Kobayashi is one of the most individual, serious domestic projects to land on our shelves. And frankly, our first new Washington winery in years. 

The eye-catching labels might suggest something juicy and easy-going, but consider this a warning: what’s in the bottle couldn’t be farther from that. Focused on Northern Rhône varieties, Travis Allen and Mario Kobayashi have taken their love of the region, tracked down some of the best own-rooted sites in the state, and applied a patient, old-world approach in the cellar—one that openly nods to the practices of French Syrah legends like Yves Gangloff (whom they consider a mentor). Think two winters in barrel, whole clusters from échalas-posted Syrah.

The results render away any of the fat you often find in domestic wines, and replace it with potent mountain flavors and vertical phenolics. In bottle, these wines punch as hard as the legends they admire.

Add in their whimsical cellar touches—a mizunara cask, a feuillette, even a sparkling wine dosed with flor yeast gifted by Anselme Selosse—and it starts to make sense why collectors have been avidly tracking them down.

This is a project that started with a simple love for wine – and making a single barrel of Cab Franc. Neither Travis Allen or Mario Kobayashi come from a winemaking background; the couple met at San Diego state, eventually landing in Seattle (where Travis still works as a pediatric nurse anesthetist).

Fast forward 10+ years and that single barrel passion project has grown into 1K cases/year, mostly Rhône varieties sourced from two of the state's most revered, own-rooted sites, and currently produced at Force Majeure's Walla Walla facility. (Fans of the ultra-rare sparkling below will be interested to hear, this year they are moving in to a shared facility in Woodinville with traditional method producer Elentone...)

Almost all of the wines come from WeatherEye Vineyard, a northeast facing site at the top of Red Mountain (eastern Yakima Valley) that spares the fruit from the overripe stereotypes the appellation is known for. Syrah, Viognier, Marsanne, Roussanne – perfect fodder for wines inspired by Gangloff and Thierry Allemand. Picking is at full maturity but while the fruit is still crisp, never overripe, keeping the wines at 13-14% abv and in a structured style that feels more classic to the northern Rhône than Washington. And of course, Cab Franc remains in the lineup – an outlier not from the WeatherEye and the nostalgic core of Travis and Mario's work.

The cellar is truly where this work becomes unique, combining traditional northern Rhône techniques with an American spirit of whimsy and innovation.

Here, Syrah is meticulously hand-crushed into barrel. White grapes see a cold soak to pull out phenolics without adding color or oxygen. The sparkling - which is very small production and their only wine from the Gorge - employs a strain of yeast from Anselme Selosse. The reds all see almost 2 years of élevage with the exception of the no sulfur Syrah bottling seeing only a year (he tries to minimize as much oxygen going into it as possible). And, following suit to Gangloff's Condrieu influence, a splash of Viognier goes into the Syrah.

Perhaps most notable is Travis' experimentation with different types of wood noted above, especially the mizunara cask acquired from Japan (no easy feat - letters were written!). Unfortunately, this release includes no wine from that cask, but it's certainly one for collectors to keep eyes peeled for.

These are serious, structured wines – even the whites favor firm structure and length over aromatics – belonging in the cellars and glasses of American wine lovers everywhere.

2024 Kobayashi Viognier, Washington $66
From WeatherEye, 100% barrel fermented and aged for 11 months in used French oak, unfined and unfiltered.

2024 Kobayashi Marsanne-Roussanne, Washington, $66
From WeatherEye, 76% Marsanne and 24% Roussanne; destemmed and cold soaked for a week before fermentation in 320L French oak (30% new), aged for 11 months.

2023 Kobayashi Cabernet Franc Washington, $90
A blend of two sites in Columbia Valley: Blue Mountain, a cooler vineyard in Walla Walla; and Red Willow, a high-elevation site in Yakima Valley. Fermented in stainless steel and concrete, aged 22 months in 1200L French oak foudre; unfined and unfiltered.

2023 Kobayashi Syrah, Washington, $95
From WeatherEye, 97% Syrah and 3% Viognier fermented whole cluster and aged 22 months in French oak (25% new); unfined, unfiltered.

2023 Kobayashi Syrah Sans Soufre (White Label), Washington, $95
From WeatherEye, 100% Syrah fermented whole cluster in puncheon, with no use of sulfur throughout and careful control of oxygen. No punchdowns or pumpovers; aged 11 months in neutral French oak; unfined, unfiltered.

2022 Kobayashi 'Nikko' Traditional Method Sparkling, $105
100% Pinot Noir from an old vine site in Columbia Gorge, produced via the traditional method with the base wine fermented with flor yeast from Anselme Selosse. Only 750 bottles produced, exceedingly rare to see in the market.

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