Friday, September 9, 2022
CapitalPress.com
Alexandria Nicole Cellars:
A passion for wine shows
By HEATHER SMITH THOMAS
For the Capital Press
PATERSON, Wash. — Ali and Jarrod
Boyle started their vineyard in 1998 in the
Horse Heaven Hills of Washington, near
Paterson.
Jarrod grew up in nearby Prosser, Wash.,
and worked for Hogue Cellars. He learned
about vineyard management as assistant viti-
culturalist under the tutelage of Wade Wolfe.
Growing wine grapes and winemaking became
Jarrod’s passion.
Jarrod was in charge of inspecting grapes
and making grower recommendations. While
doing a routine inspection of a vineyard in
Horse Heaven Hills, he noticed a piece of bar-
ren land, sloping gently to the south, overlook-
ing the Columbia River. He thought it would
be the perfect place to plant a vineyard.
At that time he and Ali were already mak-
ing wine in their laundry room. In 2003, after
their vines were producing, they made wine for
friends and family, starting with 200 cases. Jar-
rod named their operation after Ali — Alex-
andria Nicole Cellars — and their plan was
to produce small case lots for other wineries.
When their vines came into full production,
the fruit was of such amazing quality that they
decided to produce their own wines, he said.
Their fi rst facility was constructed in 2004,
designed for production of small-lot hand-
crafted wines.
“Then we decided to build a winery and
make what we thought would be about 5,000
cases of wine,” Ali said. “Fast forward to today.
We now have three buildings and make about
30,000 cases annually, using our own fruit. We
also do custom winemaking and sell a lot of
Ali and Jarrod Boyle
bulk wine,” she said.
“We opened our fi rst tasting room in down-
town Prosser in 2004, and in 2006 we moved
to one of the wine areas in Prosser — the Port
of Benton. In 2007 we opened our fi rst tasting
room in Woodinville at the Warehouse District
and later expanded to another location there,”
she said.
In 2009 they added another tasting room
in the Hollywood Schoolhouse District. “We
were also having tasting events at the vineyard
so we started another expansion and opened it
in 2016. We also built some tiny houses, so peo-
ple could stay overnight on the property. Our
fourth location is a little wine bar at the Seattle
Convention Center.”
Last year, they opened another tasting room
at Woodinville, in Wooden Creek Village. They
also have a thriving wine club.
People love to come and stay at the vineyard.
“We are remote — about 40 miles from
Prosser and 40 miles from the Tri-Cities, and
from Yakima,” she said.
Some people come for a day, but with
the tiny houses many visitors enjoy staying
overnight.
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