White Heron Cellars

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Forty years of w**emaking, Sept 19, 2026, 4 to 8 PM. Please bring a picnic, chairs, and $15 for the band.We started bui...
09/16/2026

Forty years of w**emaking, Sept 19, 2026, 4 to 8 PM. Please bring a picnic, chairs, and $15 for the band.

We started building the w**ery in New Trinidad in 1999 and were able to move in during December of that year. I believe we were the first straw bale building in Grant County. When I asked the county, they said "If there's an engineer's stamp on the plans, you can build it."

Escure and Graff Farms provided the trucking and many volunteers came to help,

The big barrels were purchased from Simi w**ery in California. They were built in Italy - Italians tend to make round tanks (vs oval) and they paint red stripes on them. I've never found out why. The barrel stands were made of Redwood in California.

Celebrating 40 years of w**emaking, Sept 19, 4 to 8 PM, featuring the Working Spliffs.Since we're having an event in our...
09/12/2026

Celebrating 40 years of w**emaking, Sept 19, 4 to 8 PM, featuring the Working Spliffs.

Since we're having an event in our amphitheater a bit of history on that seems apropos. The first RR track to come through here literally passed a few feet south of the w**ery. Just east of the w**ery the RR created a sand pit. One day we thought to ourselves, "That would make an amphitheater." And it did.

Our first concert was a three piece blues band out of Leavenworth. Until the pandemic hit we had a wide variety of acts. Licensing music fees are horrendous so we only invited bands with original music, mostly local talent.

As w**emakers we've done a fair number of 'w**emaker's dinners'. So we thought we'd reverse that and have 'guest chef' nights. Our idea was they'd entertain the diners while we relaxed and drank w**e. Our first chef was not at all loquacious and merely said "Food, good!", which indeed it was.

We've also been able to host Quincy Valley Allied Arts for their summer theater and we we enjoyed hosting a fundraiser for the Fire Department.

The 19th The Working Spliffs will be coming down from Spokane with their rock/reggae jams. https://legacy.reverbnation.com/workingspliffs

Celebrating 40 years of w**emaking on September 19th, 2026, from 4 to 8 PM.Many people came to help pick the grapes in t...
09/08/2026

Celebrating 40 years of w**emaking on September 19th, 2026, from 4 to 8 PM.

Many people came to help pick the grapes in the early years. The w**ery was in George so we had to haul the lugs of grapes down there. There used to be a pie cherry processing plant just south of George and they were kind enough to lets us crush and press there. We'd put a tank on the back of Moses (our 1949 Chevy), fill it up and drive it to the w**ery.

The destemmer came from Paul Thomas W**ery in Bellevue and the press came from Hogue Cellars and they're still crushing and pressing!

We cannot thank enough all the people who helped us in the early years - and some still do!

Celebrating forty years of w**emaking at White Heron Cellars September 19, 2026, 4 to 8 PM.We spent several years lookin...
08/29/2026

Celebrating forty years of w**emaking at White Heron Cellars September 19, 2026, 4 to 8 PM.

We spent several years looking for a proper vineyard site. One criteria amongst many was two different facing slopes. The majority of our property faces south but about a third faces southeast. The idea was and is that the different slopes would create different flavor profiles. If, for example, Cabernet was planted on both slopes. One of these years maybe we'll ferment the two separately and check out the differences. We also have Syrah, Malbec, and Roussanne planted on both slopes.

This is our first planting in 1990. We planted Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. This is the Pinot planting on the SE slope. A large portion of the vineyards in Burgundy are also on a SE slope.

We started with the easiest areas on the hillside that didn't require earth moving. We simply mowed down the sagebrush which left behind the native grasses and wildflowers. We then drilled holes in the ground into which we planted the vines (photo 2). We learned a lesson that day which was "irrigate before planting!' So we had to fill each hole with water before planting (photo 3). Finally of course there is a celebration with w**e and food, like there will be on the 19th!

Once again we cannot thank enough the people who helped us create everything we have today.

Celebrating forty years of w**emaking September 19, 2026.In the late 1980's we needed a bigger place with room for a tas...
08/25/2026

Celebrating forty years of w**emaking September 19, 2026.

In the late 1980's we needed a bigger place with room for a tasting room. There was an unused gas station at the corner of Royal Ann and Bing Streets in George, WA, across the parking lot from the George Mall. So we officially became 'garagistes', although nobody had heard the term at the time.

Below left is the moving crew enjoying a celebratory glass. Somehow or another the Burns' got wind of our moving and organized a moving party. We have truly been blessed by wonderful friends over the years whose help was and is invaluable.

In the middle is a somewhat startled Dylan helping Phyllis label. In those days we ran the label across some glue rollers and then applied it to the bottle by hand. Note the bottles stacked behind them - we were able to get a lot more w**e into the space without boxes.

Since most people ask, the barrel holds 4000 liters or 6000 bottles.

Since we failed to start with a big fortune we had to buy grapes in the beginning. Our first purchase was Pinot Noir an...
08/19/2026

Since we failed to start with a big fortune we had to buy grapes in the beginning. Our first purchase was Pinot Noir and the next year we bought Riesling. We chose Riesling because in those days if Chardonnay wasn't oaky it wasn't Chardonnay. As many of you know we don't like oak and as Riesling has a long history of making great dry w**es, Riesling it was. The way you worked with w**e writers in those days is you invited them to lunch and poured your w**es for them. Tom Stockley was at the Seattle Times and became the first journalist in WA to document the new w**e industry. So I called him up for a luncheon and he said "Cameron, you can't afford that, just come to my house." As his house was floating on Lake Union we spent a pleasant time together. The result was this article. Its on an orange background because you would copy said article and tape it to stacks of w**e in the grocery store. Sadly, Tom was on the plane coming back from Mexico that went down off the coast of California. He was a truly great individual and should certainly be in the WA w**e hall of fame as the first champion of WA w**es.
Countdown to forty years of making w**e, September 19, 4 PM to 8 PM, music and w**e!

On the countdown for September 19th's forty year celebration we figured a few historical photos were apropos. The joke ...
08/15/2026

On the countdown for September 19th's forty year celebration we figured a few historical photos were apropos. The joke in this industry is "How do you make a small fortune in the w**e industry? Start with a big one." Unfortunately we failed to do that. So while working at Champs de Brionne w**ery, the owners, Vince and Carol Bryan, gave us permission to make some w**e for ourselves. We bonded a storage area in the Colonial Market in George, WA. At that time the Federal Government numbered w**eries by starting with the first w**ery in WA that opened after prohibition (Number 1 was on Stretch Island). Our number is Bonded W**ery WA 162 (BW-WA-162), thus the 162nd w**ery to start after prohibition. They have changed the system but the old numbers prior to the change are still used, so BW-WA-162 is still our number. There were 59 w**eries in WA the year we bonded.

Here I am barrel tasting with Bob Pool in that first facility. I met Bob and Linda Pool while working at Worden's Washington W**ery and they both have been of tremendous help throughout the years - planting, pruning, bottling, buying w**e, and more. Cheers!

My brother in law came over and helped us bottle our 2025 Orange Roussanne - the first we've made.
08/08/2026

My brother in law came over and helped us bottle our 2025 Orange Roussanne - the first we've made.

We had an artist in residence the other day - Laura Owart - and these herons made from grapevines appeared on the entryw...
08/06/2026

We had an artist in residence the other day - Laura Owart - and these herons made from grapevines appeared on the entryway trellis supports. Great addition to the w**ery as we approach our fortieth anniversary party on September 19th.

From the beginning we have encouraged native vegetation from the local sagebrush steppe to inhabit our rows, both betwee...
06/01/2026

From the beginning we have encouraged native vegetation from the local sagebrush steppe to inhabit our rows, both between the rows and under the vines. In the biz we call this the vineyard floor and having vegetation under the vines is called 'wall to wall'. This means that our vineyard floor is a vibrant community of life - plant wise, insect wise, small mammal wise, and microbial wise. We named our vineyard after the Mariposa Lilly seen blooming here. Once you name something you realize that it is a town in CA, means butterfly in Spanish, and is slang in Spain for LGBTQ. So it would appear that our vineyard is out of the closet.

Address

23832 Fine Wine Road
Quincy, WA
98848

Opening Hours

Monday 11am - 6pm
Thursday 11am - 6pm
Friday 11am - 6pm
Saturday 11am - 6pm
Sunday 11am - 6pm

Telephone

+15097979463

Website

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