WALLA WALLA, Wash. (December 2, 2019) – L’Ecole N° 41, one of the Walla Walla Valley’s early founding family wineries, announced today that experienced enologist and educator
Marcus Rafanelli has joined L’Ecole as Winemaker.
Rafanelli comes to L’Ecole from Walla Walla Community College’s Institute for Enology & Viticulture, where he has been the Instructional Technician/Cellarmaster, overseeing 65 students and the production of College Cellar’s wines. Prior to that, he worked at wineries spanning the globe, including the esteemed Weingut Dr. Loosen (Mosel, Germany) and Two Hands Winery (Barossa Valley, Australia). At William Church Winery, he was an integral lead in production for more than five years, becoming Winemaker in 2011. Rafanelli also worked harvest at L’Ecole more than a decade ago, in 2007.
L’Ecole’s Owner & Managing Winemaker, Marty Clubb comments on L’Ecole’s hiring of Rafanelli, saying that it “illustrates the winery’s commitment to consistency and quality in every bottle, using traditional old-world style winemaking techniques; Marcus is the perfect person to lead our winemaking team to an even higher level of success.” Furthermore, he insists that Rafanelli’s role at L’Ecole will “position him to become one of Washington’s great winemakers.”
WWCC’s Director of Winemaking, Tim Donahue, comments that Rafanelli joining the L’Ecole team is a “big win for the EV program, having another graduate heading up winemaking for such a prominent brand”. Further, he notes that the program has “over 300 graduates, of which 84% are currently employed in the WA wine industry.”
Speaking about the college’s Enology & Viticulture program, Clubb asserts that he has been “more than pleased with the caliber and quality of their innovative winemaking program,” and that he is “proud of L’Ecole’s support of the program which is ratcheting up WA State’s reputation for wine”. Clubb, himself, has been on the Advisory Board for the program since its inception.
Rafanelli earned a B.S. in Biology at Boise State University and completed the Enology & Viticulture program at WWCC. He is a member of the Washington Wine Technical Group, a professional organization committed to improving Washington wines. As a recipient of the Powers Sabbatical Award, he traveled through France in early 2019, studying the use of oak in quality wine production. He and his wife Heather live in Walla Walla with their family.
About L’Ecole No 41
Housed in the historic Frenchtown schoolhouse depicted on its label, L’Ecole is a pioneering Walla Walla Valley winery, which has earned international acclaim for producing expressive, distinctive wines that reflect the unmistakable typicity of Washington State and the unique terroir of their estate vineyards. Amongst extensive accolades, L’Ecole was awarded in 2019 a Top 100 Winery of the Year by Wine & Spirits Magazine for the 15th time. Marty Clubb along his wife, Megan Clubb and their children Riley Clubb and Rebecca Olson serve on L’Ecole’s board of directors.
About College Cellars of Walla Walla
College Cellars of Walla Walla is a teaching winery located at the Institute for Enology & Viticulture on the
campus of Walla Walla Community College. The 15,000 square foot facility houses classrooms, a wine analysis
laboratory, faculty offices, and the fully operational commercial winery and estate vineyards. With a public-private partnership with ETS Labs who provides robust grape and wine analysis, it is one of the only two-year teaching commercial wineries in the United States, producing wines crafted by students as a part of the study of the science of winemaking. Since the first release in 2004, the student-made wines have garnered medals and multiple 90+ scores in major publications.
