November 4th – C. Dean Derby, founder of Spring Valley Vineyard in Walla Walla, passed away at home on the Spring Valley Ranch on Friday, October 29, 2021. He was 86.
Dean Derby moved to Walla Walla in 1945 at 10 years old. He met Shari Corkrum, whose family had been farming Spring Valley Ranch since the late 1800s, in the 6th grade. Dean and Shari both graduated from Walla Walla High School and attended the University of Washington in Seattle. They were married the day after taking their final exams.
Having starred on the University of Washington football team, Dean went on to play for the NFL and was drafted to the Los Angeles Rams then traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings. Once retired from football, Dean then started a few entrepreneurial businesses, the last of which was a sound success. Dean and Shari turned that business over to their daughter and son-in-law in 2000 and went back home to the Ranch in the Walla Walla Valley. Dean had a vision for diversification and generational sustainability and thus Spring Valley Vineyard was founded in 1993.
The conversation between Dean and Shari went something like this:
“We need to diversify so our grandkids and their children will have a reason to keep this land in the family for many more generations. Let’s try planting a vineyard and see what happens.”
With that, Spring Valley was built on the strong foundation of grit, authenticity, hard work, love for the land, and love for family. Spring Valley Vineyard wines are some of the most critically acclaimed in the Northwest. Spring Valley Vineyard was the first Walla Walla Valley winery to be listed on Wine & Spirits top 100, and the Uriah Red Wine has been on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 list five times since its inaugural vintage.
True to Dean’s vision, the Spring Valley Vineyard and wheat fields are family-farmed to this day by the 6th generation.
