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Feature Article
Bernard Griffin's winemaking proprietor is expanding his horizons with his new business, Vinagium.
Washington (State Appellation)
Washington State Grapes
+ Winemaker Rob Griffin
= A Brilliant, Expanding Future
With some 30 years of winemaking in Washington, Rob Griffin reflects on how the State’s wine industry has grown and prospered by respecting and nurturing its terroir.
by
Anne Sampson
October 12, 2007
In 2004, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources made winemaking history when it released some 600 acres of virgin land on Red Mountain, the smallest AVA in the state and one of the most highly praised for its gentle elevations, gravelly soils and warm, arid climate. The mountain’s yield is among the best in the state, grown in vineyards like Klipsun and Ciel du Cheval. 
Proprietor-winemaker Rob Griffin in his Barnard Griffin Winery tasting room.The new lands nearly doubled the production coming off Red Mountain. Two of the four available plots were leased to a partnership called Vinagium LLC, which includes Rob Griffin, owner of the largest family-owned winery in Washington, and one of the state’s most respected winemakers.
Griffin has been a fixture in Washington for 30 years. In 1977, after graduating from UC Davis, he moved north from California to become winemaker at Preston Vineyards. From there he moved to Hogue Cellars, helping build that venerable group up to more than 100,000 cases annual production. In 1983, Griffin launched his own label, Barnard Griffin Winery, and has focused his energies there since 1996, when he opened his Richland tasting room.
During his three decades immersed in Washington’s wine industry, Griffin has developed a reputation as a highly skilled technician with an artist’s passion for excellent wines. And with some 70,000 cases produced annually at Barnard Griffin, he’s also become one of the most respected businessmen in the industry. But he has maintained a careful distance from vineyards, preferring instead to utilize the best grapes from across the region, wherever he might find them.
Until now. With Vinagium (the name means ‘rent paid in lieu of cash,’), Griffin adds viticulture to his list of ventures. Griffin will bottle the first vintage from the group’s 120 acres in 2008.
Here, Griffin reflects on his thirty years making wines in Washington State, and what the future might hold for up-and-coming ventures like Vinagium.
Proprietor-winemaker Rob Griffin in his Barnard Griffin Winery tasting room.
Griffin has been a fixture in Washington for 30 years. In 1977, after graduating from UC Davis, he moved north from California to become winemaker at Preston Vineyards. From there he moved to Hogue Cellars, helping build that venerable group up to more than 100,000 cases annual production. In 1983, Griffin launched his own label, Barnard Griffin Winery, and has focused his energies there since 1996, when he opened his Richland tasting room.
During his three decades immersed in Washington’s wine industry, Griffin has developed a reputation as a highly skilled technician with an artist’s passion for excellent wines. And with some 70,000 cases produced annually at Barnard Griffin, he’s also become one of the most respected businessmen in the industry. But he has maintained a careful distance from vineyards, preferring instead to utilize the best grapes from across the region, wherever he might find them.
Until now. With Vinagium (the name means ‘rent paid in lieu of cash,’), Griffin adds viticulture to his list of ventures. Griffin will bottle the first vintage from the group’s 120 acres in 2008.
Here, Griffin reflects on his thirty years making wines in Washington State, and what the future might hold for up-and-coming ventures like Vinagium.
Anne Sampson (AS): You’ve grown up along with the Washington wine industry. How would you characterize its development?
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