2014 Red Wine Stanley Groovy

Ali Mayfield, who was then the winemaker for Foundry Vineyards, made some wine on her own in 2013 with the idea of establishing her own label. In 2014, she joined forces with Seattle-based corporate attorney Mike Martin and launched The Walls. Mayfield vinified in 2014 and 2015 at Artifex, a custom crush facility in Walla Walla, then in March of 2016 she and Martin purchased a facility on the northern edge of town that had previously been used by K Vintners. Mayfield and Martin crushed 96 tons of fruit in ’16 and will bottle 5,000 cases of wine from this vintage: a Cabernet Sauvignon, two Syrahs, a Rhône blend, a Chardonnay and a Grenache Blanc, from several sites around the state. (Mayfield also makes wine in the same facility for Obelisco Estate.)

Martin and Mayfield recently purchased 20 acres of land in The Rocks, between Stoney Vine and en Chamberlin vineyards and, working with Sonoma-based vineyard manager Phil Coturri, will plant Syrah, Grenache, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and a bit of Tempranillo. The new wines from The Rocks will be bottled under a new Concrete Mama label (like “The Walls,” a reference to the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla).

I tasted with Ali’s brother Jake Mayfield, who is director of operations. Jake told me that the winery’s 2014s were from fruit that was picked very early, and not always with full flavor development, but still later than other clients at Artifex. Most of the Walls wines are inoculated with multiple yeasts and this may help to explain their perfumed quality. This is clearly a producer to follow.