How a Walla Walla company became the #1 red wine stain remover

Walla Walla is increasingly known for its 120 wineries and tasting rooms. What many might not know, however, is that the town is also home to the number one-selling red wine stain remover: Wine Away.

“We make it, we fill it, we label it, and ship it out all right here in Walla Walla,” says CEO and president Staci Wanichek.

Founded in 1997, Wine Away was originally created as a potential all-purpose cleaner and degreaser. Then something strange happened. People started saying that it worked really well on red wine and berry stains.

Wanichek was somewhat skeptical. Red wine stains are notoriously difficult to remove.

However, she tried it and found that the product did a pretty good job. After having the laboratory tweak the formulation, it worked even better. The question was, what should come next?

“At that point, I had no idea what I was going to do with the product,” Wanichek says.

With a background in public relations, Wanichek decided to go big. She reached out to the editor of Food & Wine magazine.

“He kind of laughed, and he said, ‘Nothing works on red wine [stains],’” Wanichek recalls. Still, she sent him a sample with her name and phone number written on it with a sharpie.

“It was very grass roots,” says Wanichek. “But it worked.”

Two weeks later, Wanichek received a call from the magazine saying that, to their astonishment, the product did in fact work. Food & Wine planned to write about the product in its next issue. It was the break of a lifetime!

There was just one problem. As of yet, the product had no name, branding, or logo.

In a month’s time, the company conducted focus groups and developed the name, branding, and logo still used today. In May of 1997, Wine Away was launched.

“I often refer to that Food & Wine write-up as our ‘Snow White’ moment,” Wanichek says. “It was the one that started it all, because at the time there was not a product being specifically marketed to remove red wine stains.”

Wanichek subsequently brought the product from tasting room to tasting room in Napa Valley. (Walla Walla’s wine industry was tiny back then.) She spent two weeks having tasting room workers use it on their worst wine stains. One winery was so impressed that they ordered more bottles than Wanichek had.

After that, the company was off to the races. In subsequent years, Wine Away has been featured on Good Morning America, Rachael Ray, and in numerous magazines and live events. It has also been featured at Disney’s Food and Wine Festivals at both parks.

Wine Away is a woman-owned, family-run, Walla Walla business. Wanichek’s mother was one of the original founders and also worked as director of marketing and international sales for a number of years before retiring. Wanichek’s daughter, Allison, joined the team this year as social media and brand director.

“It’s just been a beautiful journey,” Wanichek says. “I’m known as the Wine Away lady. I love it when people tell me Wine Away stories.”

Personally, I started using Wine Away over 20 years ago, and I have more than a few stories of my own. Such as after I recently moved and a glass of red wine face-planted on our new white couch. Wine Away to the rescue!

The product works. Better still, it’s made from citrus extracts and doesn’t smell caustic or chemical-filled.

For wine lovers, I recommend always having a bottle on hand. Wine Away also comes in travel sizes, fitting neatly in pocket books, jacket pockets, and glove compartments. For you holiday shoppers, bottles also fit perfectly into a Christmas stocking.

Image courtesy of Wine Away. 

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