Robert Gomez, Hoquetus Wine Co. by Richard Duval

“I think there are a lot of parallels between wine and music,” says Robert Gomez, musician, bartender, sommelier, and founder/winemaker at Hoquetus Wine Co. in Walla Walla, Washington. “As a jazz musician, you learn to react spontaneously. With wine, I listen to the wine, and then I react to that.”

At Hoquetus (quetus rhymes with “lettuce”), Gomez focuses on Walla Walla Valley wines made in a fresh, engaging style. Hoquetus is one of the more striking entrants onto the Washington wine stage in recent years, with a voice all its own.

“Washington. I wonder what’s going on there?”

Gomez was born in Brownsville, Texas, and raised in Corpus Christi. He studied at the University of North Texas, where he received a bachelor’s degree in jazz studies. His instrument of choice is the guitar.

Gomez went on tour in the U.S. and Europe, playing indie music (rock, psychedelic, acoustic). He toured with the likes of Sarah Jaffe, John Grant, Norah Jones, and – believe it or not – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Like many artists, Gomez worked at restaurants to help make ends meet and to provide flexibility.

“As I used to tell people when I was waiting tables, ‘I studied music, which is why I’ll be your server tonight,’” he says.

Gomez was bartending in Texas and making craft cocktails when he first became interested in wine. He subsequently started working at a local wine bar. It was there that he first came across Washington wine.

“They stood out to me,” Gomez says. “There was great flavor and great freshness. It seeded that thought in my mind of like, ‘Washington. I wonder what’s going on there?’”

Tasting “profound” wines from Walla Walla Valley

Gomez subsequently moved to Seattle. Initially, he continued focusing on hospitality. However, he was increasingly serious about wine.

Gomez started pursuing his sommelier studies through the Court of Master Sommeliers. (He currently holds an advanced sommelier certification.) In Seattle, Gomez worked at Lark and Montana Bar. Eventually, he became general manager and bar director at Dino’s Tomato Pie. Then, in 2017, he pulled up stakes and moved to Walla Walla.

“I had some profound wines from Walla Walla in blind tastings,” Gomez says. “I felt I had to go see what was going on there.”

Once in town, Gomez became bar manager at the Whitehouse-Crawford, a restaurant that later closed during the pandemic. He began studying at Walla Walla Community College’s Institute for Enology and Viticulture. (Full disclosure: I have been an adjunct instructor at Walla Walla Community College since 2021.)

While at the college, Gomez worked harvests at Grosgrain and Gramercy. In 2019, Gomez started making wine under his own label.

“I can’t make wines that I don’t like.”

The Hoquetus wines are restrained and focused. Gomez has a light touch in the winery, letting the varieties and locations he works with shine through.

“I’m trying to make wines of place and wines with freshness that go with food,” Gomez says. “Ultimately, I go with making wines that suit my palate because I can’t make wines that I don’t like.”

In the winery, Gomez takes a minimalist approach. The winery’s tagline is ‘Hi-fi wines made in low-fi ways.’ He foot stomps the grapes. Wines are generally fermented by native yeast. For fermentation and storage, Gomez uses only small vessels, including a good deal of neutral oak, no new.

“I don’t own a tank,” Gomez says. “All my wine is made in a barrel or amphora or smaller vessels.”

Though Gomez favors a restrained style, Washington is a warm climate region. It can be common for winemakers to add water to balance the ripeness of the wines. Not Gomez.

“I’ve never done a water back. I don’t know how to do a water back,” Gomez says. “If I’m having to do a water back, I’m just not going to be making that wine.”

Singing back

At Hoquetus, Gomez makes mostly Cabernet Franc, Syrah, and Riesling. He feels these varieties are more conducive to showing where they are grown. Almost all of the fruit comes from Walla Walla Valley.

“I wanted to be close to the vineyards,” Gomez says. “I wanted to know the vineyards.”

For the winery name, Gomez chose a device used in medieval music, also called a hocket. (Hoquetus is the Latin term.) It’s a melody that’s broken into two parts.

Robert Gomez at Tavern Ancestrale by Richard Duval

“I thought that this device really mirrored the relationship I have with wine,” Gomez says. “With a hocket, you sing something, and, the other part, the other person sings back. It’s never two voices singing at the same time, but rather two voices exchanging.”

The Hoquetus label art is just as striking as the wines. They are created by artist and friend Cameron Cox.

“She was my barista, and I was her bartender,” Gomez explains.

Production at Hoquetus remains very small. The winery makes fewer than 1,000 cases annually.

Finding joy in the struggle

Gomez has other endeavors, both at Hoquetus and beyond. He’s making some vermouth, caramelizing the sugar by hand.

In 2025, Gomez launched Tavern Ancestrale, a wine bar, with fellow sommelier and business partner Kaleigh Brook. Tavern Ancestrale offers wine, vermouth, beer, and recently added spirits.

This spring, Hoquetus Wine Co. moved its tasting room from the incubator area, where the winery opened in 2021, to a space above the wine bar.

“It’s a little speakeasy in style,” Gomez says. “You enter through the alley for the tasting room.” Gomez also shares wine director responsibilities with Kayleigh Brook at Passatempo Taverna, a local restaurant.

Overall, Gomez’s varied interests and occupations as a winemaker very much mirror his life as a musician. Life owning a small winery is difficult but rewarding.

“It’s a struggle to be your own winery,” Gomez says. “I do everything here, so it’s kind of like a one man show. Still, it allows me to make the wines that I want to make, and there’s just no substitute for that.”

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