Good Fruit Grower

May 1

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S ome wineries provide potato chips instead of crackers, to cleanse the palattes during wine tasting. But the chips offered for sampling in a Walla Walla, Washington, winery hold special meaning for owners Tim and Lori Kennedy. Tim is founder of the beloved Pacifi c Northwest chip called Tim's Cascade Style Potato Chips, a regional snack company that began in 1986 in a makeshift facility in Auburn, Washington. The kettle-style chips, unique at the time, quickly developed a cultlike following and have grown into a $60-million-a-year business. Tim sold the company to Bird's Eye Foods in 2005 in the guise of retiring. But nine years later, he's busy playing the roles of grower, marketer, and winemaker assistant in the couple's estate winery called Don Carlo Vineyard. The vineyard and winery is in Milton-Freewater, Oregon, and the tasting room is in downtown Walla Walla. The vineyard was all Lori's idea, he said during a late fall interview in their tasting room located in the lobby of the Marcus Whitman Hotel. "I came from an Italian family," she said, noting that her grandfather and father made "basement" wine. "Making wine was a family affair, and we'd all go down to the Seattle train station to pick up boxes of grapes from Lodi, California. But it was nothing I ever thought I would get into." The concept for a vineyard started with a photo of Lori's grandfather. "I thought his photo would make a great label for a winery," she said. Later, during a visit to Tim's parents in Athena, Oregon, a small town about 20 miles southwest of Walla Walla, the concept took greater shape. "I always loved the vineyards that we'd pass on the way to Athena. On one trip, I casually mentioned 'I think I'd like to have a vineyard,'" she said. "Tim embraced it right away." Becoming a grower was not totally foreign to Tim, who spent his high school years working for neighboring wheat and cattle ranchers in Athena. Also, during his chip years, he worked closely with potato growers to coordinate irrigation and harvest timing. The Kennedys bought a 12-acre apple and cherry orchard with a small house in Milton-Freewater in 2006. Tim and Lori replaced the apples with ten acres of Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Caber- net Franc in 2007. They left the cherries for three years to provide some income while the grapes were growing, but have since removed the trees and will be planting two more acres of wine grapes. "Initially, our plan was to grow grapes, sell the fruit to wineries, and make a small amount of wine for ourselves," said Lori. But after develop- ing a business plan for the vineyard, they discovered they would need a much larger vineyard if they wanted a return on their investment. It was important for them to keep the vineyard small, Tim said, because they wanted to do most of the work without hiring outside help. 36 MAY 1, 2014 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com The wedding photo of Lori Kennedy's grandfather was her inspiration for her winery and label. Grapes Potato CHIPS and fi ne WINES Tim's famous Northwest snack helped establish this Walla Walla winery. by Melissa Hansen Lori Kennedy is winemaker at Don Carlo Vineyard, an estate winery in Walla Walla, Washington, which she owns with her husband Tim. The winery is named after her grandfather.

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