DeLille Cellars is a boutique artisan winery located in Woodinville, Washington. Founded in 1992 by Jay Soloff, winemaker Chris Upchurch, and Charles and Greg Lill, DeLille Cellars pioneered Bordeaux-style blends in Washington State (both red and white) - inspiring Robert Parker, in a visit to the original Chateau in Woodinville, to proclaim De Lille Cellars "The Lafite Rothschild of Washington State."  DeLille Cellars is considered a principal influence in establishing Washington as a premier viticultural region with a strong tradition of quality and excellence over its 28-year history. Today, the winery has a portfolio of over a dozen Bordeaux and Rhone-style blends true to the terroir of Washington State.

One of the recent highlights for the winery was wine of the year by varietal at the 2020 Sommeliers Choice Awards with 96 points and a double gold. 

Here were the scores from the 2020 Sommeliers Choice Awards.

2019 Chaleur Blanc: Wine of the Year by Varietal + Double Gold - 96 Points
2017 D2 Red Blend: Gold - 94 points
2017 Four Flags Cabernet Sauvignon: Gold - 90 Points

2019 Chaleur Blanc: Wine of the Year by Varietal + Double Gold Winner at the 2020 Sommeliers Choice Awards

The goal of the Sommeliers Choice Awards is to provide on-premise buyers and sommeliers a valuable benchmark for understanding which wines would make a compelling addition to a wine list. The judging panel of the Sommeliers Choice Awards will consist entirely of top sommeliers, on-premise wine buyers and wine directors at U.S. restaurants, bars, pubs, and clubs.

The winery's passion lies in showcasing the powerful, concentrated and structured fruit of Washington State through the European art of blending - not only through various combinations of Bordeaux and Rhone grape varieties, but also via combining fruit from acclaimed vineyards to express the unique terroir of the region. DeLille Cellars focuses on the Red Mountain AVA and grape sourcing from Washington's leading Grand Cru vineyards, including Ciel du Cheval, Grand Ciel, Upchurch, Red Willow, Sagemoor, Klipsun, Boushey, DuBrul and Harrison Hill.

DeLille Cellars has crafted over 200 wines with successive vintage ratings of 90+, totaling over 600 individual 90+ scores from leading critics. DeLille Cellars holds the coveted position in the 'Top 100' Guides of Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast for both red and white wine (D2, Signature Syrah, Chaleur Blanc), as well as being honored as a Wine & Spirits Top 100 Winery (2017-2020) and Wine Enthusiast Wine Star - Top Five American Wineries. DeLille Cellars was one of the first five wineries in Washington State to receive Robert Parker's 5-star/Outstanding rating.

Director of Winemaking and Viticulture Jason Gorski 

Guiding the winery's daily operations, Jason Gorski has been key to the winery's growth and continued lineup of accolades since 2011. Founding Winemaker and Partner Chris Upchurch, a luminary in the Washington Wine industry, instilled a passion for traditional winemaking methods that showcase the terroir of the state. 

Who can sommeliers and wine directors contact for more information? 

Jay Soloff: President and Co-Founder - jay@delillecellars.com

OR

Veronica Gorski: Wholesale Account Manager - veronica@delillecellars.com

How do you support sommeliers and on-trade buyers with promotions and programming

They are offering transitional pricing for all restaurants that are discounted lower than their list price with no minimums in order to support our local partners during these uncertain times. In addition they are offering restaurant buyers dramatically discounted pricing for BTG options and for featuring us as a key winery. They are collaborating with local restaurant partners with a Date Night take out program featuring DeLille Wines. They donated a 6L Engraved 2011 Chaleur Estate to the Sommeliers United Foundation, valued at $1,350.