About the Wine:

     We are honored to create this delicious Grenache Blanc and Viognier blend from Vakima Valley that benefits OpHeart! This wine just won a Silver Medal at the 2024 Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition.

     Ariana is the daughter of our friend and wine club member, Anne Garcia. After only 6 weeks of life, Ariana was diagnosed with a life-threatening congenital heart defect (CHD), the #1 cause of infant death. Ariana received the life-saving, open-heart surgery she required, but many infants do not. 

     Anne founded OpHeart to help save the lives of CHD babies through advocacy and innovative surgeries utilizing 3D printing to create replicas of patients’ heart for pre-surgical planning. Every bottle of Ariana sold will benefit OpHeart, and thousands of babies just like her.

Winemaker’s Notes:

     The Yakima Valley is a special place to grow grapes. Parts of the valley are cool and breezy and parts of the valley can get as hot as Texas. This means that in a relatively small area, Yakima Valley has a number of micro-climates suited to growing many different types of grapes. Aromatic white varietals flourish on cooler upper hills. We asked our friend and fellow winemaker, Justin Neufeld, to be on the lookout for a special vineyard producing aromatic white grapes, particularly Rhone varietals like Grenache Blanc and Viognier. In 2016, Justin found the perfect, small family vineyard for our new white wine project. We went with him to inspect the vines. That day, the wine that is now known as Ariana was conceived.

     Now, almost two years later, we are ready to release Ariana, our first white wine from Washington State. The wine is 58% Grenache Blanc and 42% Viognier grapes. Both of these French grapes are known for their floral aromas, brilliant color, and complex flavors.

     This vintage of Ariana is the best part of summer captured in a glass. On the nose, we smell notes of honeysuckle flowers and hints of gardenia. One sip and all we can think about is the fresh and crisp white peach and tart citrus flavors that seem to linger on the tongue forever. The finish is clean and refreshing. We only made 112 cases of this wine. We will sell out!