{"id":4,"name":"Devium Wine","image_url":"https://streetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com/v1/thumbnail?panoid=p8Tj-opTO4DePqd1VSKQHw&cb_client=search.gws-prod.gps&w=408&h=240&yaw=138.03168&pitch=0&thumbfov=100","district":"Airport","hours":"Open by appointment only","hours_type":"appointment","dog_friendly":false,"red_wine":true,"white_wine":true,"bubbles":true,"brewery":false,"woman_owned":false,"year_established":2015,"winemaker":"Keith Johnson","website":"http://www.deviumwine.com/","phone":"+1 541-310-0317","address":"1460 F St, Walla Walla, WA 99362, United States","description":"Devium pushes Washington’s boundaries with minimalist wines: foot‑crushed grapes, native yeast and neutral barrels yield pure, unfined expressions of the region’s outer edges","lat":46.0951908,"lng":-118.2609377,"appt_url":"https://www.deviumwine.com/contact","walk_in":false,"tasting_fee":null,"explorer_tags":[],"profile":"# Devium Wine — Winery Knowledge Profile\n\n## Founding Story\n\nDevium Wine was established in 2015 in Walla Walla, Washington. The winery was founded with a clear and deliberate vision: to practice minimalist winemaking while exploring the outer edges of what Washington wine can be. Rather than chasing consistency through modern interventions, Devium embraces the living, evolving nature of wine, treating each vintage as a distinct expression shaped by the land, the season, and the winemaker's willingness to take risks. The founding philosophy is captured directly in the winery's own words: \"At Devium we don't do easy or safe.\"\n\n## Winemaker\n\nKeith Johnson is the winemaker and driving force behind Devium Wine. Writing in first person throughout the winery's communications, Johnson presents himself as a deeply hands-on, philosophically engaged craftsman. His approach is rooted in minimalist winemaking principles: foot crushing, native yeast fermentation, minimal sulfur dioxide additions, neutral barrel aging, and bottling wines unfined and unfiltered. Johnson is particularly passionate about skin-contact white wines, describing them as \"a passion of mine and one of my favorite styles to explore.\" He demonstrates an ongoing intellectual curiosity about process, especially the role of time — time in maceration, fermentation, barrel, and bottle — as a shaping force in a wine's profile and personality. Johnson is unafraid to deviate from established plans when circumstances demand it, as evidenced by his creative pivoting following the extreme January 2024 freeze that devastated yields at several of his vineyard sources.\n\n## Vineyard Sources\n\nDevium sources fruit from four distinct vineyards, each offering a markedly different terroir expression.\n\n**Lewis Peak Vineyard** holds the distinction of being the highest elevation commercial vineyard in the state of Washington. The site receives approximately 30 inches of annual rainfall and is dry farmed. Farming is sustainable with a transition toward certified organic practices underway. The mountain climate and persistent winds delay ripening significantly, resulting in small berry sizes and minuscule yields of intensely concentrated, personality-driven fruit. Johnson farms 1.5 acres each of Malbec and Riesling at this site. He considers Lewis Peak \"the best Pet Nat vineyard in Eastern Washington\" and describes it as \"truly the next frontier of Washington Wine.\"\n\n**WeatherEye Vineyard** is located straddling the Red Mountain AVA and the broader Columbia Valley. Johnson describes it as \"probably the most exciting new vineyard in Washington State.\" The vineyard is owned and operated by Ryan Johnson, backed by Cam Myhrvold, and is known for planting top-tier Rhône variety clones in nearly every training system imaginable alongside pioneering viticultural practices. Devium has sourced from WeatherEye beginning with the 2018 vintage, primarily producing a 100% Roussanne skin-contact white wine.\n\n**French Creek Vineyard**, located in the Yakima Valley and managed by Damon Lalonde, features a Rhône variety block planted on a steep northeast-facing slope. The aspect shields fruit from intense summer sun. Soils are a mixture of gravel, sand, and silt, producing a wide range of ripeness and flavor across the block — a quality Johnson prizes for building the edgy, complex profile of his Mourvèdre-based French Creek Red blend.\n\n**Elevation Vineyard** sits on the edge of the Walla Walla AVA in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, with slopes reaching up to 40%. The site is planted entirely on fractured basalt with almost no topsoil, forcing vines to struggle in a low-vigor environment and produce small amounts of fruit with pronounced savory flavor profiles. The \"Ziggy Stardust\" block at Elevation is specifically noted as the source for Devium's Marsanne.\n\n**Breezy Slope** and **Dwelley Vineyard** are also referenced as active sources. Breezy Slope is located in the foothills of the Blue Mountains and provides Pinot Noir, while Dwelley Vineyard supplies Dolcetto.\n\n## Signature Wines\n\nDevium produces a range of distinctive, often unconventional wines that reflect both specific vineyard sites and Johnson's experimental sensibility.\n\nThe **2023 Les Collines Vineyard White Wine** is a blend of 45% Grenache Blanc, 28% Roussanne, and 27% Viognier. The wine underwent four days of skin maceration via foot treading, one year of barrel aging, and an additional six months of bottle aging before release. Priced at $28.\n\nThe **2023 WeatherEye Vineyard Roussanne** is a 100% Roussanne skin-contact white wine that underwent approximately two weeks of maceration and 17 months of barrel aging — an increase from the prior vintage's 11 months. Priced at $40.\n\nThe **2024 Breezy Slope Pétillant Naturel Rouge** is a 100% Pinot Noir natural sparkling wine, born directly out of the 2024 freeze damage that eliminated the Lewis Peak Malbec crop. The grapes were foot crushed, macerated for one week, then pressed into old French oak barrels to ferment before being bottled at approximately 90% completion to capture residual CO2.\n\nThe **2024 Walla Walla Carbonic Red Wine** is a blend of 68% Dolcetto and 32% Pinot Noir sourced from Dwelley Vineyard and Breezy Slope respectively. The wine was made using carbonic maceration with whole-bunch fruit, followed by foot treading and three additional days on skins before pressing to old barrels. Notably, this represents a departure from Devium's core principle of producing exclusively single-vineyard wines.\n\nEarlier releases include a **Lewis Peak Riesling**, a **French Creek Red** (Mourvèdre-based blend), and a **Ziggy Stardust Marsanne** from Elevation Vineyard.\n\n## Tasting Notes\n\nJohnson describes the 2023 Les Collines White Wine as retaining \"all of the freshness and focus\" of the prior vintage while gaining \"added depth and vigor,\" with increased texture and tension from the skin maceration. The 2024 Carbonic Red is described as \"vibrant, focused,\" with the Dolcetto contributing \"playfulness\" and the Pinot Noir adding \"verve and thrust.\" The Breezy Slope Pet Nat is called \"gleaming ruby\" in color and described as \"serious enough for a nice meal, fun enough for plastic cups at the park.\" Elevation Vineyard fruit is noted for producing wines with \"incredible savory flavor profiles.\"\n\n## Tasting Room\n\nDevium Wine is open in Walla Walla by appointment only. Visitors are encouraged to contact Keith Johnson directly to arrange a tasting.\n\n## Winery Character\n\nDevium occupies a distinctive niche within Walla Walla and Washington wine at large. The winery's identity is built around minimalism, risk-taking, and a willingness to let wines evolve organically from vintage to vintage. Johnson works with uncommon varieties and experimental techniques — skin-contact whites, pétillant naturel, carbonic maceration — that are rare in the Pacific Northwest. His sourcing from extreme or emerging sites like Lewis Peak and Elevation Vineyard reflects a genuine pioneering spirit. The winery is explicitly single-winemaker in scale, personal in voice, and uncompromising in its pursuit of wines that, in Johnson's own words, \"morph and twist and move like living things.\"","somm_notes":[{"title":"Patti's notes on Devium","content":"Keith is a master at crafting unique and interesting wines. This spot is definitely worth a visit-I highly recommend trying the Carbonic Red Wine!"}],"wines":[{"name":"Breezy Slope Petillant Naturel Rouge","vintage":"2024","variety":"Pinot Noir","price":""},{"name":"Walla Walla Carbonic Red Wine","vintage":"2024","variety":"Red Blend","price":""},{"name":"Les Collines Vineyard White Wine","vintage":"2023","variety":"White Blend","price":"$28.00"},{"name":"WeatherEye Vineyard Roussanne","vintage":"2023","variety":"Roussanne","price":"$40.00"}],"patti":null,"visitor_ratings":[{"source":"google","rating":5.0,"count":5}],"sample_reviews":[],"critic_scores":[],"community_scores":[{"wine_name":"French Creek Vineyard Mourvèdre Sans Soufre","vintage":null,"score":90,"source":"Vivino","critic":null,"tasting_note":"Vivino community: 4.0/5 (62 ratings)"},{"wine_name":"WeatherEye Vineyard Roussanne","vintage":null,"score":90,"source":"Vivino","critic":null,"tasting_note":"Vivino community: 4.0/5 (29 ratings)"},{"wine_name":"French Creek Vineyard Red","vintage":null,"score":89,"source":"Vivino","critic":null,"tasting_note":"Vivino community: 3.9/5 (110 ratings)"}],"events":[]}