“The Columbia Valley is a gift,” says Bryan Otis, founder of Avallé. The newly formed company is a collection of wineries that includes Matthews, Tenor, Jaine, Single Barrel, From the Sky Down, and Blackboard. Avallé aims to bring the gift of the Columbia Valley to a wide audience.

Thinking differently about the wine industry

Otis is someone who is always thinking about the larger picture. Part of that involves looking at other companies beyond the wine industry and seeing what makes them successful. Companies whose customers have near fanatical loyalty, like Nike, Apple, and Tesla.

This influences the words Otis uses. When he talks, he doesn’t talk about customers. He talks about fans. The word selling, meanwhile, is verboten at Avallé.

“There’s actually a handful words we specifically don’t use here: sale, SKU, discount, product,” Otis says. “We don’t talk about selling. We talk about sharing, sharing the story of the Columbia Valley, sharing the stories of the vineyards, sharing the wines.”

Avallé is also committed to taking its fans on a journey. Across the portfolio, there is a strong emphasis on imagery of the area, of the wines, and of enjoyment, whether it be on the winery websites or on social media.

“Wine people want to be transported,” Otis says. “Wine is one of the very few things in the world where you can take somebody and bring them somewhere else.”

A look at Avallé

Bryan Otis, Avallé

The name Avallé’ is a play on both Columbia Valley and the term, AVA, an acronym for American Viticultural Area. Conceptually, Avallé is organized around three principles: the Columbia Valley, the vineyards with which the company works, and stewardship.

The Columbia Valley is Washington’s largest growing region and provides as favorable conditions for growing high quality grapes as exist anywhere in the world. “We’ve been around long enough to realize just what a special gift the Columbia Valley is,” Otis says. “I wouldn’t have said that maybe 10 or 20 years ago.”

The vineyards Avallé works with span from the Royal Slope to Red Mountain, the Horse Heaven Hills, and the broader Columbia Valley. Across its wineries, Avallé works with a wide assortment of sites, varieties, and clones.

The stewards, meanwhile, are the Otis family and the winemakers under the Avallé umbrella. “Everybody that is here acts as a steward of the brand, a steward of the land, and just making sure that when someone reaches for a bottle within the Avallé portfolio that they’re getting a quintessential experience of the Columbia Valley,” Otis says.

A change in profile

All of the wines at Avallé have moved in a new direction since winemakers Alex Stewart and Hal Iverson joined the team in 2021. The two moved over from Quilceda Creek, one of Washington’s most highly regarded wineries. (Jesse Schmidt was also hired at that time but is no longer with the winery.)

“We’re at the place of re-introducing an entirely new spectrum of wines,” Otis says. “The wines are so completely changed stylistically, flavor-wise, dynamic-wise, vineyard-wise, everything.”

Matthews, founded in 1992, focuses on Bordeaux varieties. The lineup has expanded recently to include a series of appellation designated wines and reserve wines.

Tenor, started in 2007, is in the midst of transitioning to a single vineyard, single varietal approach. Single Barrel is evolving in the opposite direction toward a an appellation-focused approach, such as Royal Slope Syrah.

From the Sky Down is dedicated to single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Blackboard is an upscale, entry-level label. Jaine, meanwhile, focuses on white wines. The winery offers everything from vineyard-designated Sauvignon Blanc (there are three of them) to reserve level wines.

Across the Avallé lineup, wine quality has never been higher. While 2022 was a challenging vintage in the Columbia Valley, Avallé excelled, particularly with Rhône varieties. Otis says that the stylistic changes seen the wines are, in some respects, simple.

“Our wine style is what we love, what we would reach for and buy.”

Expanding reach

Washington wine’s presence nationally has changed dramatically in recent years, with Chateau Ste. Michelle decreasing production and many local wineries now focusing exclusively on direct-to-consumer sales. Avallé is one of the wineries looking to fill the resulting vacuum.

The Matthews wines were previously available in 5 major markets. Now they are in approximately 30. Across the portfolio, Avallé has over 40 offerings and crafts 25,000-30,000 cases annually.

Gaining a broader reach is accomplished not just by being in more markets but by telling people the story of the area in a different way. That is where the Columbia Valley comes in.

Focusing on the Columbia Valley as an appellation stands in marked contrast to talking about Washington. The latter is what most producers have been doing over the decades. It’s safe to say that it has not worked. It’s time for a new approach, and Avallé is taking it.

“I’ve travelled all over the last three years, and, on occasion, I’ve heard [industry] people say, ‘We’re not tasting any Washington wine today,’” Otis says. “I’ve just said, ‘This isn’t Washington wine. This is wine from the Columbia Valley.’ The person will pause for a second and, as long as you don’t break the moment, they’ll laugh, and they’re like, ‘All right. What do you got?’”

Image of Bryan Otis courtesy of Avallé. 

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