Walla Walla Washington
Dennis Murphy, wine lover, construction company owner, builder and designer, resident of Walla Walla and descendant from a huge Italian and Irish family, fell in love with wine by drinking it and building homes around the area. “I moved here in 1999 and figured I could con my way into working harvest and then find some property,” Dennis said. “The plan worked out well.”
In 2003 he purchased land that was previously a wheat field and let it sit fallow for two years. In 2005 he planted his first vines and had its first harvest in 2008 and Caprio Cellars was born.
Dennis named the vineyard Eleanor after his grandmother Eleanor Caprio. He also owns two other vineyards: Octave (a 22-acre hillside vineyard planted with 16 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, 2 acres of Merlot, 2 acres of Cabernet Franc and one acre of Malbec.) and Sanitella (a high elevation vineyard planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc).
Eleanor was all about hospitality, feeding people and making sure her guests were comfortable. It was only fitting that he follow in her footsteps. “She was a force to be reckoned with. She’s the reason we have the food program. She’d be really upset if I invited you here and didn’t feed you.” To that note, Dennis has designed and built a 2600 square foot building that can hold 20 guests at a time. Many people consider it to be one of the nicest tasting rooms in Walla Walla. Why? “Because I live there and I agonized over every detail. I just love the 360-degree view,” Murphy said.
“I had no interest in opening a tasting room. I wanted to create a wine experience like none other,” Dennis said. “We have curated a free 90-minute experience to delight our guests. We offer four time slots per day (by appointment) with a maximum of 20 people. We greet guests with a glass of Caprio bubbles, ask them to pick a spot to sit, indoors or outside, perhaps by one of the 3 fire pits and then we put them through a customer journey.” With 400 5-star reviews, Dennis said “I would rather delight 80 people than have 200 people thinking ‘well that was ok.’”
“We have a full-time chef, Ian Williams, who does a food pairing for every tasting. He thoughtfully picks the menu every two weeks.” All this is part of the gratis tasting experience.
2018 Eleanor’s Red Blend
Dennis gifted me with a bottle of this wine for my review.
“Every year the blend is a different combination of four grapes (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc). My goal is for you to open your bottle of wine and be happy with what you taste in the bottle” he said.
Their vineyard notes excerpted here say:
“Our estate vineyards are reflective of both diversity and purity in the Walla Walla AVA. Eleanor’s Vineyard sees full exposure with little aspect to the vineyard itself. Clay and loam-based soils play a part in the generous fruit characteristics of the grapes. Octave Vineyard is a completely different landscape and character than that of Eleanor’s Vineyard. Planted in fractured basalt at 1,300 feet of elevation, this north-facing vineyard lends itself to power, structure and minerality playing a counterpoint to the densely fruited grapes of Eleanor’s Vineyard located only 10 miles from each other.”
I found this wine to have flavors of raspberry, vanilla and currant. It is well-balanced with light tannins. I love that I can really taste the Malbec in this blend. (The blend is 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 15% Malbec and 7% Cabernet Franc.)
This wine retails for $48.00.
On a Personal Note
Dennis is an amazing man. He has a mandate of giving back. He says why did you take so much in the first place? He practices “give as you go”. He’s been a Big Brother for 18 years and sits on the Board. He focuses on connecting with youth 6-12 yrs.
His other business, First Story, builds houses for those who otherwise wouldn’t have homes. Their goal is to build one house per year. “In 2005 we built our 95th house,” he said.
For more information go to: https://www.capriocellars.com/ https://www.capriocellars.com/