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Made in the Northwest, for the Northwest
It’s been said that “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” We at Sunken Cellars have been very busy creating. And now, the future is waiting for you to pop open. Sunken Cellars. Wine made in the Northwest, for the Northwest.
The Sunken Cellars Story
Sunken Cellars’ Founder and Chief Visionary, Patrick Palace had a dream; to make amazing wine in the South Sound. Moreover, a dream of creating wine made for the freshest seafood unique to the Northwest and plentiful around the Southern Islands of Puget Sound. Patrick started with this question: “If a perfectly dry white was made for seafood, aged in the cold waters of the Northwest and bottled straight from the briny oyster beds where it slept, how amazing would that be??” Thus, the journey of Sunken Cellars began
The Story of Our Northwest Wines
After searching for the perfect white wine, Patrick found a small mature block of Albariño grapes growing deep in the famed Horse Heaven Hills wine region. The first harvest leads to the crafting of a dry, crisp white with flavors of passionfruit, honey, and pineapple. With a little “downtime” it paired beautifully with local favorites like planked King salmon, scallops, oysters, and black cod.
Then came the reds.
Patrick has been a collector of reds from around the world for over 30 years but wondered “what if ….” After experimenting with combinations of Italian varietals like Nebbiolo, Graciano, and Sangiovese among others, he found a combination of oak and fruit that blended seamlessly to create Tesoro Rosso or Red Gold. Unusual? Yes. Is Northwest Italian a thing? It is now.
Finally, the greatest challenge: creating a cab like no-other.
Our secret: patiently aging 100% Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet for 2 full years in 100% new French oak barrels. And the barrels? Each is hand-built from oak harvested from one small French forest. In this way, we secure the unique character that makes Sunken Cellars one of a kind. Finally, after two years of aging, the Sunken Cellars Horse Heaven Hills Cab was born. So, if the cabernet is your thing, we have a surprise for you.
Vineyard Sourcing
Grape sourcing is all from the inland desert nursery sitting at 800 ft elevation just outside of Benton City, Washington in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA. Inland desert not only produces world-class vines for growers but also high-quality grapes for winemakers. All vines are established providing excellent fruit for fine wine.
The soil deposits from the great Missoula floods created three main soil types in this area- wind-blown sand and loess, Missoula Flood sediment, and hillslope rubble from the Columbia River basalt bedrock. Each of these providing well-draining soil for vinifera.
