RAINMAKER VINEYARD
Above the small town of White Salmon, Washington, the Rainmaker Vineyard’s geologic origins were created by eons of Mt. Adams volcanic activity, the mighty Columbia River, and powerful winds and rains pushing up the river valley from the Pacific Ocean. The vineyard, surrounded by pine forests, creates the perfect confluence of the elements and altitude imbuing our wines with an elegance and alpine freshness not found in the powerful wines grown in Eastern Washingtons Columbia Valley.
WHAT IS GORGISTE?
While we don’t drink a whole lot of Bordeaux these days, we’re inspired by the “Garagiste” movement that took place there in the 1990s. Small vineyard owners and winemakers broke with the tradition of the Grand Châteaus that dominate the region and began founding micro wineries in their garages intent on making wines of place and soul vs. big business. The quality of these wines quickly captured the hearts and palates worldwide and changed the region forever.
OUR GROWERS
After several lifetimes of successful business ventures and raising a family, Larry, and Patty Singer were looking for a change in pace and to get back to nature. In 2013, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy a breathtaking piece of property in the hills above White Salmon, Washington presented itself. Without a moment of hesitation, they jumped at the chance. Two years later vines were planted and Rainmaker Farms was born. In 2017 Larry and Patty, our winemaker Jeff, and another Columbia Gorge winemaker joined forces to cultivate a vineyard that respects the land and the resulting wines capture the wildness and beauty of the region.
JEFF LINDSAY-THORSEN
OWNER | WINEMAKER
Over the last 20 years, Jeff has become one of the most accomplished sommeliers in the PNW and a mighty fine winemaker. Gorgiste is the culmination of winemaker and owner Jeff Lindsay-Thorsen’s passion for old-world traditions in the cellar and the incredible potential of the western Columbia Gorge AVA. Through a less is more approach Jeff believes he can capture the soul of the region in each bottle.
OSCAR GALVAN
ASSISTANT WINEMAKER
In a chance meeting, Oscar was invited to intern with Jeff in 2015 while he was in enology school. Following the harvest Oscar traveled the world and the neighborhood working harvest for several domains. In 2018 after Oscar had sown his vinous oats he returned to our cellar and has been Jeff’s right-hand man and coconspirator ever since.
WINEMAKING PHILOSOPHY
We utilize our knowledge and experience as sommeliers and as winemakers in tandem with the knowledge of thousands of years of winemaking tradition to make wines that vibrate with clarity of place, variety, and vintage. The tools we use in the cellar are minimal; our hands and feet, a pump, forklift, chiller, vertical press, and judicious SO2. The goal is minimal influence on the final wine. Each thing that is added to the wine has the ability to take away or blur what mother nature and our vineyard has shared with us that year.
We welcome spontaneous fermentation utilizing yeasts that arrive on the grapes from the vineyard and exist in our cellar. Our wines are aged in old oak, concrete, and stainless steel. We utilize a small amount of SO2 to ensure the wines when bottled taste of place and grape, not of a biological experiment gone awry. A little SO2 is magic and has been used since at least Roman times in the winemaking process.