Peter Devison, Devison Vintners

Winemaker Peter Devison of Walla Walla Valley’s Devison Vintners has more than 20 harvests in Washington under his belt, and he’s just getting started. Since launching his eponymous winery in 2020, Devison isn’t just making some of the best wines in Washington, he is making some of the best wines in the world.

Needing to learn to make wine

Devison grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with parents who didn’t drink wine or go out to fine dining restaurants. His first experience with wine was memorable, but not in a good way. His second experience wasn’t any better.

“I swore to God I would never have wine again in my life,” Devison says.

For college, Devison selected the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He had two simple reasons.

“It was the furthest place away from Halifax in Canada,” Devison says. “Plus there were mountains in British Columbia, and I really wanted to see mountains.”

During his second year Devison started working in fine dining restaurants. That gave him exposure to wine.

“I fell in love with it immediately,” Devison says.

Devison set about trying to learn all he could about wine. He took a Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) Level 3 class. He also worked at a high-end bottle shop in Vancouver. There was just one problem.

“I realized very quickly that just learning and tasting wine was fun, but I needed to make it,” Devison says. “I needed to learn more.”

Going down under

A friend planned to travel to New Zealand to study viticulture and enology at Lincoln University. Devison decided to go too. He subsequently graduated from the university with a bachelor’s degree in viticulture and enology.

While studying in New Zealand, Devison worked harvests in Austrlia’s famed Hunter Valley at a large winery that focused mostly on Sémillon. “I loved it,” Devison says. “What I always tell people is that Australia and New Zealand have mastered this bridge between theory and practicum [in wine].”

A winemaker there took Devison under his wing. He challenged him to take what he was learning in school and apply it in the cellar.

“You’ve got to get immersed,” Devison says of learning to make wine. “I wasn’t cleaning tanks and barrels. I was making the wine all the way through.”

After three years in New Zealand, Devison applied to two jobs: one in Portugal and one in Chelan, Washington. Washington wine was not entirely unfamiliar to him. Devison had tasted a vertical of ‘90s Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon while working in a restaurant and was impressed.

“I remember thinking, how does Cabernet have so much fruit, so much mid-palate?” Devison recalls. He took the job in Chelan.

Coming to Washington

Devison Vintners, Walla Walla Valley

As many wine lovers know, Quilceda Creek’s logo is a mountain setting. Devison envisioned the same in Chelan. In fact, Chelan is a tiny resort town located on the east side of the Cascade Mountains on a lake of the same name.

“I remember driving into town and seeing a tumbleweed go by, and there’s no trees,” Devison says. “I was like, what?”

Devison started out in the Lake Chelan Valley in 2004 at Vin du Lac. He subsequently moved over to Tsillan Cellars in 2005. Overall, however, the area wasn’t a match at that point in his career.

“There’s good fruit there, but there wasn’t enough energy from young wine makers at that time,” Devison says.

Waterbrook in Walla Walla Valley, owned by Precept Wines, was looking for an assistant winemaker. Devison took the position. He worked for Precept from 2007 to 2012. Devison was responsible for making white wines as well as some high-end reds.

It was those Precept white wines that first brought Devison to my attention. After tasting a lineup of 30 some-odd wines at Precept’s office, I had one question: “Who made the Sauvignon Blanc?”

Committing to native fermentation

During his time in Washington, Devison had crossed paths with winemaker Brennon Leighton. At the time, Leighton was white winemaker at Chateau Ste. Michelle before moving over to Woodinville’s Efestē.

Devison had been experimenting with ambient yeast fermentation or so-called native fermentation, which is fermenting grapes without inoculating them with commercial yeast. Leighton was already committed to it.

When Leighton took a new job, he reached out to Devison about becoming winemaker at Efestē. Devison started at Efestē in 2012. There, he fully committed to the native fermentation philosophy that Leighton had brought to the winery.

“He was a good mentor during my transition, and I learned a lot from him,” Devison says. “Without having him there to help me through that first vintage, I don’t think I’d be where I am today.”

In 2017, Devison was head hunted for a winemaker position at Cadaretta in Walla Walla Valley. Having just had his first child with his wife, Kelsey, the idea of moving from the city back to the country seemed appealing. When Cadaretta’s owners decided to sunset the brand in 2019, Devison purchased back some of the wine that he made in 2018, took the leap, and started Devison Vintners.

“Clean wines are boring”

Peter and Kelsey Devison

Devison’s approach to winemaking is simple. “Great wines don’t want to be made, they want to be grown,” Devison says. “We do not give enough credit to the growers. They’re 90% of it.”

In the winery, Devison tries to be hands off. Really.

“I try to do as little as possible,” he says. “I don’t tinker. If you pay attention in the vineyard, doing less [in the winery] is making better wine.”

Native fermentation is part of it. Fermentations start slower and last longer, as various yeast populations grow and subside.

“You get more glycerol and a richer mouthfeel,” Devison says.

Devison also doesn’t rack his wines. Racking is a process of taking wine off dead yeast and other solids.

“[Not racking] adds tension and texture because you’re maintaining this vibrancy,” Devison says.

Blending between barrels and varieties to elevate wine quality is one of Devison’s superpowers. He spends an inordinate amount of time it, and the results speak for themselves.

Finally, Devison doesn’t fine the wines. This is a process of removing compounds to improve clarity, stability, and overall cleanliness.

“I’ve got a theory that clean wines are boring,” Devison says. “The Devison [Vintners] wines, it’s like you took this piece of clay and you start chipping away at it, you make the sculpture, and it’s edgy and cool. Some wineries come in with sandpaper, and they make it all smooth and polished. To me, that makes [the wines] less exciting.”

Exceptionally high quality wines with soul

Devison Vintners is a family affair. Peter makes the wine. Kelsey operates the business side of the winery, serving as general manager. Devison makes approximately 2,000 cases annually.

In terms of the wines, Devison remains a Sauvignon Blanc savant, making the highest quality offering in the state. The wine, which hails from Evergreen Vineyard, is tart and acid-driven – unusual for Washington. However, there is also generous amounts of fruit.

“There’s so much texture and richness to the wine,” Devison says. “The acid also gives it length, it gives it treble, and it gives ageability.”

The rosé – the best from the Washington side of the Columbia Valley – comes from Boushey Vineyard. It brings roundness, texture, and tension while still providing bright acidity.

While Devison has long been known for his white winemaking talent, the reds are just as thrilling. The wines have richness and intensity, but there is also tension and verve. There is complexity, detail, and length. They reflect the places that they come from, taste like nothing else from the state, and have something important to say. They are complete wines from tip to tail, truly profound offerings that can sit comfortably alongside the best wines in the world.

Now, a very experienced 48 years young, Devison is poised to make his mark on Washington and beyond. He sums what he’s looking for at Devison as follows.

“I always tell people that there are three t’s in great wines: terroir, texture, and tension,” Devison says. “If you can get those three, it’s going to be a great.”

This article has been updated.

Read reviews of Devison wines in the tasting note database. Images by Victoria Wright courtesy of Devison Vintners. 

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