The history of Tirriddis, a relatively young player in the Washington wine industry, is as fascinating as its expanding product line.
It just established a tasting room in the Yakima Valley town of Prosser, Washington, roughly three hours’ drive from Portland, Oregon, and Seattle. The tasting room is open every day except Tuesday. Walk-ins are welcome, but reservations are advised.
It is a sparkling wine maker with a distinctive history that uses the conventional process. Three graduates of Washington State University’s viticulture & enology school, Andrew Gerow, Gabriel Crowell, and Matthew Doutney, established the winery in 2021 while looking for alternatives following the epidemic.
The three processes required to naturally make sparkling wines—tire, riddle, and disgorge—are the origin of the name Tirriddis. From its emphasis on sparkling wine made using traditional methods, the trio has expanded its repertoire to include innovative and unconventional varieties.
Sean Sullivan, one of the West Coast journalists I follow, recently shared information about the producer’s inaugural Grand Rendition (high-end) wines. The Northwest Wine Report, a monthly subscription-based report on wines and wineries from that region of the nation, is written by Sullivan. He claimed that the best Tirriddis wine he had ever tasted was Grand Rendition 01, which was made with 96% Chardonnay and 4% Pinot Gris and aged for 28 months.
You may buy Tirriddis wines online and have them transported to any location in the United States. Three tiers of wine clubs are available: Every shipment is made every three months.
PennLive received these answers after posing a number of questions to two of the owners/founders.
Q, Why just sparkle? Why did you make that choice?
Andrew Gerow, A: We made the decision with ease, driven more by excitement, passion, and resolve than by any economic or financial ramifications. We have always had a strong bond because to our love of sparkling wine; whether it was for formal occasions like finishing finals or more relaxed occasions like taking time off, we would nearly always celebrate with fried chicken and champagne. We also had a strong [want] to comprehend and push ourselves against the intricacies and difficulty of the conventional approach. In the end, most wine industry professionals never even have the opportunity to try defining a wine style, so the possibility to define sparkling wine in Washington is truly amazing. We decided to dedicate Tirriddis to it in order to prevent any distractions because we both understood the challenges and possibilities of the ancient approach shining in a new world location.
Grand Rendition 01 from the manufacturer in Washington State Tirriddis is made up of 4% Pinot Gris and 96% Chardonnay.A Facebook post by Sean Sullivan
A, Gabriel Crowell: It’s difficult to respond to because it combines personal and professional objectives. But my decision-making process was always centered around wine. I’ll begin with Why Washington. I began my career in wine with Bottled & Bottles LTD, a prestigious wine importer located in Limassol, Cyprus.Like everyone starting their first job, I was hungry, unsophisticated, and full of ambition. At the time, I was only 15 years old, and I was eager to learn about all things related to wine. I talked to wine traders, salespeople, hospitality workers, and most importantly, collectors.
In Europe at that period, WSET was king. I went to the school in London and followed it as far as I could. I used this chance as a kind of pilgrimage to the city, which revealed a lot about the product I had developed a deep affection for. I was curious about what might happen next when I returned to Cyprus. What do we need to learn? I was drawn to a variety of fields, including sales, logistics, organization, winemaking, vine cultivation, and more. However, the comparison that kept coming to me in the year before I started studying winemaking at Washington State University remained constant. Similar to the biological sciences, mathematics is always the foundation for understanding the field. When I became a supplier, winemaker, and grower, I noticed the same thread of truth.
Why Washington turns into a straightforward calculation. Where can one get a good education, have access to a place and industry that are ready to expand, and have a place to belong to the various European wines that I already know?
Why are things instantly more practical now and why are they sparkling? I saw sparkling as a focus or form, not as a passion, but as a command. How can I push myself to become more knowledgeable about wine? I was in my final year of winemaking school at the time, and the chemistry was permanently etched in my mind. The difficulty of managing yeast, one of the most ethereal components in winemaking, embodied sparkling. I’ll also be discreet and say that my new buddies at the time had a big influence on me because of their love of Champagne pageantry.
I had the opportunity to experiment, use new equipment, and create something difficult and technically complex. We had a good time.
An evening view of Prosser, Washington’s Tirriddis.Tirriddis
The reason for this is a profound insight that I also brought from Europe. But the ideal—pragmatism—is genuinely American. When else would you start? That’s why we wanted to start now. To build and shape a world where we can expect people to know Washington wine let alone wine in general, we need to start speaking about it now. I was always in a rush to get back to my roots in proving the best wines are not only sold but consumed, which happens now.
Q, Which unconventional styles do you highlight on your website? That question most likely connects to the following one.
Andrew Gerow, A: Our ambition is not only to produce Champagne styles in Washington but to produce an original and authentic style of sparkling for Washington state to stand next to Champagne … not stand behind it as a New World rendition of it. Not only are many of the grape varietals that we use non-traditional, but our tirage and post-disgorgement bottle aging programs are nontraditional as well. We utilize a little bit of Chardonnay, but it grows well in our area. A big portion of our program is Pinot Gris, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, and Riesling. Then after tirage bottling, most of our wines spend between 12-18 months on lees.
Speaking in absolutes with wine is always difficult, but the varietal composition of our wines is definitely unique. The expression of our wines is typically brighter, more textural, and focused on a riper fruit/mineral-driven profile rather than an autolytic profile.
A, Gabriel Crowell:We love to speak about our non-traditional styles such as the following:
The three founders of Tirriddis in Washington state: from left, Andrew Gerow, Gabriel Crowell and Matthew Doutney.Tirriddis
Q, What sets your sparklings apart?A, Gabriel Crowell:Ha! This is challenging to answer unbiasedly. When it comes to what sets Tirriddis apart from others there are many facets to choose from. We are a young and hungry company, open to new ideas, and focus on being creative but thoughtful. The wines in themselves are well made but more on top of that they take risks and challenge what to be expected. We really are taking the advice from the best in sparkling. We work all the way from finding the best fruit to tasting endless amounts of dosage trials. All of this supports really great wines for people to drink but most of all [or at least to me] what sets us apart is that we are planning to make our wines for lifetimes to come. We want the program to push beyond our creativity and set a stage for something special to happen here in Washington.
Q, Was there a story written on how you three got together to start this to give me some background, or can you provide that? And what has it been like launching this idea and working together?Andrew Gerow, A: After hailing from Michigan, New York, and the island of Cyprus, the three of us met at Washington State University Tri-Cities for their Viticulture & Enology program. None of us came from families involved in the wine industry nor had any real connection to it before moving out for school. Throughout our education, we would study and spend time together. Then about a year before graduating the COVID pandemic came around, throwing a wrench in our career plans. In searching for silver linings during the pandemic, we decided it could be the perfect opportunity to start our own wine label test our education, ambition, and passion while learning and making connections through trial by fire. After committing, we ultimately decided to devote ourselves to traditional method sparkling in Washington state to really test and express ourselves in the most authentic way possible.
It has been a precious journey, starting Tirriddis and working together. It really is a special opportunity being able to work with your best friends, share your sparkling wines with so many, and be able to test ourselves not just with the winemaking, but developing a legacy business, and curating and defining what Washington sparkling is.
A, Gabriel Crowell:answer included in response to the first question
The Tirriddis label, short for tirage, riddle, and disgorge the three steps to naturally produce sparkling wines.Tirriddis
Q, Anything I can include beyond what s on the home page? Are there any states that consumers couldn t get these?
A, Andrew Gerow: As our ambition is to define Washington sparkling, it is important to us that we work to make our sparkling wines accessible outside of Washington state as a sort of vacation in a bottle for people to experience what makes Washington sparkling so special. In addition to great wine club discounts and perks, something we are extremely proud to offer is free shipping on all orders to our wine club members. We always encourage people to reach out if they have any questions.
A, Gabriel Crowell:We ship everywhere! But not only that, we now have free shipping for all members no matter the order size! Beyond what our club offers in terms of price we have some really special club-only wines which make it all worth it. For example, we release both a single vineyard Pinot Blanc as well as a honey-fermented sparkling to our club with great success.
Wine Classroom
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