The stars appear aligned for this enterprising husband and wife winery team whose wines project a worldliness that speaks to their years of experience getting to this moment.
Peter Devison and Kelsey Malm Devison have spent most of their adult careers in the wine industry. Peter was the winemaker for EFESTE and Cadaretta for 15 years before starting his own consulting practice focused on native fermentation. Kelsey, after her college years at Seattle University, pursued wine studies at Northwest Wine Academy. She quickly moved into a career of wine sales and marketing, honing her palate as she traveled around the world for major distributors as a wine importer in various regional and national sales management roles.
“Devison Vintners brings to life our combined vision and opens up a creative outlet to make the wines we love,” says Kelsey.
Peter says their mission is to produce “small-lot native wines with complexity, depth and character that showcase the typicity of Washington’s best vineyards.” He sources only the finest fruit, relying on strong grower ties forged from years as a top winemaker.
These are not your typical startup wines; more like veteran inaugural releases. The end results flow onto the palate with more artistry than science, although winemaking certainly requires a skill of both. If Devison’s wines were literature, they might be romance novels, whisking breathless readers away on soulful adventures of the heart.
Visit & Taste: No tasting fee; 4122 Power Line Rd, Walla Walla; open by appointment only by contacting info@devisonvinters.com or visit the website at www.devisonvintners.com.
Below are three releases we recently reviewed:
Devison Vintners 2018 Southwind Vineyard Malbec
94 Pts.
Loaded with blue plum, black fruit and exotic violet, the structure is at-once striking with the admirable effect of near weightlessness on the front palate. Grippy tannins surface midrange combined with dazzling crushed rock, bittersweet chocolate and peppercorn that zero in on the finish, gaining brilliant momentum. $49
Devison Vintners 2019 Boushey Vineyard Rosé
92 Pts.
Provencal in style, with a gorgeous spine of citrusy acidity racing through textural layers of white peach, tart raspberry and wild strawberry permeated with dried herbs and saline minerality that drive the finish. This is sunlight in a bottle. $24
Devison Vintners 2018 Beneath the Stones Syrah
93 Pts.
A lovely version from The Rocks District AVA, solidly structured and gracefully proportioned with equal parts fruit, earthy character and stony minerality. Terroir driven, with a savory range of Serrano ham, Maduro cigar wrapper and roasted espresso infused with raspberry, orange citrus and red stone fruit. The long finish is embedded with saline and granite notes. $49