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Washington · People, vineyards & the work of blending
Avennia — The Taucher–Peterson Partnership
A partnership, a Red Mountain vineyard and a table of blending samples: follow Avennia into the decisions that connect a Washington place with a finished wine.
When different skills meet at the right time.
In Avennia’s own account, the partnership began to take shape in 2009, when Marty Taucher asked Chris Peterson to look over a winery business plan. Their conversations continued at Seattle’s Fiddlers Inn. The project brought together business experience and practical winemaking, with Washington vineyards as the common focus.
Marty Taucher
Taucher’s background includes marketing and communications at Microsoft. His wine interests became hands-on through a crush internship at DeLille Cellars, where he met Peterson. Avennia identifies him as managing director.
Chris Peterson
Peterson brought his DeLille cellar experience and an education at Walla Walla Community College’s enology and viticulture programme. His travels through France and Italy helped inform the style of wine he wanted to make. He is Avennia’s winemaker and partner.
That combination makes a useful story to follow: who brings the vineyard relationships, who makes the cellar decisions, and how do their different experiences shape the project?
Start with the growing place.
Avennia works with Washington vineyard partners as well as its own estate. Its vineyard account places Avennia Estate in the Red Mountain AVA →, on a site first planted in 1985 and acquired by Avennia in 2021. The producer names Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc among the plantings and identifies Dick Boushey as vineyard manager.
Estate fruit appears in vineyard-specific wines and in Gravura. Other vineyard relationships are part of the wider portfolio, so the words Avennia and Red Mountain should not be treated as interchangeable origins for every bottle.
Follow Yakima Valley → to see where Red Mountain fits within Washington’s larger geographical framework. Then read the precise vineyard and appellation named on the particular wine.
The work behind a blend.
Avennia describes a native-yeast approach and extensive blending trials. Its blending account includes different grapes, different vineyard blocks of the same grape, new and older oak, larger and smaller barrels, and concrete-aged lots.
This is where a wine becomes more than a grape name. A cellar may hold several versions of the same variety; the final wine reflects which lots are chosen and how they work together.
Explore Blending Wine → alongside Oak & Stainless Steel →, Concrete Eggs & Wine Tanks → and Barrels & Sizes →. Those guides help turn the producer’s description into questions you can ask about the bottle.
Unpack one wine: 2022 Avennia Estate Vineyard Red Wine.
A dated example keeps the story specific. The producer’s technical sheet records this Red Mountain blend:
| Detail | What the technical sheet records |
|---|---|
| Origin and vineyard | Red Mountain AVA · Avennia Estate |
| Fermentation | Native yeast |
| Maturation | 20 months; 62% new French oak |
| Bottling | Unfined and unfiltered |
| Release | April 2025 |
Source: Avennia’s 2022 Estate Vineyard Red Wine sheet. These details describe that vintage and bottling; they are not a permanent recipe for every Avennia wine.
Follow the ingredients into Cabernet Franc →, Merlot → and Cabernet Sauvignon →. Why might a producer choose Cabernet Franc as the largest component of this particular blend?
Woodinville and Red Mountain: keep the places distinct.
Harvest · Woodinville
The Woodinville Chamber recorded the new Harvest tasting room’s ribbon cutting on 9 October 2026. Avennia’s visitor page lists 14480 147th Place NE, Suite E20, Woodinville.
This is a tasting-room location. Its address should not be used to infer where the grapes grew or to claim a production-facility move.
Avennia Estate · Red Mountain
The estate vineyard and visitor site provide a second way into the story near Benton City. The vineyard’s growing origin, the place where wine is produced and the place where it is tasted are distinct pieces of information.
Visitor information checked 25 October 2026. Use Avennia’s current visitor page for arrangements before travelling. The Chamber announcement documents the Harvest opening.
A Walla Walla chapter: Gramercy Cellars.
Avennia’s September 2026 acquisition announcement adds another story: Gramercy Cellars, founded by Master Sommelier Greg Harrington, joined the Avennia family. The announcement says Gramercy continues under its own name and label, with its Walla Walla tasting room continuing to serve visitors.
Harrington remains Founding Winemaker, working with Peterson. This is a connection between producers and people, not a reason to erase Gramercy’s identity or assume every family label is poured at every venue.
Read the company’s acquisition announcement and Gramercy’s own visitor information, then explore Walla Walla Valley →.
A small Cork Dork discovery.
Give the place, grape and maker their own lines.
Choose an Avennia technical sheet. Record the vintage, vineyard, appellation, grapes and cellar choices separately. Add a final line for the tasting-room address. Which details tell you about the growing place, and which tell you about how the wine was assembled or where you meet it?
Try the same exercise with a Gramercy wine. A shared ownership connection can lead to another discovery without making the two wines the same.
Where shall we wander next?
Behind this introduction.
Editorial sources checked 25 October 2026. Producer descriptions are identified as such. The photograph is credited to its source; no Creative Commons licence is claimed.