K Vintners

Stellar wines. We tasted at both locations this last weekend – out East of town the first day, and downtown the next at the end of the day. Beautiful and quiet out here. Great one-​on-​one time with the tasting room attendant. It was awesome to read through some of the press they’ve gotten over the years, pet the cat, rock out and sip on some «Beautiful» syrah.

I didn’t visit the K Vineyard itself, but instead tasted the wines at the Charles Smith tasting room in Walla Walla. These syrahs blow me away. I enjoyed the Charlotte and the Sangiovese as well. I do wish they offered discounts for industry personnel, though (most places do).

Very much enjoyed our visit to Charles Smith — aka K Vintners. The wines were all delicious and the elegant wine pourer went out of her way to make sure everyone felt welcome. The tasting room had a great vibe all the way around. Eloise, who runs the wine club, goes above and beyond to deliver top customer service. My only disappointment was not getting to taste their Grenache The Boy (sold out).

I Saw Charles Smith at a table at the Wine Spectator Grand Tasting last night in Chicago. After quite a few glasses of wine, I made the honest mistake of saying something like «Hey, you’re Charles Shaw». While I feel bad that I accidently said Shaw instead of Smith, after the way he reacted to my mistake, I shouldn’t feel bad. I was trying to engage in conversation with him and because he wasn’t happy with the fact that I called him Shaw, he corrected me and walked away. The fact is, I have knowledge of Charles Smith and what he has done in the wine industry. I have read much about him and bought his wines. Needless to say, I will not be buying any more of his wine and will not recommend his wines to my wine drinking community.

Tasting #4. First of all, this place is BEAUTIFUL. The tasting room was surrounded by a rolling green lawn, next to a quaint country home, a chicken coop, etc. We even saw a horse-​drawn plow next door. Plus the backdrop of the Blue Mountains makes this place quite a sight.
Second, the wines were delicious and expensive, but the tasting was F R E E. :D The pourer was very knowledgable and pleasant. All in all a wonderful experience!

* This is a review of the customer service while trying to place an online order.
I placed an order for (5) bottles of wine at K Vintners. The following day, my wife called the winery to adjust the shipping date, ensuring that she would be at home during the delivery. Keep in mind, this call was made the next day, well before the shipping preparation for my order.
My wife was spoken to in an EXTREMELY rude manner, to the point of sheer disrespect. Apparently, K Vintners thought the request to bump the shipping date a couple of days was too much; it was an absurd idea. Needless to say, I immediately canceled my order. K Vintners no longer has to worry about shipping my wine at all.
From what I have read about K Vintners, the wine is supposed to be good. I would have liked to give it a try. However, I will not stand for anybody speaking to my wife disrespectfully.
Given the current state of the economy, I am puzzled by this winery’s lack of customer service. Thousands of wineries exist from California to Washington. Wine, additionally, is not at the top of everybody’s «must purchase» list. I will gladly take my business somewhere else.

Writing this as my iPod started playing the Ramones — how’s that for rock and roll?
I thought the wine here was good, but I think the high expectations set by all the marketing makes it hard to separate what you’re tasting from all the hype.
I can say that the tour we got from Charles was one of the best of any in Walla Walla — the man is entertaining to say the least. But again — all the theatrics make it hard to concentrate on tasting the wines. We got to sample 2 wines straight from the barrels, which was really interesting. Tried a viognier in the tasting room before a syrah and a syrah/​cab. The viognier was great, and inexpensive.
The tasting room was cool, visually. The winemaker’s little dogs were running around everywhere and being cute, and a waifish-​looking girl was pouring at the table (not cute). They unfortunately didn’t have all the wines available to try, but what we did try was quite tasty. It seemed like the only people who bought much wine were the Charles groupies among us — I guess it pays to party with the dude! Heck, if you’re reliving the good times by paying to drink his wines, more power to you! The tasting room was packed — it was a zoo! Definitely an interesting experience meeting the winemaker and trying a few of his wines. But I will probably pick them up at my local wine shop/​grocery store/​Costco to save some cash.
While we were there he mentioned that they’d be beginning to renovate the farmhouse on the property which he lives in, but not in a «traditional» sense. I am imagining that it will end up looking like that house from Beatlejuice! I’ll have to come back in a couple of years to see if I’m right ;-)
Charles is a fun guy, so try to filter out all the craziness and just taste the wines. It would probably help to go on a day he’s not there and get a taste for the stuff. Interesting to see what role psychology plays in winemaking!

Visited K Vintners based on a recommendation by our local wine shop owner. The grounds are beautiful and what a pretty house he and his wife live in. I have to give Charles Smith big kudos for some amazing branding and marketing efforts that have propelled his wine into the outer stratosphere of Walla Walla wines. He’s got three labels but wasn’t pouring any of the less expensive line of wines when we visited. His wines are good, not amazing, like the hype he generates through his media marketing efforts. The prices are outrageous for a Walla Walla winery!
We were there during the Autumn Release weekend but they didn’t seem to be doing anything special, like most of the other wineries. If you want to fight big crowds out in the boonies of Walla Walla, tasting overpriced wines poured by too hip to work Walla Walla hipsters, by all means, this is the place.
A side note of sorts: the morning we were there, this guy was using a noisy leaf blower to clear the driveway as we were walking back to our car. He shut it off as we got closer and stated, «It’s gotta be done» to us, as if he was trying to apologize for the noise. It was then that I recognized Charles Smith under the beanie. Not sure whether to give the guy credit for blowing his own driveway or feel like he should have gotten up much earlier to take care of the leaves before his tasting room opened for the day…

LOVED this place.
We set up a visit with Charles and Co a few weeks before via email. they love charcuterie and pickles. I love great wine.
We showed up when there was a large group there, but Charles immediately peeled off and spent time chatting us up and making us comfortable. We loved talking to his way too hot for him Italian supermodel wife Ginevre (sp?). who was also ridiculously nice for how beautiful she was.
Super nice staff (loved lynn). they loved our pickels, charcuterie, and homemade booze… I loved all the wines tasted. and was super surprised with the gifts of wine and tshirts we left with.
Regardless of the hype, Charles is a super nice guy, very genuine and a lot of fun, and makes (he makes them) great wine.
definitely hit this place when you visit WW. it’s not your dad’s boring winery.
PS. besides his stable of 98 – 100 point super syrahs in the 100 – 140 price range, he has a bevy of awesome daily drinkers in the 12 – 20 range.

Seeking a quick sabbatical from the Wine Bloggers Conference, I headed west of downtown Walla Walla to visit the venerable K Vintners. K is one of Charles Smith’s three primary brands, along with Charles Smith Wines and The Magnificent Wine Company. The story is well known– Smith comes from Northern California via Europe, where he managed rock bands. He somehow ended up in Walla Walla, WA as a rock star winemaker, both literally and figuratively. He’s famous for Washington Syrah, mostly from the Walla Walla Valley and the Wahluke Slope.
The K Vintners winery and tasting room is located inauspiciously among the Phil Lane estate vineyard in Walla Walla. It’s marked by a life-​sized «K» along the road. There’s farm pasture land across the street, with curious cattle that scampered off when I walked up to take a picture. With an old farm house, quaint vineyards, tall trees, and the winery in a old barn off to the side; the setting reminded me of the rolling Midwestern farm land that David Lynch brought to life in «The Straight Story» film.
His branding, modernist and surreal, is iconic. Fortunately his wines walk the walk. K Vintners and Charles Smith wines are not only among the most highly regarded domestic Syrah; they’ve established themselves among the most highly regarded domestic wines period. Smith’s Syrah wines have been rated consistently in the classic range in the Wine Advocate and in Wine Enthusiast. Aside from high-​end Syrah, Smith’s more value oriented brands such as The Magnificent Wine Company’s House Wines and Charles Smith Wines’ Kung Fu Girl Riesling bring style and value to everyday wine drinking.
The tasting room further reminded me of surreal themes of David Lynch– stark and mostly bare with concrete-​colored walls… tiny little windows into the barrel room cut in asymmetrical patterns… the wines laid out on a bare antique table accompanied by a lone candle… a random assortment of weird tunes blasting from behind a mysterious black door… and my host sitting on a tiny little chair behind the table. The scene tied the cinematic and surreal influence on K together for me. As great as the wines are, every little nuance of the overall aesthetic is part of the show.
The Wines–
Per their technical information– K foot-​crushes their fruit, ferments with only native yeasts, manually punches down, uses basket presses, and are aged in French Burgundy barrels.
~2009 Viognier, Columbia Valley– Barrel fermented in neutral barrels. Rocky and floral aromas flushed with stone fruit. Lush on the palate with peach, honey, apple, and apricot. Crisp and balanced — very good — $ 20.
~2008 «Milbrandt» Syrah, Wahluke Slope– 90% Sundance and 10% Pheasant Vineyards, sustainably farmed and owned by the Milbrandt brothers. Unfined. Floral notes with leathery spice and red fruit. Gamey on the palate with earthy red and blue fruit notes, layed over a spicy structure and finish — very good to excellent — $ 25.
~2008 «Clifton» Syrah, Wahluke Slope– Another vineyards owned and sustainably farmed by the Milbrandt brothers. Unfined. Cured meats, leather, baking spice leading into brambly red and black fruits. There’s a spicy rich structure, tightly wound, leading into a full silky finish — excellent — $ 35.
~2007 «Phil Lane» Syrah, Walla Walla– From the sustainably-​farmed estate vineyard in Walla Walla. Cobbley loam soil with vines trained low to the ground. Large brambly fruit on the nose with smoked meat and pepper. Lush fruit, black pepper, black olive, and spice– firm with a beautiful finish. This one could be special — excellent to stellar — $ 70.

During my last visit to Walla Walla in March ’09, was sorely disappointed to discover that the K Vintners tasting room was closed. I’d heard so much about Charles Smith’s reputation — former rocker, motorcycler, hulk of a man, crazy hair and his wines have super cool names like «Kung Fu Girl» Riesling, «Boom Boom» Syrah, «Guido» (a red blend) and «Motor City Kitty» Syrah.
On this particular trip, saw two billboards on the drive in from Seattle, which effused the brand and man — black and white, bold tone and attitudnal (one, I think, compared wine tasting to «rock and roll»). Figured if they were advertising, K HAD to be open… right?! To fuel the anticipation, we picked a 2008 The Boy (92% Grenache + 8% Syrah) for our Whitehouse-​Crawford dinner, which I thought was spectacular. I’m not a big fan of Syrah (I know, I know… then WHY go to K since they’re known for their Syrahs?!), but there was so little of it in The Boy that none of the qualities I dislike (tannic-​y and leather-​y) were evident.
K was our first stop yesterday — it’s pretty hard to miss since it’s marked with a 8′ K on Mill Creek Road. Opened the door to the tasting room and it was packed! After making our way to the table, found one taster who was ADORABLE and super rocker-​esque — choppy hair cut, short funky dress topped with a leather coat and finished off with black tights. (She was a great alternative to Charles Smith, who I hear oftentimes pours.)
On the tasting line-​up was a Viognier, three types of Syrah and The Boy — was kinda bummed they weren’t pouring Guido (which we almost had with dinner instead of The Boy). Sadly, I had The Boy on the mind and sped through the first four varietals.
Left with:
* 2008 The Boy — x’s 3!!!
Notable notes:
* Anticipate crowds — not only is K garnering lots of press, but Charles Smith was just awarded Food & Wine’s 2009 American Winemaker of the Year
* Before you fight your way through the (inevitable) crowds, make sure to head left and grab a wine glass from the cabinet, then get your wine poured at the table.
* K isn’t cheap — turn to the Charles Smith Wines label if more affordable is your flavor (unfortunately, they weren’t pouring any CSW)
* Cool grounds — we had many a photo-​opportunity on/​around/​in the 8′ K after our tasting
Return rate: 10 (out of 10)
* Despite being a Syrah-​hater, I really dug K! Cool grounds and how could I not support a winemaker that gets brand, knows his and expresses it via his labels, advertising, employees (well, we just saw one) and wines.