Kontos Cellars Pt 2
With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. After a conversation with his father, Cameron Kontos realized that winemaking was his passion. But before jumping into the business on his own, Cameron went to work for some of Walla Walla's finest, an internship at Dunham Cellars and as assistant winemaker at Forgeron Cellars, to polish his craft.But, after a few years, he felt the calling ...
KONTOS ... "In 2008 is when we opened up our own winery, my brother and I. We had been sitting around the hot tub deciding if we wanted to start a winery or not, and since every good decision happens in the hot tub, we decided to go head and start it. And, that's how the dragonfly came about too. He looked up online that night and found out that the Washington state insect is the dragonfly. So, he put the label together, just for fun, to see how it looks. And, the next day I had one fly into Forgeron and he had one flying around his combine and then, they just kept on showing up everywhere, so it's like, we gotta go with that."
So, Kontos says 2006-2007 were the first vintages ...
KONTOS ... "I had been chatting with Marie (Marie-Eve Gilla) for awhile and had some barrels set aside and she just basically said, as long as they're not in my way it doesn't matter. And, well, I was the only production person so they weren't in my way ..."
And, after 11-plus-years in the wine business ...
KONTOS ... "I feel like I've a good job representing Walla Walla with the winemaking style. All the reds are 100% Walla Walla and they're all 100% varietals. And, then I have a handful of blends too, so the varietals are all 100% Walla Walla and 100% varietal. I mean, I'm proud of the product I'm putting out there."
Kontos wine is a partnership between Cameron, his brother Chris, and sister-in-law Kelli. If you'd like to taste some of their delicious Kontos wine, their tasting room can be found at 10 North Second in downtown Walla Walla.