Bottom Line Up Front
- This page details the wine selections for the Spring 2025 Release
- For logistical information on the Spring 2025 Release, go here
Spring 2025 Wine Club Release - The Wines
Red Mountain Goodness, Just For You
As we celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2025, it's important to reflect on the types of products that got us here, and the types of products that will drive our success going forward.
For Kiona's first three decades or so, we produced very traditionally executed wines: the kinds of products that fall into the "Vintage + Geography + Grape Name" category. You'll find that ideology represented in this release in the form of 2021 Estate Bottled Red Mountain Malbec. This is, more or less, the "default" way that most US wine drinkers think about and categorize wine.
Somewhere in the mid 2000s a couple of things happened that broadened our product mix and the ideologies underpinning our blending process. First, we added a bunch of new cultivars to our Estate Red Mountain repertoire - the prospect of experimental blending became a reality with the inclusion of things like Carmenère, Mourvèdre, and Sangiovese, among others. The second is that the wine industry "grew up" during this timeframe - the number of competitors and planted acres in the US exploded. It became more important than ever to have differentiated products in the lineup.
Nyx and Zeus represent this "Wine Industry 2.0" type of product - edgier packaging combined with blending that doesn't directly compete with existing product lines. A potential customer for these products might think, "this sounds cool," rather than, "I like Malbec."
We're of the opinion that it's important to have both kinds of product in a winery portfolio - traditional wines that represent a touchstone for the potential customer, as well as something novel. We hope you find this release to be a nice mixture of both philosophies, and, of course, delicious and compelling. Cheers!
2021 Estate Bottled Red Mountain Malbec - Wine Page
The 2021 Estate Bottled Red Mountain Malbec serves as a showcase of our Sunset Bench vineyard, our smallest Red Mountain estate site and one that is predominately planted to the variety. In less than ten years, Malbec has grown from a novelty to our fifth-most-planted cultivar, driven almost entirely by un-satiated demand in the Tasting Room.
The 2021 iteration features less overt oak influence than its 2019 predecessor, resulting in a dashing, blue-fruited, easy-to-pair wine with wide stylistic appeal.
2022 Estate Bottled Red Mountain Nyx - PDF
Longtime Kiona supporters will recognize this label - it's one we've used three times before as a Mourvèdre-based counterpart to our Cyclops GSM blend. After a couple year's hiatus, we've brought it back in a new style - this time we've used our high-end Red Mountain fruit to make a Super Tuscan-style blend with Sangiovese as the headliner.
Italian cultivars, although still somewhat rare in the Pacific Northwest, have a dedicated cult following. We've produced varietal Sangiovese for more than 25 years now, but never made it the marquee component in a blend (until now!).
For the uninitiated, Super Tuscans originated in Tuscany, where vineyards and wineries were strictly regulated in which grapes they could plant and where they could be planted. In late 70s and early 80s, a few maverick growers decided to break the rules, which were perceived as restrictive to downright draconian, depending on who you asked (the Italians are passionate people). These rule-breakers planted classic French varieties alongside their more traditional Italian contemporaries, and released blends that incorporated both. "Super Tuscans" often use Sangiovese as the lead blender in a cuvée that might include Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, or other French varieties. The wines quickly gained in popularity across the globe, garnering critical and commercial acclaim.
We'd recommend this Super Tuscan primer from Wine Folly if you're interested in learning more of that background and history.
This new iteration of Nyx was conceived, blended, and bottled from start to finish as a wine club wine - once this release runs, there will be a very small amount left.
Red Mountain Zeus - PDF
One could make a pretty decent argument that the trifecta of Kiona, Ciel du Cheval, and Tapteil vineyards form the core of Red Mountain's ongoing reputation as a powerhouse growing region from the earliest beginnings all the way through to the modern era, 50 years later.
- Kiona planted the first Red Mountain vineyard in 1975, operated by our family for three generations - we live here. We grow fruit for more than 60 top PNW winemakers. We also, I must say, have incredible club members.
- Ciel du Cheval, planted just after Kiona, is the second-oldest vineyard in the AVA, today owned and operated by the Holmes family. They're on the Mt. Rushmore of elite Washington State vineyards.
- Larry Pearson of Tapteil vineyard was the closest neighbor that Tyler and JJ had had growing up - so close you could *barely* hear his delightfully distinctive laugh on a summer evening from across the way. Planted in 1985, Tapteil developed a reputation as a vineyard that produced intensely concentrated wines with a mile-long waitlist.
This one-of-a-kind blend features fruit from all three institutions, although it's important to note that Tapteil is now known as the Avennia Estate Vineyard. We purchased the Tapteil Merlot used in this wine just before the block was ripped out and replanted to Cabernet Sauvignon, meaning the cuvée cannot be replicated.
This Right-Bank style blend features another powerhouse trio - Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon, and was crafted exclusively as a club release.
2023 Columbia Valley Old Vine Chardonnay - PDF (Mixed Only)
No scored reviews yet - releasing into club.
We planted this Chardonnay at the Kiona Estate vineyard in 1975, making it part of the original block that pioneered the region. For the last 50 years we've developed quite the affinity for Red Mountain Chardonnay - it's rare to find Chardonnay planted alongside Cabernet Sauvignon in the greater world of wine.
Here in Washington, however, it's not uncommon at all; many of the top vineyards in the Columbia Valley feature both cultivars. Washington features the rare combination of ample ripening potential (sunlight), combined with high acid-retention capability (diurnal shift). This Goldilocks combination is perfect for this style of Chardonnay - ripe but with ample acidity, layered but with ample freshness.
2020 Columbia Valley Estates Cuvée - PDF (Reds Only)
No scored reviews yet, released January 2025.
The name ‘Estates Cuvée’ is also a definition: this high end glass pour-oriented blend originates from four of our estate vineyards. Each site contributes in a special way, resulting in a declassified estate-grown wine that is uniquely representative of the region. The Kiona Estate vineyard components bring acid, fruit, and drinkability, while the Sunset Bench, Ranch at the End of the Road, and Heart of the Hill additions contribute depth, structure, and color.
In a world of contrived red wine blends with obfuscated sourcing, Estates Cuvée stands apart as a breath of fresh air. We’re blending this approachable, food-friendly cuvée from our estate Red Mountain vineyards, respected by top winemakers from across the Pacific Northwest as some of the best in the business. Expect ample red and blue fruit, framed by generous acidity and barreled down for more than three years. It’s a wine that probably shouldn’t exist, at least according to our accountant.
Blended to be the perfect glass pour for that corner bistro you really enjoy, we want Estates Cuvée to be a food-pairing superstar while offering plenty of layering and depth. To that end, we made Malbec the headliner for the 2020 iteration, as its plush, easy-to-pair sensibilities shine in this application.
2023 Red Mountain Grenache - PDF (Premier Reds Only - 55 case production)
Not submitted for review - production too small.
We’ve had a standing 1-ton-per-vintage order for Grenache from our neighbors at Red Heaven vineyard for over a decade. They do a fantastic job with this finicky cultivar, something that we enjoy drinking but do not have planted ourselves.
While 2,000 pounds of grapes seems an insurmountably high amount to handle from an end-consumer perspective, it’s a relative drop in the bucket, even for smaller wineries like Kiona. Traditionally we’ve used the grape as a foundational component in our Cyclops blends, the sixth version of which we included in our last club release in Fall of 2024.
For the 2023 vintage, we made the decision to bottle the component separately as a single variety, single vineyard release totaling about 55 cases - very limited. We fermented this wine in a single 500 liter oak puncheon - visualize an oversized oblong barrel and you’re in the right ballpark.
Obviously we thought the component was extraordinary on its own - it seemed a shame to blend it away into a larger cuvée. 55 cases isn’t nearly enough to make available to a larger audience, so we’re committing the vast majority of the bottling to our Premier Reds Members. Thank you, and enjoy!
