Yakima Valley. Smoke is already pouring into the Midwest from Canada, so we can only hope it will not turn into a big problem here. Every year has its unique challenges; let’s make more great wine!

Brian Carter
Winemaker

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Starting in the vineyard, more and more of the vineyards I work with are signed onto the Sustainable Washington program. This program takes all aspects of vineyard sustainability into consideration from the health of the air, the water, and the vines, as well as the health of the workers and even the health of the business into consideration. I take pride in having been on the board that helped develop this program which continues to be a force in our state as more vineyards apply and are inducted into the program. Every year I encourage those vineyards that are not in the program to join as well as working with those that not yet members to help minimize their impact on the environment through practices such as Integrated Pest Management. This is a program that seeks to minimize the amount of pesticides that are applied on the vines and maximizes the use of ‘planet friendly’ practices such as mating disruption and beneficial predators.

Inside the winery we are conscious of the amount of fossil fuels we use to heat and cool the winery. We also try to minimize the amount of machinery we utilize in the winemaking process. All our handpicked grapes are hand sorted at the winery and the reds are manually punched down while using native yeast fermentations. Probably our most ambitious attempts at minimizing our carbon footprint are focused on wine packaging. The production of glass bottles continues to be a major source of energy use both in its production and transport. We formerly purchased heavier bottles and sourced them from China which required long ocean voyages to transport to Washington. We now use lighter weight bottles and buy them from manufacturers here on the west coast. We have also eliminated the use of capsules which take energy to make, have no impact on the quality of the wine, and are simply decorations requiring an extra step to remove before opening the bottle and adding to the waste stream.

In the sale of our wine, we have changed our business plan to sell about 75% of our wines direct to consumer, decreasing the amount going through the ‘three tier system” of distributors and retailers which requires more flying and driving of salespersons as well as more trucking of the product. Our customers buy most of our wines right at the tasting rooms conveniently located in Woodinville, Seattle and Vancouver. Statistics show that 95% of our customers who visit our Woodinville location are visiting within 50-mile radius. For those customers to whom we ship, we have further reduced our impact by using 100% recyclable shipping boxes made from paper pulp.

So, enjoy your next glass of Brian Carter Cellars knowing we are doing our part to make our planet as safe as possible long into the future.

– Cheers! Brian Carter

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There are several myths about rosé, two in particular always get to me: Only drink rosé in the summer and only drink rosé the year it was bottled. Both are a bunch of bunk! I for one have drunk some delicious six-year-old rosé. Sure, the experience changes but it can still be a delight. The same can be said about a good rosé with dinner October through March. Here are my reasons:

1) Brian Carter Abracadabra Rosé, Gold medal winner from Sunset Magazine and Platinum winner from Great Northwest Wine is so good it deserves to be enjoyed all year. Particularly tasty with brunch, it is great as an appetizer, and can be stunning with a main course.

2) One of my favorite pairings is a warmup wine for Thanksgiving dinner. Some may want to stick with it all evening as it is darn good with turkey and a lip-smacking combo with cranberry sauce.

3) Perhaps my all-time favorite with Abracadabra Rosé is salmon. A northwest favorite, the extra acidity in this wine cuts right through the extra oil in this fish and the mouth cleansing character of the wine refreshes the palate to make every bite better than the last. And of course, the color combination is striking.

4) Do you or your friends have a hot tub? Keep your temperature under control with a refreshing glass of rosé while basking in the tub. Apres-Ski or pre-bedtime snuggle.

– Brian Carter, Winemaker

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Cheers! To Harvest 2022

Here it is the end of January, and I am finally able to take a deep breath as I assess the wines from the 2022 harvest. As I reported earlier it was a large but late harvest that produced wines of what seems to be really good quality. Being that it was late, we are still in the process of getting through the first racking of barrels, although as of this week we should be 80% done. Just to compare with some early, hot vintages such as 2015 we were done with racking by the first of the year.

Referring to the size of the harvest, Brian Carter Cellars crushed 102 tons for ourselves and another 52 tons for customers, for a total of 154 tons. This was the largest crush we have had since 2016 when we did a whopping 255 tons total.

What is most exciting for me is the high quality of the vintage. Every year I go through the wines at the time of racking and give each lot a score.  I can’t remember so many consistently high scores in many years. Fruit forward whites and rosés, very dark reds with complexity and depth. Perhaps what is most surprising is the eminent drinkability of the red wines at this early stage. Keep your eye out for the 2022’s! The 2022 Abracadabra Rosé will be hitting the market in May and the Oriana not long after that.

Brian D. Carter
Winemaker

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First, wine is food! Perhaps not the most nutritious choice, but for many of us one of the most enjoyable parts of a meal. Indeed, food itself is one of the most enjoyable aspects of life, and one that is required for our existence. While wine is not a necessity of life, it shares with food the fact that one can have an excess of either. Wine is only one type of food, a simple one in fact, it being derived from essentially one ingredient- Grapes while dinner recipes can have dozens of ingredients, and a single meal can. Include many different recipes. One only needs to go to the grocery store to realize that food is infinitely complex. While wine is just one simple food, it is of course, a very interesting one and in many ways is infinitely complex in its own way. As I am fond of saying you can study wine for a lifetime and never know everything there is to know about it. From the microbiology and chemistry of the soils to the microbiology and chemistry of the wine, from the aspect of a small vineyard in Burgundy to the talents of a given winemaker, you will never know it all.

Instead of contrasting wine and food, a far more interesting topic is how well they go together. While there are other beverages that can enhance a meal, 95% of the best meals I have had combined food with wine. I could also say that 95% of the best wines I have had were combined with a meal. Let’s face it: wine makes food taste better and food makes wine taste better. It is the very definition of synergy. A lesson can be learned by looking at an example of how wine interacts with food in your mouth. A frequent example I give is how a high acid wine such as Tuttorosso can pair so wonderfully with salmon, where this full flavored and high acid content fish is so enjoyed at the first bite but tends to overwhelm the taste buds after several bites. When you take a sip of wine after eating salmon it refreshes your palate, preparing it for another bite.  In this way a bite of fish followed by a sip of wine and so forth makes every bite just like the first one, a true delight. Similarly, in the case of red wine and red meat, the astringency combined with acidity of the red wine will refresh your palate between bites.

A lot of energy is spent on food and wine pairing, and it is a subject well worth exploring. Not all foods can be paired with all wines, and if you do have a particularly successful pairing, it can take the experience of food and wine to a whole new height. The fun part is trying different things and discovering new combinations. It means some trial and error, but when it works there are few things more satisfying. As Julia Child said about cooking: “…. learn from your mistakes, be fearless and above all have fun.” There is one more important aspect of combining food and wine: it is far healthier to consume food when enjoying wine than to have wine by itself, and safer too.

From a personal standpoint, it is a tough choice for me which I enjoy more, winemaking or cooking. One of course is a profession for me, the other a hobby. However, if I had not become a winemaker, I think I would have enjoyed being a chef, the two have so much in common. Each is such a magical combination of art and science. I compare spending time in the vineyard to spending time in the garden or at the market. I compare chopping and slicing to crushing and pressing. Most of all I compare seasoning the dish to the wine blending process, these exercises are the true art of cooking and winemaking.
Despite my profession as a winemaker, so much of my life revolves around food. Now that Brian Carter Cellars has two tasting rooms both with restaurants, this has become even more the case. I have spent four and a half decades making wine…. I think if I had the chance, I might do something different, make food for a living. Probably too late for a second career!

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I do however get to think about winemaking now and then. Just in the last month Robert and I have gotten the last of the 2021 wines racked, post Malo-lactic fermentation. Right now, we are consumed by getting the wines ready for bottling the first week in April. This includes tasting trials for alcohol, acidity, and astringency. White wines, which are our biggest focus for this bottling, have more stability issues and many trials must be run to make sure that protein and cold stability have been achieved. We are making progress; additions have been made and we are waiting for the wines to settle before filtration. Still a couple of busy weeks ahead. The best news is that the 2021 Oriana and Abracadabra Rosé are both tasting delicious. We are looking forward to releasing the new Rosé on May 1.

Next up will be one of my most favorite winemaking tasks: blending the red wines from 2021. It is usually April that I begin pulling samples and beginning with Solesce, working through each blend until I have them all just where I want them. Step two will be to put the blends together by pulling down the barrels, selecting the exact barrels that I want and racking them into a tank and back to barrel again where they will rest happily for another year before bottling. This blending usually takes place in July and August before harvest begins again. That means trips to the vineyard need to start soon as well. Yes, here it comes, my 43rd vintage in Washington. Still having fun, still working hard, still making great Washington Wine.

Cheers! Here’s to all of you, couldn’t do it without you.

Brian

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