New WA winery opening- owned by Bodegas Valdemar

There is some great news up here for Washington State wines I wanted to share. The first foreign winery to set up shop in WA will open its doors this week in Walla Walla. Bodegas Valdemar of Spain has a new outpost they are calling Valdemar Estates. Not only did they recruit a fantastic winemaker (Marie-Eve Gilla formerly with Forgeron), but they look to be focused on quality in all the right ways.

I have met Jesus Martinez Bujanda (5th generation of Valdemar) who has moved his young family to Walla Walla to run the estate. He is a great guy who is passionate and excited about the potential he sees in Washington. I think (hope) they are going to sell their Spanish wines as well. The facility is beautiful and I can’t wait to see it when when it is finished.

Last month I drove from Priorat to San Sebastian visiting some of the best wineries in Spain (Pingus, Vega Sicilia, Nin-Ortiz, Artadi, Muga, Mogador etc…) and my visit to Valdemar in Rioja was exceptional. They are most known for Conde Valdemar, but they have a separate winery next door for small lots, experimental varieties and techniques and have spent the last several years revitalizing some traditional indigenous grapes like Maturana and Graciano. Maturana is bright red in color, but tastes more blackberry/cassis and fresh herbs it has a spicy rich cab franc-like nose, and subtle coffee notes on the palate - very distinctive and interesting - obviously I have no basis for varietal typicity since I have never seen (or heard of) this variety - but it was delicious. Also very cool that a single arm of one Tempranillo vine on their property self mutated to become Tempranillo Blanc several years ago, and they have now made enough cuttings and plantings to bottle a single varietal Tempranillo blanc. I don’t know what wines they’ll be making in Washington, but I was very impressed with the Rioja lineup. The Valdemar Gran Riserva is age-worthy and an absolute steal at ~$35 - we tasted the 2010 and it had totally resolved tannins, was super fresh (pH 3.5) and had cherry and tobacco in spades. As an aside…when we got to San Sebastian several days after visiting Valdemar, there was a '73 Valdemar GR on the menu @ Rekondo that we tasted alongside a '65 Unico. They opened both wines with port tongs (I put a video on instagram) and both were beautiful!
Anyway, I’m thrilled that Washington is getting something new - that is actually generations old. We have a beautiful wine region, some great wines are made here, but there are very few spectacularly beautiful wineries to visit. My guess is that this will be a must-visit location for visitors to Walla Walla.
The website says they open on 4/27/19.
They have an information sign up link here:

I’m kind of disillusioned with WA these days.

Travis,

Sounds like a great trip. Met with them last year and they will indeed sell the Spanish wines in Walla Walla along with their new Washington wines.

Should be an exciting project of not only wine, but culinary flair as they will treat it like they are in Spain with events, music, food, etc…

Very cool. Need to try some of the Spanish wines.

That is awesome! I’ve been on a major Jamon and chorizo kick ever since I returned from Spain. I’m going to WW next month and I’ll report back.

I have been buying WA Spanish varietals for some time, hardly any BDX and fewer Rhone. Very pleased with the Spanish and Italian.

Washington…don’t get me going about the greatness coming out of the Evergreen State. I learned by first-hand experience when our son matriculated at Gonzaga. The wines from this state are top-notch and are still (relatively) off the price radar. Kudos to all of the great producers with whom many on this board are unfamiliar.

Colin

WA has a lot of untapped potential. They haven’t yet hit it with Tempranillo, but I think they may yet, given time. Maturana is also called Trousseau if I’m not mistaken, and oddly enough, it’s not native to Spain but to France. We think of many Rhone grapes as French even though they’re originally from Spain, so it’s an interesting switch. Good luck to Valdemar.

I had never heard of Valdemar until I took a flyer on an 1989 Gran Riserva last year. It was beautiful! Not unlike a Lopez de Heredia in how traditionally made it felt.

Thanks for the info Travis.We stopped in at Feliciana while in WW, very good Spanish varietals.Picked up some Tempranillo that was quite good as well as a really nice Estate Malbec, well priced!

I’m so thrilled, their winery is stone throw away from where I live.

Sounds really cool. Will have to check it out in June.

I checked out the place this past Sunday. Beautiful facility that really takes advantage of the views. The wife and I split both a Washington (3 Syrahs -2 from Red Mountain and the other from Walla Walla) and Spanish (a Viura, a Maturana aka Trousseau and a Garnacha) flight and found all of the wines to be very well made. Trousseau aged in new American oak is definitely a first for me. We didn’t have any food, but the tapas menu looked great. Jesùs made it a point to stop by and chat. Great experience and I’m happy to have them right down the road from our winery and tasting room, which is also opening this weekend for spring release.