ALLI LANPHEAR VINYARD & WINERY

Our path to winegrowing began with our first love of local, community supported organic agriculture. We have been growing organic food together on Vashon Island since 2000. Our early years in agriculture saw us boldly experimenting with food staples that could be grown in the Puget Sound region. We grew grains such as spelt, barley, and quinoa, dry-farmed drought resistant tepary beans and tomatoes, and produced miso from heirloom soybeans and garbanzo beans we grew. 

During this time we deepened our understanding of slow, natural fermentation processes producing wines, cider, and mead all from fruits and honey locally sourced including Chasselas grapes from an old vineyard planted on Vashon in the 1980s. Our focus has always been on building a close connection with our immediate environment through food and drink.

In 2006 we purchased land from the Hoshi family, a multi-generational Japanese farming family on Vashon. We brought everything that inspired us in prior years to build a vision of a vineyard and winery dedicated to producing wines from Vashon grown grapes.

To better educate ourselves we traveled through France, mostly Alsace, and Burgundy, and spent time in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, studying how small scale winegrowers crafted their wines. We learned from the Washington State University Research and Extension Center in Mt. Vernon which grape varietals do well in Puget Sound, and drew inspiration from the ancient winegrowing region of the Republic of Georgia where natural winegrowing is still practiced. 

We applied our learnings and began planting our vineyard in 2007, over time developing a natural winemaking style that we believe is true to what makes Puget Sound wines unique.  At Alli Lanphear Vinyard & Winery we hope our love of connection with our sense of place comes through in our wine. 

Damon and Rebecca are also proud parents of two teenagers and three cats!