(425) 861-9823
Email: carmen@betzfamilywinery.com
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Our winery is a labor of love. Our first vintage was 1997, when we produced about 150 cases total. Our goal is to craft 2500-3000 cases annually, limiting ourselves to a quantity that we can directly watch over. By working with selected, dedicated grape growers and employing methods that we believe craft superior wine, we hope to create wines of individual character, a blend of richness, balance and pleasure. Our winemaking focuses on the purity of the individual varieties and the vineyards they come from. We do those things that a small winery has the luxury of doing: we know every barrel.
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Winemaker Bob Betz
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Bob makes the wines at Betz Family Winery, the realization of a life-long passion. Since the early 1970's, Bob has been wandering the vineyards in Europe and the US to better understand the why and how of crafting fine wine. His philosophy is pretty simple: don't mess up what the vineyards have provided. Start with the highest quality fruit you can, treat it vigorously when necessary, gently most of the time, and stay out of its way but watch it closely. Allow the wines to develop slowly, and make sure they provide pleasure.
Bob holds the degree of Master of Wine, a rare designation awarded by the Institute of Masters of Wine in London. Today there are about 265 people worldwide have passed the exams necessary to be awarded the title, a pass rate of about 12% over the past 5 decades. The Institute of Masters of Wine promotes excellence and achievement in the wine industry, culminating in an internationally recognized qualification of Master of Wine.
Candidates for the MW are required to pass the most rigorous testing in the wine industry which includes four days of written theory exams and three days of written blind tasting exams. A graduate thesis on a specific winemaking topic must also be completed. Bob's focus was on the interaction of wine and barrels during the maturation process. All segments deal with the analysis and assessment of wine in all its disciplines, from growing and making, through sensory analysis and selling.
The exams are designed to test the candidate's understanding of the international wine industry, as well as depth and breadth of wine knowledge, with an emphasis on analytical skills and clarity of presentation. Bob was given two additional awards in successfully completing the exams: the Villa Maria Award, for the highest scores on the viticultural exam, and the Robert Mondavi Award, for the highest overall scores in all theory exams.
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