Betz Family Winery*

Family and wine

Last month we started a three-part series about the Betz Family Winery. This month we focus on those who are part of the Betz Family and how the wine is made.

Because of his years at Ste. Michelle, Bob Betz was uniquely qualified to start his own winery. "As a small winery, we have to work with our growers, make the wine and manage the company," he says. Cathy Betz, Bob's wife and partner, has the knowledge and skill to manage the financial and business end of things. Daughter Carmen has also come on board as director of sales after stints with Robert Mondavi in California and Columbia Distributing in Seattle. "They are both so amazing. We were in a meeting with our auditor the other day and I couldn't believe the things Cathy spoke knowledgably about. She handles all the reporting that has to be done by state and country. After 38 years of marriage, she still amazes me. And Carmen absolutely ‘gets' what Betz Family Winery is about. We know the world doesn't need Betz Family Winery, so we have to provide a level of service to customers and vendors they don't see elsewhere."

In addition to family, they have a loyal and well-trained group of volunteers they rely on completely. "I can give instructions and walk away," says Bob. "Our assistant winemaker Kathryn (Kat) House is family, too. And we took on a new intern this year, Chris Dickson, who has worked vineyards around the world."

They make only red wines, Rhone and Bordeaux. For years, the Rhones included two Syrahs: La Serenne, a 100% Boushey Vineyard grape that's like "a silk hammer," and La Côte Rousse, a powerful Syrah from Red Mountain. The third Rhone is a Grenache-dominant wine called Bésoleil with Mourvedre and Syrah blended in. In 2007, they added another Syrah from Red Mountain. La Côte Patriarche is made from grapes from the oldest planted Syrah in the state. "That vineyard is responsible for so many of the cuttings in this state; that's why we named it the patriarch," says Bob. "David Lake of Columbia encouraged Mike Sauer, the owner/grower of Red Willow Vineyard, to plant it years ago. That slope is made of pre-flood sandstone soils*. Our wine is concentrated, dense, silky and mineral and is a wonderful wine."

Bordeaux wines include their Père de Famille, 82-85% Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot and Petit Verdot and Clos de Betz, 60% Merlot blended with Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Cabernet Franc. Local wine writer Paul Gregutt has chosen the 2005 Père de Famille as his #1 pick in his Top 100 Washington state wines for 2008.

All grapes come from the Columbia Valley, which includes Red Mountain (about 55% of their grapes, from four different vineyards), 25% from Horse Heaven Hills (a single vineyard) and 20% from Yakima Valley (two different vineyards). He has four criteria he uses to buy grapes and doesn't waver from any of the four. 1) Grapes must come from a great site. 2) The grower must be smart. 3) The grower must have a high work ethic. 4) The grower must allow Betz to carve out a geographic area within their farm and work with them in farming the grapes. "This is my last job," says Bob. "I want to do it right. In many cases, we've had the same rows for the past ten years."

By farming every grape with the farmer and staying within the same blocks and rows, Bob has great control over the grapes he uses. The downside of this is that when there's a short year, he is short grapes and, therefore, wine. He won't buy other grapes. "We picked light in 2008," says Bob. "It was cool and wet in spring and pollination didn't occur as well. We'll have less wine this vintage."

French barrels, 225 litre classic Bordeaux style, were the barrels of choice for years. However, the last few vintages have moved toward some Burgundy barrels which are the same volume, but a different shape. "The surface-to-volume ratio is different and it changes things in a way I like," explains Bob. "We're also now using some 300 litre Rhone barrels. With the rate of evaporation and intensity of the wood, the wines are richer and have more fruit intensity." Betz ensures that fruit focus happens starting in the vineyard with the way clusters are dropped and sorted by hand. They also ferment in small containers (1-1/2 tons). "Small batches don't build up as much heat," he explains. "The coolness helps the fruitiness. We primarily punch down to mix caps and juice, but we also want some oxygen so will also pump over during fermentation. This gentler approach helps focus on skin tannins. We also leave the wine in wood for a shorter period of time. Last week we took our 2007 Syrah out of the barrel after 12 months. We used to do more, but I felt the wines had too much of a wood impression."

"Every single barrel has our tasting notes and tracking number for the contents and the barrel. Barrels get certain varietals and when those are removed, the barrels are used again. Each change is tracked. Fermentation and then tasting notes are added. I do a three-point quality assessment that means something to me," explains Bob. "I can then blend barrel by barrel. I also do a quality ranking. I know which barrels have the top wine, great wine, good wine. Generally about 2-10 barrels are sold off to other parties."

"Bottling is when I have most of my angst," smiles Bob. "After you bottle, you can't go back. We do many trials before bottling, including blind tasting. Infrequently, we do egg white fining which pulls out hard tannins and particulate matter." Betz is so focused on providing a quality wine, he always does a DNA analysis. "It's expensive, but I need to know there are no yeasts or bacteria that can ruin the wine."

* There are many websites you can visit to learn about the Missoula floods. This site gives some background information: http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM15RX

Betz Family Winery http://www.betzfamilywinery.com/ To get on the mailing list, click on: http://www.betzfamilywinery.com/thewinery/mailinglist.php

---

* Bob and Cathy Betz sold the winery and equipment to Steve and Bridgit Griessel in April 2011, with Bob staying on as winemaker for at least five years.

Click here to read Part 1

Click here to read Part 3

Connie Adams/January 2009