Patterson Cellars purchases Tertulia winery and vineyard, will move to Walla Walla

Patterson Cellars announced today the purchase of the former Tertulia Cellars winery and its surrounding Whistling Hills Vineyard in Walla Walla Valley. The long-time Woodinville producer will move most of its production to the valley and open a tasting room there.

“My team's excited. I’m excited. It’s going to be a good move,” says owner and winemaker John Patterson.

The purchase includes Tertulia’s 9,200-square-foot production facility and tasting room space located in the southside of Walla Walla. It also includes a 14+ acre surrounding vineyard. A little over seven of those acres are currently planted, with room for an additional 1.4 acres. The Tertulia brand and inventory were not part of the sale.

The building will be rebranded as Patterson Cellars and will have a tasting room, Patterson’s fifth. Patterson will continue to have two tasting rooms in Woodinville, one at Hollywood Hill and one in the Warehouse District. The winery will also continue to operate satellite tasting rooms in Seattle and Leavenworth. Patterson himself will relocate to Walla Walla.

“I'm just looking for a little bit of a change. I'm hoping that, with the move, life will be a little slower,” Patterson says, noting this year will be his 36th harvest.

The winery plans to continue all existing vineyard contracts and hire someone to manage the new estate property. Walla Walla Valley currently comprises approximately 20% of Patterson’s fruit. Patterson produced 18,000 cases of wine in 2021. The winery plans to add 2,800 square feet of space to its new building to accommodate that production.

“We can get one vintage in [to the existing building], but we can't get two vintages,” says Patterson. “So that will be one of the first things we do.” The winery also plans to add covered outdoor spaces to serve guests.

In addition to moving the majority of production, Patterson will be winding down his healthy consulting business. This has involved everything from custom crush and equipment use to various other services for numerous western Washington wineries.

“I’ve got a lot of customers and friends that I've worked with for 15-plus years,” says Patterson. “I’ve been letting them know that I have to focus on a different phase of my business.”

Patterson Cellars was founded in 2000 in Monroe, Washington by John Patterson and his father Jack. John had previously spent 13 years at Quilceda Creek. The winery moved to Woodinville’s Warehouse District in 2007. While Patterson is relocating the winery, he remains bullish on the future of Woodinville.

“Downtown there's so much going on,” he says. “You've got the new schoolhouse, you've got Woodin Creek, and you've got all the multi-use buildings. It's exciting to see it all.” Patterson is currently serving his ninth year as president of Woodinville Wine Country, a local promotional body.

With the move, Patterson says he hopes to spend more time with the winery’s customers. “I love working with the guests when they come in and in greeting them and talking to them. For me, that’s so relaxing.”

Tertulia Cellars closed its doors in 2021 after 16 years in business. With this sale, owner Jim O'Connell continues to have two vineyards in Walla Walla Valley, Elevation Vineyard in the North Fork region and Rivière Galets in The Rocks District. METIS, a mergers and acquisitions firm specializing in Pacific Northwest wineries and vineyards, served as the exclusive transactional advisor in the sale. Terms were not announced.

Images of Tertulia Cellars and John Patterson by Richard Duval. 

Walla Walla’s College Cellars looks to the future

Today the Institute for Enology and Viticulture at Walla Walla Community College announced the search for a new director. The institute is home to College Cellars, a teaching winery that along with the Institute have had an outsized impacted on the west coast wine industry.

“The number of graduates that are involved in various companies and businesses and wineries is astonishing,” says Marty Clubb, co-owner and managing winemaker at L’Ecole No. 41, one of Walla Walla Valley’s founding wineries. “When you create such a strong, educated network of people, it has a multiplier effect in terms of its influence.”

To wit, at present L’Ecole’s entire cellar team comes from the college. “It's been the best thing that ever happened to us,” says Clubb of his new team. “They are wine savvy. I think they’re ultimately going to help us make better wine.”

Another one of the valley’s founding wineries, Woodward Canyon, has also seen the impact of the college. Woodward recently underwent a generational transition, where founders Rick Small and Darcey Fugman-Small transitioned leadership to their daughter Jordan and son Sager. Sager is a graduate of the program.

“One of the things I didn’t really expect to see was how entrepreneurial the program turned out to be,” says Small, noting the number of graduates that have gone on to start wineries and other businesses. These graduates have also taken key positions throughout the Washington wine industry as beyond.

The Institute was founded in 2000 (Full disclosure: I am currently an adjunct instructor at the college.) Since that time, the program has had over 350 students. Many of them have gone on to have successful careers as growers, cellar hands, winemakers, and hospitality workers.

Sabrina Lueck, interim director of winemaking at the college, credits the program’s success to the hands-on experience students get. “Our students truly learn by doing,” she says. “We have eight acres of vineyards and a 2,000 case winery where our students really do have true ownership over the product.”

The intimate size of the program and its tight relationship with the Washington wine community are also pivotal to its success.

“I think that we have a nearly unparalleled ability to refer students into jobs where they're going to thrive, because we get to know our students and their motivations, their goals,” says Lueck. “Then our program has been integrated in this community for [over] 20 years, so our staff members understand the needs of our local industry as well.”

The impacts of the program have been felt well beyond Walla Walla Valley and Washington. Graduate Joel Sokoloff is currently vineyard manager at highly regarded Soter Vineyards in Willamette Valley. He previously held the same position at Cayuse Vineyards in Walla Walla Valley, one of the top estates in the world.

“The biggest strength [of the community college] is giving an excellent foundation for being successful, no matter which route you want to take in the wine industry,” Sokoloff says. “They really help students find what they're interested in.”

Maryam Ahmed, founder of Maryam + Company in Napa Valley, is also a graduate of the program. Prior to founding her own company, she spent nearly five years as director of public programs at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa. Ahmed says the college offers a unique opportunity for students to gain direct experience and be embedded in a community that is home to over 120 wineries and tasting rooms.

“I really wanted a hands-on program,” she says of why she choose the college. “It was an amazing opportunity to both get this degree and be completely immersed in a wine region and a community that supports the school too.”

Lueck has been at the college since 2011, starting teaching there at the tender age of 23. She has served as interim director since 2021 and is leaving the college to work at the esteemed German producer Weingut Keller.

“I am leaving, but I love this program,” says Lueck. “The most rewarding and exciting thing for me has been the success of the graduates.”

With Lueck leaving, there will be a chance for the next generation of leaders to carry the torch, teaching new students and taking the program to the next level. Lueck says the next director, who she will have a role in hiring, will have the opportunity to have an enormous impact on Northwest wine.

“One of the missions of the college is to be the catalyst that transforms our students lives and the communities that we live in, and I truly believe we do,” Lueck says. “I've seen the impact that our program has had on our students individual lives and also our winemaking community here.”

Applications for the position are currently open.

Image of Institute for Enology and Viticulture and Sabrina Lueck by Richard Duval. Image of students in vineyard courtesy of the Institute for Enology and Viticulture.