Wine Filter
Andrew Will Winery
The winery was founded by Chris Camarda in 1989, and he named it after his son Will and nephew Andrew. Chris developed his love of wine whilst working in the hospitality industry for nearly 20 years. He is a self-taught winemaker, but the business is now second generation; Will Camarda joined his father in 2013 and has now taken over the winemaking reins. When Will first began producing wine he used to put his phone number on every cork, which resulted in calls from exuberant wine drinkers at all hours – note that he no longer does that! The winery was initially located in rented industrial space in Seattle, but in 1994 relocated to Vashon Island in Puget Sound, just a short ferry ride from Seattle, whence the grapes are transported and crafted into the high quality terroir-expressive wines Andrew Will are famous for. They specialise in the production of single vineyard single varietal or Bordeaux blend wines sourced from four AVA's in Washington State: Ciel du Cheval in the Red Mountain AVA [gravel and huge stones deposited by the great Spokane Flood at the end of the last ice age, and the soil has a high calcium carbonate content], Champoux [sandy loamy soils] and Discovery Vineyards [sandy loamy soils] in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA, and Two Blondes [complex mix of Harwood-Burke-Weihl silty loams], in Zillah in the Yakima Valley AVA. The vineyards are planted primarily with Bordeaux varieties, although there is some Sangiovese in the Red Mountain vineyard. All the grapes are hand-harvested. These well-structured, elegant and age-worthy wines have earned Andrew Will an excellent reputation and they are justifiably one of Washington State's leading wineries.