Rob, who works in the tasting room, has a Master's Degree in Nuclear engineering and a Master's in Mechanical Engineering. He also works at Bechtel and teaches Zumba! (AND! he's finally getting married to his girl, Annie, who also works at the winery)
Tyler, who is JJ's brother, has a degree in Biology and is currently galavanting in Chile and also visited New Zealand. Can you image how much wine knowledge he will come back with to add to the Kiona collective? I can't wait as I'm sure it is going to be EPIC!
Tristan, who is the enologist, has a degree in Physics from Notre Dame, O.M.G., Right!! Tristan came over from The Hogue Cellars and has been at Kiona for about a year and of course, he loves it there. We had a good time chatting it up during my visit. If you like to get your chat box going about Physics, Tristan and Rob are definitely the guys to talk with over some wine.
JJ knows so much about everything! You can literally ask him anything about grapes, farming, the winemaking process, or the machines that are on site and he knows it all! During our conversations, I could really see his passion for the industry and the excitement he feels, especially when it comes to developing a wine. JJ thinks if he wasn't in the wine industry, he would be teaching High School Accounting. I think he would make a perfect instructor as he has an amazing talent for explaining things in a way that is easy to understand.
Kiona Winery (Red Mountain's Constant for you Lost fans) was the first winery on Red Mountain and the first grapes were planted in 1975. The original blocks that were planted were Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Riesling. In addition to making wine, Kiona sells grapes and wine to other wineries.
Kiona doesn't have a winery dog as there is a commercial kitchen on site which I am sure JJ's wife, Molly loves! If you have a chance, check out https://1eyewineguy.wordpress.com/, there you can see videos of the two! When you are in the tasting room there is an area where you can look down into the barrel room, I thought this feature was a neat idea.
Kiona really is a generational winery, not only with the founding family, but also for the families who help with harvest and help keep the winery operational. That is one of the aspects of Kiona I like the most, as it speaks volumes about how the owners treat their employees and it sounds like Kiona is a great place to work.
The wines Kiona produces all have a story attached to them and each wine has its niche. For instance, Old Block wine is 100% original block (the oldest on Red Mountain). Kiona believes every wine is the best they can produce, so there is no good, better, or best when it comes to the wines and this philosophy is reflected in Kiona's pricing structure. I love this concept and I can assure you, all of their wines are amazing, even their Lemberger!
I don't know if you read the post from the Taste Washington 2015, but I visited Kiona probably about 14 years ago and it was the first time I had Lemberger and I hated it! I haven't been back to Kiona since then. I have to say, Kiona has done an amazing job in reinventing their brand and their wines. This time, I loved the Lemberger and even bought a bottle.
Three words that are used to describe Kiona's brand are farm, family, and estate. Kiona's original labels are timeless but I love the new designs JJ has been coming up with as the labels are a modern representation of where Kiona is now.
And of course, I had the opportunity to try some wine from the tanks. It was interesting to taste the difference in wines that were still going through the development cycles. Kiona also has their own bottling/labeling machine, one of these days I will actually talk a winery into letting me work on the line!
The people of Kiona are truly amazing and I love how this winery has evolved. JJ has done a phenomenal job with running Kiona, establishing an online presence, and defining Kiona's brand. If you are ever in Red Mountain, this place is a must see!
Cheers!
Melanie
