Tirriddis tasting room, Prosser, Washington

Tirriddis, one of Washington’s only sparkling wine-dedicated producers, has opened a new tasting room in Prosser. The tasting room, a short distance from the winery’s previous facility, is located at the former Walter Clore Vineyard Pavilion.

“We’ve been really blessed with the opportunity,” says Gabe Crowell, co-founder and collaborator at Tirriddis. “We could not have imagined a better location for a sparkling house in Prosser or in a 60-mile radius.”

“It’s totally changed the dynamic of who comes to taste”

The Tirriddis tasting room is located on Wine Country Road. It has approximately 2,000 square feet of indoor space and an additional 5,000 square feet of outdoor, patio space.

The Tirriddis tasting room overlooks the Yakima River and faces north toward the Wahluke Slope. It features views of Snipes Mountain, Mount Rainier, and Mount Adams. The tasting room had a soft opening in September and a Grand Opening the weekend of October 19^th.

“It’s totally changed the dynamic of who comes to taste and who’s staying,” Crowell says of the location. “Before, people would love to take bottles and bring them to dinners and such, but now people really want to stay and linger.”

Crowell started Tirriddis in 2020 with two friends and fellow graduates from Washington State University’s (WSU) viticulture and enology program, Andrew Gerow and Matthew Doutney. The winery’s name comes from the steps in the sparkling winemaking process: tirage, riddle, disgorge.

“What better way to learn the world of wine sales than to actively sell it?”

In the early days of the pandemic, the three decided to pool their resources to try as many international and Washington wines as they could. They subsequently opened a wine shop, called Non-Vintage (NV) Wines in Richland, WA.

“What better way to learn the world of wine sales than to actively sell it from the perspective of a retail salesperson?” says Gerow, whose title is co-founder and jack-of-all-trades. The intention all along, however, was to start a winery as well.

“We always joke that it takes two things to start a winery, time and money, but we’re broke and impatient,” Gerow says. “So we have to reverse engineer the winery. Instead of starting with the grapes, we’re starting with the sales aspect and then working our way back from there.”

The trio came from disparate backgrounds. Gerow is from Great Lakes, Michigan. Crowell was born in New London, Connecticut. Doutney is from Bellport, Long Island.

“Everything we’ve done is always the stars aligning,” Gerow says. “We all moved out here. I met Matt a year before, and then we moved into this apartment complex and there was a balcony between Matt and I. It happened to be Gabriel’s.”

“It’s literally a dream situation”

Left to right: Andrew Gerow, Gabriel Crowell, and Matthew Doutney of Tirriddis

The idea to start a winery dedicated to sparkling wines had its genesis in an unlikely way: pairing sparkling wine with friend chicken.

“That was one of our big things that we liked to do to with each other,” Gerow says. “Another factor is, given our technical and scientific education at WSU, we’re drawn to the challenges that sparkling wines present. Not only do you make a wine once, with sparkling, you have to make it twice. First you make it, and then you have to make it sparkle.”

The Tirriddis wines are made in the traditional method, with an initial fermentation and then a subsequent fermentation in bottle. The wines are made at Four Feathers Wine Services, a custom crush and winemaking facility in Prosser.

“It’s literally a dream situation,” Gerow says. “We can really nerd out and focus on production and maintaining this incredibly high level of technicality and scientific advances in sparkling wine without having to drop $50 million.”

To date, Tirriddis has worked with a variety of fruit sources. The sources span 7 appellations and 12 grape varieties. The winery is now honing in on sites in the Rattlesnake Hills.

“It’s just shown year over year that there’s a certain tension between some high elevation sites inside of the Rattlesnake Hills,” Crowell says. “There’s also a certain agricultural heritage there that should be explored.”

“We morally can’t run a business where we out price ourselves”

Tirriddis offers multiple tiers of wines, from entry-level wines to their soon-to-be-released Grand Rendition wines. “Our goal is to make a sparkling wine for everybody,” Gerow says.

The Tirriddis wines are also well-priced for the level of quality. This is particularly the case considering that the wines are made via the traditional method, which adds cost.

“People are shocked when they hear the pricing,” Gerow says. “We morally can’t run a business where we out-price ourselves. So we’re producing great value, honest, sparkling wine.”

Crowell says that there is a greater aim as well. “That’s the only way we’re going to create capacity,” he says. “It has to be accessible and has to be out there for people to try it.”

All the while, the trio continues to sell wines at their NV Wine Shop. While Crowell, Gerow, and Doutney are still early in their wine careers, they are devoted to Tirriddis for the long haul.

“We’re not trying to be a little blip in the timeline of Washington wine,” Gerow says. “We’re really trying to develop this category and create publicity for Washington sparkling wine.”

Images courtesy of Tirriddis.

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