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ABOUT MILBRANDT VINEYARDS
Milbrandt HISTORY
 On a blustery day in April of 1997, brothers Butch and Jerry Milbrandt were sitting in their pick-up, contemplating their future. Neither were professionally satisfied at the time, though with their backgrounds in agriculture, and combined experience in real estate, wholesale, and retail; they knew joining the growing wine industry was the perfect solution.
The first vines were planted that year. The brothers found that they had matched site to varietal very well, and coupled with their superior quality standards and highly qualified team, the demand for their grapes was immediate and overwhelming.
Finally, in 2005, Butch and Jerry were able to gracefully and quietly pull back enough grapes to start their own winery.
Winemaker GORDON HILL
Esteemed winemaker Gordon Hill has been an industry leader in Washington State for nearly three decades. His wines have earned countless awards, and his approach to winemaking is greatly respected. Gordon believes that wine should be, above all else, accessible to everyone. He strives to produce fruit forward wines with good color, supple tannins, and outstanding balance.
Milbrandt WINERY & VINEYARDS
Milbrandt Vineyards encompasses over 1,300 acres stretching across the Columbia Valley, including the Wahluke Slope and Ancient Lake areas. Viticulturist Jim McFerran, a respected industry veteran, leads a skilled team with one vineyard specialist per every ten acres.
The vineyards are at the forefront of the green movement, with all agricultural practices falling under the designation "sustainable" or better. The winery is based in Mattawa, Washington, and has the ability to produce 1 million gallons of wine per year. The facilities are brand new and state of the art, with additional plans for expansion in early 2007.
The Milbrandt brothers have also broken ground for a beautiful tasting room in Prosser, Washington, to be finished and open to the public in 2007.
Butch & JERRY
Farming is in our blood. Our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles all made their living working the land. Eastern
Washington is in our blood. We came here as young children and have always called it home. When we planted our
first vines in 1997 we were entering uncharted territory. Today, we farm 11 distinct estate vineyard sites totaling
nearly 1600 acres. Our grapes are purchased by some of the most prestigious wineries in the state. Our own winery,
launched in 2005, produces highly-individualistic wines from our estate and neighboring vineyards. Here’s a brief
history of our family and our journey.
| Butch: |
Our parents grew up on farms in Minnesota and Nebraska. They moved to Oregon during the dust bowl days and,
after marrying in 1942, Dad worked on the Liberty ships during the war. They decided to get back into farming in
1948. Dad bought a tractor in Portland and drove it the 135 miles over the Cascade Mountains in winter to begin
farming near Madras, Oregon. |
| Jerry: |
I was a toddler when we moved to Madras, Oregon where dad farmed with his brother Gerald. My uncle Jess and
Aunt Gladys Gallup, as well as grandpa and grandma (Art and Mildred Milbrandt), lived there at that time also.
Dad farmed on his own after Gerald moved to Quincy to live on the land he received as a WWII veteran. We visited
Gerald a few times and Dad loved the area the long growing season, the well-drained soils and the irrigation water
available from the Columbia River through the Grand Coulee Dam. In ’53 or ‘54 we moved to the Quincy area about
two miles from Uncle Gerald. |
| Butch: |
I remember it as barren and desolate. Mostly sagebrush and sand. No roads ran past our farm in the first year.
As we worked the land and loosened the soil, the wind would create dust storms and make it impossible to see for
periods of time. It was a struggle to hold the land and nurture a crop. |
| Jerry: |
Dad and Mom paid $40 an acre for their 160 acres. They had saved half of the money and borrowed the balance
from Grandpa. Upon arriving we staked out our homestead and planted a border of trees for definition, shade and
protection. We lived in an army surplus trailer and tent for the first winter before building a concrete block home. |
| Butch: |
Fast forward to a blustery day in April of 1997. Jerry and I were sitting in the pick-up, contemplating our future.
Neither of us were professionally satisfied at the time. We both had experience in agriculture, real estate, wholesale
and retail. We were both interested in wine. Eastern Washington was emerging as a premier wine growing region.
Getting into the grape-growing business seemed like the perfect solution. |
| Jerry: |
We planted the first vines later that year. Jim McFerran joined up to help us with the intricacies of viticulture.
We were very careful about matching the right variety to the right site. Our goal was to be the best growers in the
state. From the start, demand for our grapes was immediate and overwhelming. |
| Butch: |
In 2005, after watching grapes from our vineyards earn praise and high scores from the critics, we decided to start
our own winery. As farmers, there is nothing more satisfying than to have control over the quality and style of our
products from start to finish. |
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