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Andrew
Will Winery, one of the top wineries in the country as well as in the
Pacific Northwest, has released the 2005 Andrew Will Red Wines. In October 2007, Wine & Spirits Magazine named Andrew Will Winery
"America's best Washington State producer"
Continuing his
plans to change the wines he makes from varietal specific to vineyard
blends, Chris Camarda offers a range of "Red Wine", each
wine made from whatever grape varietals Chris feels combine to best
express the unique terroir of each vineyard site for the 2005 vintage.
The Winery
In the 2004
sixth edition of Robert Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide, he lists only
a few Washington wineries rated as "outstanding"-
Andrew Will is one of them, others being Quilceda Creek and Delille Cellars.
Parker goes on
to call Chris Camarda "one of America's finest producers
of Merlot"- high praise for Chris and his small winery on an island
off the Seattle coast, and well deserved.
All of us at Avalon adore Chris's wines and value him for his fearless
winemaking. He handcrafts wines in ways that require a great deal of
skill and allow little room for error. In a world of overly extracted
wines softened and made more appealing by toast, oak, and other such
manipulations, Chris's wines stand out as true expressions of the nature
of the fruit.
Andrew Will is
a small winery in the Seattle area producing limited quantities of
single vineyard "Red Wine", each wine expressing the unique terroir
of the particular vineyard. Owner Chris Camarda named the
winery after his son Will and his nephew Andrew (son of co-founder
Tommy Martino) when beginning the operation in 1989. The winery is
in a residential neighborhood on Vashon Island and is never open to
the public.
"Andrew Will Winery
reduces offerings
to concentrate
on
intense Bordeaux blends"
By Christina Kelly
Avalon Staff Writer
Chris Camarda, whose Andrew Will Winery produces some of the highest
scoring Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux blends in Washington
state will be reducing his offerings in the next few years to concentrate
on blends from some of Washington's finest vineyards.
Over the last two to three years, Camarda has
reduced his inventory from about 11 different varieties to three
or four. He discontinued
bottling single vineyard varietals, such as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon
after the 2001 bottling. Instead, he "zoned in" on
the types of blends he prefers, such as his Sorella (Italian for sister)
and his Champoux Vineyard Red Wine.

Chris Camarda, Andrew Will winemaker
"I don't want to make just one wine from each vineyard anymore," Camarda
said in a recent interview. "I want to put the emphasis on the vineyard
because that is what makes the wine special. The blends are much more
interesting to me. In the end, it's not a Merlot or a Cabernet Sauvignon-it's
the blend we develop from our sources."
The result is fewer wines, but Camarda says the wines will be better
than ever, as he focuses on blending Merlot, Cabernet
Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. He may add some Syrah to
the mix and plans to add his own fruit on 30 acres planted in Zillah,
WA.
When Camarda started his winery on Vashon
Island, near Seattle, in 1989, he admitted he was "just making wine" because
he wanted to be in the industry after spending years working in the
culinary arts
and managing restaurants in the Seattle area.
"Now, more than 10 years later, we can follow our road map, see
how we've evolved and how our wines developed," Camarda said. "We're
ready to zone in on what we've got, from the state's best vineyards,
rather than go through the vineyards every year, trying to pick the best
block of Cabernet or Merlot."
By producing only Bordeaux-style blends, Camarda will not be so dependent
on one particular grape for a wine. If Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are
not as good next year, he can focus on Merlot and other varietals to
blend with the Cabernet. He says it will require more skill and free-up
space in his ever-growing Vashon Island compound.
His skills are highly praised, as is his
wine. In the just published sixth edition of Robert Parker's Wine Buyer's
Guide, the wine critic
lists only four Washington wineries as "outstanding." Andrew
Will is one of the four, which includes Quilceda Creek, Leonetti and
DeLille Cellars.
Parker calls Camarda "one of America's
finest producers of Merlot. (His) wines have virtually perfect tannins.
They are present but buffered
by the loads of dominating sweet fruit.
"Furthermore, what is amazing about Chris Camarda's wines is that
they are concentrated, yet graceful," Parker continues. "Camarda's
(wines) blend power with elegance, concentration with finesse, and super
sweet fruit with definition. (He) is a brilliant winemaker."
It is big praise for a man who plans to eliminate some of the highly
touted wines of the past. Yet, Camarda says the new focus will produce
even better wines.
If his 2000 Champoux Red Wine is any example, Camarda has little to
fear. The wine is fabulous, with 62 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 19 percent
Merlot and 19 percent Cabernet Franc. In a recent tasting, this wine
came across as rich and dense, with layers of plum, currant, herb and
blueberries. It has just enough oak to add to the wine, rather than detract.
Although drinkable now, it should be cellared and after several years,
you'll have a hidden treasure waiting to impress your taste buds.

Andrew Will's Sorella, another Bordeaux-style blend that Camarda calls
his prototype, is also outstanding. The wine is wonderful now, but with
a few years in the cellar, will knock your socks off, in a subtle way,
of course.
Incidentally, Sorella, meaning sister in Italian, is a tribute to Camarda's
sister, who died from cancer in 1995. The label is a portrait of his
sister, painted by Seattle artist Randy Hayes.
Camarda can make this move because of his relationships with some of
Washington's best vineyards, which include Klipsun, Pepper Bridge, Ciel
du Cheval, Seven Hills and Sheridan. The fruit, under Camarda's touch,
produces subtle wines that never overwhelm with power, making them very
food friendly. He has captured the intensity of the fruit without producing
such bombs that explode and overtake a meal.
The change will enable Camarda to spend more time with his two children,
Will, 15, and Luci, 12. (The winery is named for Will and the Camarda's
nephew Andrew). Both children were adopted from South Korea and have
lived with the Camarda's since infancy. Camarda says the kids are more
involved with school activities and growing more independent every day.
Since the winery is located on an island (and not open to the public),
life revolves around the state ferry system. While Annie provides much
of the Camarda transportation system for their children, Chris says he
hopes to have more time to help out. He recently took his daughter to
a concert in Seattle and said it was a great father/daughter experience.

The Camarda's live on several acres, surrounded by trees, flowers and
a recent acquisition from South Korea-a Changsung. The Changsung, which
looks like a totem pole, is a guardian spirit, in honor of his children.
Life on the compound includes a couple of dogs, critters from the woods
nearby, and a sitting area to enjoy in spring and summer.
Single-vineyard wines from Andrew Will will still be available for the
next year or two. Barrel tasting reveals they will be as great as those
in the past. But Camarda wants his consumers to experience his love of
blends and those currently on the market are just a taste of what is
to come.
It is his attempt to express in the glass the spirit of a particular
season and a specific place. It is showmanship at its best. And that
thought makes Camarda smile.
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About the Winemaker
As winemaker, Chris brings experience gained
in the culinary arts working at Seattle area restaurants for 20 years.
His gentle sense of humor reveals
that he "finally found some use to the chemistry classes I was forced
to take in high school."
Chris's grapes come from some of the best
vineyards in Washington State: Klipsun, Ciel du Cheval, Champoux, and Sheridan, along with his own Two Blondes Estate Vineyard.
Robert Parker, in his Issue
#110 of hisnewsletter, Wine Advocate, wrote that: -"no winery in
America has made a series of Merlots as sumptuous and delicious as these
95's."
He later stated, in his Parker's Wine Buyers
Guide 5th Edition, that "the
1996's are just as good, if not better."
Parker continues to comment that "Andrew
Will's wines have virtually perfect tannins. They are present but buffered
by the loads of dominating
sweet fruit. Furthermore, what is amazing about Chris Camarda's wines
is that they are concentrated yet grateful. Camarda's (wines) blend power
with elegance, concentration with finesse, and supersweet fruit with
definition. Chris Camarda is a brilliant winemaker."
Chris Camarda also occasionally produces white wines under
the Cuvée Lulu
label.
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