{"id":20,"name":"Tempus Cellars","image_url":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/gps-cs-s/AC9h4nrat7pCxBlNIJwMAws9BGNApjjIWAlBt3FlFzV0KVvEAH17F9TJcCRjh6aU-pmpd2SBXboAgGCZ0V-Dr0K5vxXH6NE7VHndtcYX0lrNFPqTPKOFMiDSjXO4UpwPZXJEl66Jyp53=w408-h544-k-no","district":"Airport","hours":"Must Call 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Fri - Sat","hours_type":"limited","dog_friendly":false,"red_wine":true,"white_wine":true,"bubbles":false,"brewery":false,"woman_owned":true,"year_established":2006,"winemaker":"Joe Forest","website":"http://www.tempuscellars.com/","phone":"+1 509-270-0298","address":"760 C St, Walla Walla, WA 99362, United States","description":"Tempus encourages you to slow down; winemaker Joe Forest uses Old‑World patience—natural acidity, long fermentation and years in French oak—to craft timeless, polished wines","lat":46.0919182,"lng":-118.2715797,"appt_url":"https://tempuscellars.com/#locations","walk_in":false,"tasting_fee":null,"explorer_tags":[],"profile":"# Tempus Cellars — Sommelier Knowledge Profile\n\n## Founding Story\n\nTempus Cellars was founded in 2006 by winemaker Joe Forest, whose path to winemaking began with a singular moment of clarity during Bob Dylan's final European Tour show in 2001. The concert was held in a 2,000-year-old Greek amphitheatre in Taormina, Sicily, and while dining beforehand in the Piazza IX Aprile — with Mount Etna's sulfur in the air and a Mediterranean breeze cutting the summer heat — Forest looked out across a sea of tables, each with a bottle of wine, and knew instantly that winemaking was his calling. The winery's name and identity are rooted in this philosophy of slowing down: *tempus*, evoking time itself, reflects a deliberate rejection of modern shortcuts in favor of Old World patience and tradition. The tortoise featured on Tempus Cellars' labels embodies this ethos — slow and steady, focused on time and tradition rather than trends. Forest launched the first vintage with just 250 cases; production has since grown to approximately 1,500 cases annually, while the commitment to craftsmanship has remained unchanged.\n\n## Winemaker\n\n**Joe Forest** is the founder and sole winemaker at Tempus Cellars. The son of a teacher and home winemaker, he grew up with wine as a natural part of life. He graduated from the University of Washington in 2000 and subsequently worked at Seattle's renowned Wild Ginger Restaurant, which gave him both exposure to fine dining and the freedom to travel through Europe. After his transformative experience following Bob Dylan's 2001 tour, Forest pursued winemaking in earnest. He volunteered at Betz Family Winery in Woodinville before moving to Walla Walla, where he interned at Seven Hills Winery. He then played a significant role at Dunham Cellars, helping grow that operation from 10,000 to 25,000 cases per year, before launching Tempus Cellars in 2006.\n\nForest's winemaking philosophy centers on patience, precision, and restraint. He pays close attention to grape maturity and ripeness to achieve strong varietal character while maintaining natural acidity and lower alcohol levels. He favors early harvesting rather than the trend of picking late, and he relies on long, healthy fermentations to build expressive character. His signature technique is extended aging: red wines spend 22 months in 100% French oak, followed by an additional year in bottle before release. The result, he aims for, is a wine that is polished and ready to drink upon release, yet capable of continued cellar evolution. Forest explicitly avoids trendy techniques, experimental blends, and modern gimmicks such as concrete eggs, preferring simple, time-honored Old World methods.\n\n## Vineyard Sources\n\nTempus Cellars sources fruit from four distinct contracted vineyard partners across multiple Washington AVAs:\n\n**Sagemoor Vineyards** — A historic Washington grape-growing operation that has supplied premium fruit to independent wineries since the 1970s and 80s. Tempus sources Bordeaux varietals from four distinct sites within the Sagemoor family, all situated along the Columbia River. The **\"Old Vine\" Bacchus Vineyard**, planted in 1972, was the primary source for Tempus's inaugural 2006 Bordeaux-style blend and has grown in importance each vintage since. Its Cabernet Sauvignon yields beautifully ripe red and black plum fruit with a slight spicy character, and its Merlot contributes generous black cherry flavors with bright mineral tones. **Dionysus Vineyard** Cabernet Sauvignon delivers bold blackberry and cassis flavors with intense structure. **Weinbau Vineyard** Cabernet Franc introduces rich aromatics and silky texture to Bordeaux-style blends.\n\n**Art den Hoed Vineyards** — Located in the Yakima Valley, this site provides Grenache grown at an elevated position above the valley floor. The higher elevation produces cooler temperatures that retain bright acidity and lower alcohol levels. The rocky cobblestone soils — originating from an uplifted riverbed predating the Missoula Floods — impart intense mineral character to the Grenache.\n\n**Evergreen Vineyard** — Located in the Ancient Lakes AVA, this is Tempus's flagship Riesling source, with which the winery has worked since 2009. The vineyard's rich calcium carbonate soils produce bright mineral tones, and its cooler temperatures combined with high pH soils maintain very high natural acidity. This allows Forest to harvest at very low sugar levels, producing what he describes as one of the driest Rieslings in Washington.\n\n**Seven Hills Vineyard** — Situated in Oregon within the Walla Walla Valley AVA, this vineyard is notable for its deep, fractured basalt soils, unique microclimate, and north-facing slopes. These conditions layer classic Merlot characteristics — cherries and chocolate — with herbaceous notes of rosemary, thyme, and tarragon.\n\n## Signature Wines & Tasting Notes\n\nTempus Cellars specializes in Bordeaux-style red blends, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Grenache, and Riesling. The winery's core lineup reflects a commitment to classic varietals expressed through terroir-driven sourcing:\n\n- **Bordeaux-Style Blend** — The flagship red, sourced primarily from Sagemoor Vineyards' multiple sites. Available to wine club members at a deeply discounted case price ($20 per bottle, representing a 41% discount). Complex and structured, drawing on Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc from distinct Columbia River vineyard blocks.\n- **Cabernet Sauvignon** — Sourced from old-vine Bacchus and Dionysus Vineyards; profiles emphasize ripe red and black plum, blackberry, and cassis with spice notes and structured tannins.\n- **Merlot** — Sourced from Seven Hills Vineyard in Oregon; tasting profile includes cherries, chocolate, rosemary, thyme, and tarragon.\n- **Grenache** — From Art den Hoed Vineyards in the Yakima Valley; characterized by bright acidity, lower alcohol, and intense mineral tones from cobblestone soils.\n- **Evergreen Vineyard Riesling** — The winery's white wine offering; one of Washington's driest Rieslings, with high natural acidity and bright mineral character from calcium carbonate soils.\n\nAll red wines receive 22 months in 100% French oak plus one year in bottle before release, yielding polished, ready-to-drink wines with cellar potential.\n\n## Wine Club\n\nTempus Cellars offers a single wine club with three allocation releases per year in **March, September, and December**. Members may choose from three preference tiers:\n\n1. **Reds & White** — Includes the Evergreen Vineyard Riesling alongside red wine allocations\n2. **Reds Only** — Red wine allocations exclusively\n3. **Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux Blend Only** — Focused on the winery's flagship Bordeaux-style program\n\n**Member benefits** include 25% off cases, 10% off individual bottles, and waived tasting fees. Members also receive the Red Blend at a special case price of $20 per bottle — a 41% discount. All members receive **exclusive access to the Wine-Club-Only Allocation**, described as a wine of unparalleled quality selected from the best few barrels of each vintage. Allocations can be picked up at intimate winemaker-hosted pickup parties featuring food and wine pairings, or shipped directly to members.\n\n## Tasting Room & Visitor Experience\n\nTempus Cellars operates tasting rooms in two locations and hosts seasonal pop-up events in a third city:\n\n**Walla Walla** — Located in the Walla Walla Airport District. Open Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. during April–June and September–December. Private appointments are available year-round; July and August are by private appointment only, coordinated directly with Joe Forest.\n\n**Spokane** — Situated in the heart of Spokane's Cork District. Open Wednesday through Friday from 2–6 p.m. and Saturday through Sunday from noon–6 p.m. Artisan foods are available for purchase, enhancing the wine experience.\n\n**Seattle** — Tempus hosts two private pop-up events per year in March and September,","somm_notes":[],"wines":[],"patti":null,"visitor_ratings":[{"source":"yelp","rating":5.0,"count":4},{"source":"tripadvisor","rating":5.0,"count":6}],"sample_reviews":[],"critic_scores":[],"community_scores":[{"wine_name":"Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon","vintage":null,"score":79,"source":"Vivino","critic":null,"tasting_note":"Vivino community: 2.9/5 (144 ratings)"},{"wine_name":"Reserva Carménère","vintage":null,"score":79,"source":"Vivino","critic":null,"tasting_note":"Vivino community: 2.9/5 (89 ratings)"},{"wine_name":"Reserva Merlot","vintage":null,"score":79,"source":"Vivino","critic":null,"tasting_note":"Vivino community: 2.9/5 (34 ratings)"},{"wine_name":"Merlot","vintage":null,"score":79,"source":"Vivino","critic":null,"tasting_note":"Vivino community: 2.9/5 (26 ratings)"},{"wine_name":"Cabernet Sauvignon","vintage":null,"score":78,"source":"Vivino","critic":null,"tasting_note":"Vivino community: 2.8/5 (36 ratings)"}],"events":[]}