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A quick refresher on The Orcas Project...

This is a collaboration that was put together back in 2015 while I was living in Ballard. It came to be at roughly the same time as Doe Bay Wine Company (my original concept was a consulting company) and was based on several models that I'd studied and worked with in the past. The first was Long Shadows, a Washington winery that partners with different winemakers around the world to produce a series of wines grown in our local regions. The other was the classic négociant model of Europe, primarily when utilized in Burgundy and the Rhone Valley. Lastly, the mezcal culture of Southern Mexico where I've spent considerable time over the last decade. The Mezcaleros (producers) in the villages will often make mezcal for multiple Mezcalerias (restaurants/bars) in Oaxaca and these establishments proudly credit the farmers for their work.

In the early stages of the project I was still working for the Spanish winery Bodegas Ontañon and had recently moved back to Seattle from Las Vegas. Traveling to Rioja several times a year I was spending a fair amount of time with Tempranillo, Graciano and Garnacha grapes and that seemed like a great place to start. So I called my friend Javier Alfonso and asked if we could work on this project together. Javier is a talented winemaker and aerospace engineer by trade who's originally from Spain. We had been in tasting groups together for a number of years. This is THE winemaker you want on your side if you're looking to work with Spanish varietals in Washington. We ended up tasting through barrels and bottling three wines from the 2016 vintage. And so it began..

I continued to reach out to a handful of winemakers over the last couple of years and have been honored to partner with some incredibly talented professionals around Northwest. When looking for partners I try to focus on people that I've known and worked with over the course of my career. I like working with smaller wineries and experimental operations. Collaborators have included winemakers Morgan Lee, Chris Peterson, Aaron Lieberman, Chad Stock, Travis Maple and we have several more that will be announced in the near future.

Each of our labels was illustrated by Orcas Island artists, several of whom I grew up and attended high school with. Carlin Hayworth, Jake (Kawika) McGuire and Darlene Gait have all played an integral part in the project. Each of the illustrations represents a different winemaker that we work with. For example, all of the raccoon labels are wines that are made by Javier, etc. We will be adding more island artists to our lineup. 

At the moment, our wines are only available for retail purchase here at Doe Bay Wine Company, either in the shop or online. We do work with a handful of restaurants around the San Juan Islands and a couple friends in Seattle. In the future we may expand on this but for the time being it's still special if you happen to see a bottle of The Orcas Project. 

There aren't too many degrees of separation! Our wines are limited in production and are only available at our Tasting Room in Eastsound (www.doebaywinecompany.com) and a handful of restaurants around the San Juan Islands.

Thank you for your support,

Cole