Kendall Mix, Lawrelin Wine Cellars by Richard Duval

“The evolution of Lawrelin is a little bit different than what we originally planned for,” says Kendall Mix, owner and winemaker of Washington’s Lawrelin Wine Cellars. This is an understatement. In fact, Lawrelin’s story is unlike any other winery.

Mix spent 10 years as assistant winemaker at Chateau Ste. Michelle’s Canoe Ridge winemaking facility and a year as Canoe Ridge Vineyard’s winemaker. Mix then spent over five and a half years, from 2003 to 2010, making wines at Corliss Estate and Tranche Estate, two highly respected Walla Walla brands. This was followed by four years at Goose Ridge Estate Winery.

Mix made his first Lawrelin wines in 2000. However, it wasn’t until 2012, during his time at Goose Ridge, that he released any of them. At that point, some were over a decade old. (Read a 2013 article about Lawrelin.) Unintentionally, this became a big part of Lawrelin’s story.

“We weren’t able to release the wines as quickly as we originally envisioned, but that has turned into a real silver lining,” Mix says. “We’ve got this older inventory that really a lot of other wineries in Washington don’t necessarily have except for pouring a library wine or two. Essentially, our whole portfolio is a library inventory.”

This gives people the opportunity to try wines that have already been aged, in cases for a decade. For those who are only used to drinking young wine, this can be a revelation.

“We see people have the light bulb go on because the wines are quite a bit different than what they’re used to,” Mix says. “There’s a fair amount of sediment in most of these bottles, and so the tannins have softened and the mouthfeel is more of a silky, velvety texture.”

After Goose Ridge, Mix made wines for Middleton Family and its Cadaretta and Buried Cane labels. He then spent eight years as winemaker at Wahluke Wine Company, which included making the Milbrandt Family wines. All the while, Mix kept making small amounts of Lawrelin wines.

“It’s been a passion project on the side for so long,” Mix says.

Lawrelin signed the lease on its first tasting room December, 2019, hoping to open the Walla Walla location in spring, 2020. The timing was, of course, non-ideal. However, there were hidden advantages.

“Even though I’ve been around tasting rooms essentially my whole career in one form or another, I’d never really been involved with the actual day-to-day operation of a tasting room,” Mix says. “COVID gave us time to work out the details of, how are we going to present the wines? How are we going to talk about the wines? How are we going to tell our story?”

That story became increasingly focused on family. Mix was born in Edmonton, Alberta and studied microbiology at the University of Alberta. When he told his parents that he wanted to go to University of California, Davis to study viticulture and enology, they were fully supportive.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it on my own without their assistance,” Mix says.

Lawrelin (pronounced Lohr-RELL-in) is a combination of his parents’ names, Lawrence and Elinor. Mix’s father passed away in 2015. His mother passed away in 2024. Lawrelin has kept their memory alive.

“I get to tell the story of my family every day I’m at the tasting room,” Mix says. “It’s keeps my parents in the present.”

While Lawrelin initially focused on red wines, the winery later added others. Mix makes a Sauvignon Blanc-Sémillon blend called ‘Reimagined’ and a Grenache Blanc-Picpoul blend called ‘Perseverance.’ Lawrelin’s two rosés are named after Mix’s mother and his wife’s mother.

Mix’s job at Wahluke Wine Company ended earlier this year. At present, more than 25 years after starting his micro-winery, he’s focusing most of his efforts on Lawrelin, telling his family’s story.

“This was my dream. I got to live my dream,” Mix says. “I think people really do enjoy hearing about the evolution and what we went through. It resonates with people.”

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