Three Rivers Winery

From our Estate Vineyard at Three Rivers Winery in Walla Walla, Washington.

Artz Vineyard is named for Fred Artz, a legendary grape grower on Red Mountain. Artz helped plant and manage the famed Klipsun Vineyard for more than 20 years before buying adjacent land and planting his own vineyard. The vineyard is planted on the lower bench of Red Mountain, overlooking the Yakima River at an elevation of 652’ facing southwest. The predominant soil types of Red Mountain are Warden, Hezel and Scootenay which are a series of wind-blown loess. This variety of soil presents a combination of sand, silt and loam which are exceptional for growing grapes. Artz Vineyard is now owned by the Red Mountain pioneers, the Williams family.

Malbec and Merlot are just one of those blends that work so well on so many levels. The combination of flavors, textures and aromatics creates a wine that is delicious, age worthy and complex.

These noble varietals marry so well no wonder this combo has been considered to be one of the best in the world.

Dark as night and inky black in the glass, this wine is lush with juicy brambleberry and bright fruit aromas spilling into a cauldron of big, bold fruit. This robust and structured wine with dense, layered tannins is a show stopper that you can cellar for years to come or enjoy now.

The 2020 vintage presented a mild and uneventful winter. Spring was very wet and stormy which lead to increased soil moisture that in turn increased canopy growth. Summer temperatures were hot and dry which lead to consistent ripening. The temperatures started to wane in the beginning of September which allowed us to pick at optimal ripeness.

A unique blend with equal parts of silky wildly expressive Syrah, mouthwatering Merlot and bold Cabernet Sauvignon, all from impressive vineyards throughout Eastern Washington. The 2018 Streamlet is a vibrant wine with rich aromas of fresh picked blackberries and baking spice.

Dense black fruit with layered minerality. Dark cherry and flavors of espresso, cocoa powder and sandalwood give this wine a robust mouthfeel. Truly a terroir-driven wine with refined tannins, this beast is big and brawny, yet beautifully balanced.

In 2006 we created this stunning blend that didn’t stick to just Bordeaux varietals so we needed to come up with a proprietary name for our top tier blend. We were updating our look for this bottle as well so it was perfect timing. We searched high and low and were enamored with the word “Svelte”: urbane, suave, sleek and polished. This word was the perfect fit to describe our elegant beauty. Over a decade later, we still get excited making this age-worthy blend with no constraints. Each year we taste through every barrel in our cellar and rate them by color, aromatics, flavors, balance, intensity, complexity and varietal and site accuracy. The highest rated wines become candidates for our Svelte.