The Milbrandt winery started out as just a grape growing business in 1997. They did not launch their own Winery until 2005. The family moved from the Midwest in the late 1940’s and began to farm land in the Columbia River Valley in the mid 50’s. Until 2005 the Milbrandt family just grew and sold their grapes to some of the more prestigious wineries in the area. They then decided to get into the winemaking business because of the fact that they already owned some of the better vineyard sites in eastern Washington. Their vineyards are in the Columbia Valley AVA which is essentially high desert (Think Western Slope Colorado). The family now has 12 distinct vineyard sites totaling about 2300 acres of grapes. The majority of the vineyards are in an area known as the Wahluke slope AVA. This specific AVA within the Colombia Valley AVA ranges from about 500 ft above sea level to 1500 ft above sea level. It is irrigated; this area of Washington does not see a whole lot of rain and has very warm days and cool nights (similar to the Medoza region in Argentina). The soil type here is made up of gravelly, rocky soil with layers of sand and silt. The Columbia River Valley was carved out during the later stages of the last Ice Age and left this ideal soil composition. We will be featuring the Milbrandt traditions series wines for our Wine of the Month in September. The wines included in the sale will be the Traditions series Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Brothers Blend (Red Blend), Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris. These are excellent value driven wines. This family run winery is one of Washington’s most acclaimed and awarded Wineries. Please stop by and check out some of the Milbrandt wines during our September promotion. Nick, Wine Buyer