A once reluctant winemaker, Len Parris’ serendipitous journey has given rise to an Italian style villa, winery and estate vineyard in Eastern Washington
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The story of Chandler Reach Vineyard involves an old brick wall in Italy, the backside of a paper placemat on a United Airlines flight, a group of relentless friends, and an unexpected “Yes.” All with the mantra, I’m not starting a winery.
Perched right off I-82 between Richland and Prosser, the vineyard stretches down to the Yakima River, with a Tuscan style villa at the top that rises up like an Italian countryside oasis in the desert.
But the property was once filled with “tumbleweeds the size of Volkswagens,” says owner and winemaker Len Parris. “If it were a cash crop, I’d have already retired.”
According to Parris, a once reluctant wine guy, there’s been an aspect of dumb luck, or sheer serendipity that has happened at every juncture of his success story.
The Unexpected ‘Yes’
Parris was looking to invest in some property, and his father had left him a hobby farm adjacent to what is now Chandler Reach Vineyard. He thought about the land next to his father’s, which wasn’t for sale at the time, and thought, instead of the 21½ acres, it would be better to have 42 to do something with. He called the family who owned it, and the answer was unexpectedly, “Yes.”
The Brick Wall in Italy
In the spring of 1997, Parris and his wife joined three other couples—longtime friends—on a trip to Italy. Instead of a quick trip to heavy tourist destinations, they stayed close to three weeks in one of the restored properties in Montestigliano, just south of Sienna.
“Every afternoon, my friend Richard Corella and I would take a bottle of jug wine made right there in the village and sit on an old stone wall,” Parris recalls, almost misty eyed. “I told him I could do this—the lifestyle that is.”
Parris told him about the bucolic property he had in Eastern Washington, and Richard told Len a story of his uncle making wine.
“So I started thinking I could build like a clubhouse, a place to hang out, maybe plant about three acres of grapes…that was about it.”
But that night at dinner, his friend’s wife whispered in his ear, “I’m so excited. You’re going to build a winery?”
Another friend chimed in, “So you’re really thinking about building a winery?”
“I’m Not Building A Winery”
“If you’re going to build a winery, we have to go to Napa,” Richard told Len after returning from Italy. To which Len responded, “We don’t have to go to Napa because I’m not building a winery.”
Richard bought him a ticket and they went to Napa.
“Again, vacation talk,” he recalls of his time there, “but I was mildly interested,” Parris says with a grin.
Parris put his business savvy to work, and figured his exit strategy was to put together a first-class vineyard to please a first-class customer (he still had no intention of making his own wine). The problem was, he had no idea what he was doing.
To his good fortune, Bill Den Hoed, one of the major growers in the state and former Grape Grower of the Year, stopped by on Parris’ first day of working the vineyard and asked if he could use a hand.
“He asked, ‘What are you doing?’” Len said, chuckling. I told him, “Well, I think I’m putting in a vineyard.”
Parris found himself driving a tractor, mowing…whatever he needed to do. After the vineyard got cleaned up, Den Hoed lent Parris one of his lead men, and things were under way.
“Bill asked me one day, ‘what are you going to do about trellising and everything? You got all that planned?’ and I said, ‘Uh…like what do you mean?’ So he said call this guy, and call that guy.”
After Den Hoed and his crew were finished developing vineyards for the legendary Allen Shoup, he offered to bring some of his top guys over to Parris’ vineyard to help.
Parris jumped on the opportunity, and in the spring of 1999 the vineyard was planted with starts off of Jim Holmes’ illustrious Ciel du Cheval vineyard.
“In between working, I would run around and ask questions until I wore people out. I was a giant sieve.” He lurked in the hallways at the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers’ conventions to overhear conversations with grape grower superstars, and relied on generous minds in the industry including Pete and Tom Hedges, Jim Holmes, Brian Carter, and Charlie Hoppes. He would later use this approach for his winemaking.
“Before I knew it, I had little grape vines coming up. I was ecstatic. I thought I’d won the lottery.” Little did he know that even in their first year, the grapes were good.
The Paper Placemat
“I realized in a hurry that I wasn’t going to be too profitable with just 42 acres of wine grapes. I needed a bit more if I wanted to just be a grower,” Parris said.
Somewhere in all of this, Parris went back to Italy and checked out some of the wineries making wine on their own estate. As a builder, Parris couldn’t resist putting his “vacation talk” down on paper this time.
“If you make it, I’ll sell it,” Richard told Len. (He would eventually become the sales and marketing manager for the winery).
“On that trip, I sketched out a building on the back of a United Airlines placemat.”
Parris was drawn to the purposeful design of the Italian villas—the clean lines, but with grandeur.
The Villa
Visitors to Chandler Reach Winery are greeted by the winery’s iconic red 1936 Chevy flatbed truck. “It’s our vineyard dog, “ Parris says with a sly smile. The truck is also the muse for their popular 36 Red wine.
The villa has everything you’d expect to live vicariously through Parris’ visits to Italy. Guests enter into a charming courtyard with water cascading from a Florentine fountain.
On the back patio of the villa, overlooking the countryside, visitors feel like they are a world away from the nearby interstate. It’s no surprise that the villa and vineyard is used for weddings, and corporate and private events, coordinated by general manager Shelbey Sawyer, who is as knowledgeable as she is personable.
Equally customer service friendly is Len’s wife and winery co-owner, Jane. Parris describes her as “a worker bee to a fault” and gives her full credit for the aesthetics of the winery. Her keen eye for décor is seen in everything; the warm patina on the walls, floral arrangements, artwork, and enticing displays.
In addition to special events throughout the year, Chandler Reach hosts an Italian night dinner once a month in homage to the dinners Parris’ group attended in Montestigliano.
Winemaking Philosophy
Chandler Reach Vineyards has become known for great extraction—Parris is committed to low yields—and tremendous color and aromatics. Wines produced from their Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Sangiovese, and Syrah continue to garner awards and high praise.
In addition to its extensive line-up of reds, this summer the winery will bring back its wildly popular Monte Dolce, a Sangiovese Rosé.
Though Parris is the ultimate storyteller, his winemaking philosophy is simple.
“I once heard that if you have your own vineyard and are able to pick at the right time, then you won’t have to mess with the dials as much. The less you can mess with the dials, the better wine you’re going to end up with.”
Written by Kirsten Telander
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Chandler Reach Winery
9506 West Chandler Rd.
Benton City, WA 99320
509-588-8800
www.chandlerreach.com
Open Thursday-Sunday, 11am-5pm
Getting Here
Take Exit 93 on Interstate 82 between Prosser and the Tri-Cities. If eastbound, turn left and travel over the freeway (turn right if traveling west). Turn right onto Chandler Road for about 3/4 mile.