01/12/2022
Dear Friends:
I have some big news to share with our Buty community: I am retiring Buty Winery.
Below is a letter I sent to our list, which I'm sharing here for those of you who have not seen it, for more detail.
I so greatly appreciate this community that has supported Buty over these amazing 22 years, all of you that helped create and share it. Many, many cheers!
-nb
📷 Richard Duvall
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Dear Buty Friends:
I’m writing to share some news with you and to wish you blessings on your new year! May it bring you abundant contentedness, health and richness in all the ways you value.
The new year is a natural time to reflect on change and as this new year arrives it marks 22 years since the founding of Buty. There are so many wonderful memories and relationships held in each of those years for which I am deeply grateful. And with a heart full of that gratitude, I want you to be amongst the first to know that I’ve decided that this is the right time for me to retire Buty Winery.
You co-created this winery with me and our Buty Team by bringing your own colors and flavors to the whole summative experience. It takes all of us to make a winery come alive, to make a community come alive. Thank you for your support, and I hope that you continue to enjoy the Butys and BEASTs resting in your cellar. I know my family and I will. I will forever savor and enjoy the memories we made: the fantastic shows I was able to experience with our Friends of the BEAST at Seattle’s Paramount, the special wines we made with Canlis Restaurant and The Herbfarm Restaurant, all the amazing Chef-paired Buty wine dinners we enjoyed, the Buty riverboat cruise down the Rhine, and the exciting sea kayaking and river rafting trips in our great Pacific Northwest.
Most of all, I valued being able to support causes I believe in with our wines, the opportunity to raise my kids while demonstrating the creative work of entrepreneurship, and living rhythmically in the seasons as we stewarded Rockgarden Estate. Through it all, I met the most wonderful people—many of whom started as customers, colleagues, representatives and winegrower partners, then became dear friends and even chosen family. Our annual events have always felt like reunions to me. What a blessing!
I know you’ll wonder about the timeline. I anticipate Buty will be sold out of wine in a week or less; there is a very small amount in the library that will briefly be available. Because it is too cold to ship this time of year and I will be moving out of the tasting room in a couple of weeks (and therefore cannot offer holds), I am offering wine for pick up only at the tasting room this week and next, plus I will be driving orders to the Seattle area for rendezvous-only pick ups. Unfortunately, I cannot accommodate a wider radius for the last of the library wine sales.
In this big transition you may wonder what will I do next on my path? Honestly, I’m still reflecting on that. I’ve been working on creating and steering Buty since 2000 and I am focused on winding down the winery before determining my next steps. That said, I have a number of ideas simmering in the back of my mind and I’m mighty curious as to what I’ll welcome next on my journey!
Over the years we’ve been fortunate to have a number of fabulous people on the Buty Team. I am excited to share that you may find Chris Dowsett as Production Winemaker at Dusted Valley Vintners as well as continuing to make his own delicious wines under his Dowsett Family label. The production team is united: Paul Boen continues to assist Chris as Cellar Master at Dusted Valley. Lindsey Dennis is on the administrative team at Pepper Bridge Winery, and Tyson Crudup is now running his own brewery with two locations in the Tri-Cities area, Sage Brewing Company. Pay them a visit!
Wishing you my very best,
Nina Buty
