Kestrel Winery

Kestrel

 
 

Kestrel wineKestrel wines are the dream of John Walker, a Florida businessman and developer whose visit to the northwest a decade ago started his fascination with NW wines. He has since acquired vineyards land, and in 1999, Kestrel released its first wines. Now producing 10,000 cases a year, 90% of Kestrel's wines are red- Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah. The winery also produces Chardonnay and Viognier, and a very limited amount of a Chardonnay ice wine.

Kestrel Winery is located in the Prosser Wine and Food Park. The winery produces wines from grapes sourced from vineyards including Artz Vineyard (Red Mountain), Rivers Bend, DuBrul, Lewis, Elerding and their estate vineyard, Kestrel View.

Kestrel Vintner's winemaker is Ray Sandidge, who formerly was with Hyatt Vineyards in Zillah and Washington Hills Cellars in Sunnyside.

Kestrel winery

 
 
 

Kestrel winemakerKestrel's Winemaker Ray Sandidge
(info from the winery)

Kestrel Winery's winemaker is
Ray Sandidge. Ray attended Washington State University in Pullman, majoring in horticulture with an emphasis on plant physiology and tree fruit production. Subsequently, he was hired by Washington State University's Irrigated Agricultural Research and Extension Center to assist stone fruit and wine grape research. There, he also learned "to analyze wines with lab equipment and one's own senses."

Life in academia grew too pale for Ray's liking. So, he found an apprenticeship with a winemaker on Long Island. In addition to assisting the winemaker at the Pindar Winery, Ray also managed the vineyard there, raising gewurztraminer, riesling, chardonnay, merlot, and cabernet wine grapes. The winemaker under whom he worked was nominated to be East Coast Winemaker of the Year. By 1986, he had attained his goal: he had become a bona fide winemaker.

Ray was "discovered," as he puts it, when a young German on a wine marketing trip visited the Pindar Winery and offered him a one-year position as a winemaker in the Rheingau of Germany. Of course, he did not pass up the chance to go to one of the world's best-known wine regions, and he ended up working 3 1/2 years as a winemaker in Rudesheim.

Ray employed many of his own wine-making techniques, so the Rheingau winemakers good-naturedly branded him "The Rebel." That's not to say he didn't learn a lot from the winemakers on the Rhein. Germany is steeped in wine making traditions, with over 12,000 wineries operating in the country.

He gained a fine reputation in Germany. First, the trade publication The Wine Spectator noted that two wines from the 1986 vintage he'd made on Long Island had been served at former President George Bush's 1988 inaugural ball. Then in 1988, the winery where he worked, Weingut Georg Breuer, was listed for the first time in the estate's 120-year history among Germany's 100 best wineries. Ray's ultimate triumph in Germany came when he was awarded first prize at the German National Sweet Wine Championship for his 1989 Berg Rottland Trockenbeerenauslese, a wine made from raisined grapes.

Ray's passion and talent for wine making fills each and every bottle. From Long Island to Germany and back to Washington State, you can taste his experiences and exceptional skill. Recently praised in the September 30th issue of The Wine Spectator for his job well done at our winery, Ray continues his tradition of "supreme elegance" at Kestrel.

 
 


$14.35 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $15.95

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New white wine blend with a different slinky "Platinum" blonde on each release's bottles. This wine possesses the brilliant spice of the Gew?rztraminer grape and the lingering perfume of the Viognier
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$14.35 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $15.95

Qty.

From the winery: "Very dark purple-red color. Absolutely huge aromas and flavors of ripe blackberry and black sweet cherry fruits laced with generous vanilla, cedar and graham make up this wine's pre
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Kestrel Merlot 37.5 Brix Dessert Wine 375 ml

$33.29 - Case price (any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $36.99

From the winery: "The color is that of a dark rose or garnet possessing light color. The presentation is profound and penetrating. Flavors and aromas are honey, raspberries, strawberries, cranberries
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$18.89 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $20.99

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From the winery: "Very dark purple-red color. The bouquet is of jammy blackberries, decadent ripe black sweet cherries, vanilla, barrel toast, graham. The flavors mirror that of the bouquet with addit
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$20.20 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $22.45

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Wine Spectator 89 points: "A crisp, lively style of Viognier that has the requisite honeysuckle and pear aromas and flavors, finishing with a distinct lime note and zingy acidity. Drink now through 20
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$18.86 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $20.95

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From the winery: "Our trademark "black-hole" purple color is present. Rich aromas of ripe plums, blackberries, and black sweet cherries greet your senses immediately. The spice and perfume proffered b
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$26.99 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $29.99

Qty.

From the winery: "Beautiful dark-red and purple color. The aromas and flavors are ripe blackberries, graham, ripe raspberries, vanilla and touch of bay leaf. The structure is well muscled with fine gr
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