An integral part of the Washington wine industry for more than a decade, Chris spent seven years helping make some of the state’s most heralded and award-winning wines at DeLille Cellars. He has traveled to, and immersed himself in, all of the major wine growing regions of France (as well as Tuscany and Sicily) where regional food and wine, vineyards tours and his relationships with other winemakers have inspired and informed his own natural winemaking practices.

A native of the Pacific Northwest, Chris graduated from the University of Washington majoring in the Comparative History of Ideas. He went on to become the first graduate of Walla Walla Community College’s Enology and Viticulture program, where he taught classes on wines of the world with the late instructor and industry pioneer Stan Clarke.