Pioneering vineyard and winery was the first to plant grapes in the Red Mountain region of eastern Washington
Benton City, WA (January 16, 2025)— Kiona Vineyards, a family-owned winery in eastern Washington’s Red Mountain AVA, celebrates its 50th year anniversary in 2025. Since planting the first grapes on Red Mountain in 1975, Kiona has been at the forefront of Washington’s wine industry, and played an important role in the state’s wine history.
As a vineyard and winery, Kiona grows fruit for more than 60 Pacific Northwest wineries and crafts their own estate wines including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chenin Blanc, and the first Lemberger to be vinified in the United States, among others. Kiona’s fruit has long been acclaimed for quality, with many vineyard-designated wines winning awards over the decades. Kiona was one of the first vineyards to be Sustainable Washington certified in 2022, proving their dedication to the land and the future of Washington wine. They use only lightweight glass, and have campaigned for more Washington wineries to follow suit under their “World Class in Lighter Glass” campaign.
Founded by John and Ann Williams alongside Jim Holmes, the property was purchased in 1972 and the first vines were planted in 1975. Those initial plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, and Chardonnay marked the beginning of a legacy that has now spanned half a century. Over the years, the Williams family has expanded their estate to include multiple vineyards, contributing significantly to the area’s reputation for producing wines of distinction. Kiona Vineyards now grows 20 grape varieties on 272 acres, which includes five estate vineyards all within the Red Mountain AVA, and produces about 25,000 cases a year. Kiona is still fully owned and run by the Williams family.
“We owe it to our grandparents to do good, and we owe it to our customers to be good,” says JJ Williams, third generation General Manager of Kiona. “As we move into the second fifty years, we’re looking for ways to grow our impact on the wine community, by encouraging more sustainable farming, promoting the use of lightweight glass, and continuing to produce world class wines from Red Mountain.
In 2019, third generation Tyler Williams took over as head winemaker from his father, Scott. Tyler worked harvests at other wineries in Washington, as well as in Bordeaux, Sicily, South Africa, Chile, New Zealand, and Australia, and then returned to Red Mountain and earned an MS in Winemaking while working alongside his father.
Tyler relishes the opportunity to honor Kiona Vineyards winemaking history, including the legacy of his father and grandfather, and to bring modern innovation to the family estate. While he works with the same quality fruit they’ve grown for decades, Tyler has introduced clay amphorae and cement eggs to the cellar, and has moved the wine style to fit with current trends: picking earlier for more pronounced acidity and freshness, using blond oak instead of heavily toasted oak to have less influence on the wine, and aging the wine for a longer period in bottle before they’re released, with less time in oak.
In addition to these changes, Tyler worked alongside his brother JJ to produce a new line of non-vintage vertically blended wines, their Mythology Series, which gives Tyler the opportunity to honor the grapes and winemaking traditions he learned from his harvests around the world, and to blend reserve wine with younger wine to create an intense flavor profile. These wines reflect both his global winemaking expertise and his dedication to showcasing the exceptional quality of Kiona’s fruit.
The extensive selection of varieties grown enables Kiona to produce a wide variety of wines, including robust reds like their estate-bottled Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, elegant whites including their Old Vine Chenin Blanc, and unique offerings, such as the Chenin Blanc Ice Wine or Estate Lemberger. Their commitment to showcasing the unique terroir of Red Mountain is evident across their portfolio, with each wine reflecting the region’s characteristic depth, complexity, and balance.
For their 50th anniversary, Kiona will release a new Cabernet Sauvignon blended from their estate vineyards on Red Mountain with an anniversary label modeled after their original logo.
Kiona has proven their excellence over the last 50 years, and looks forward to the next half century. The Williams family’s tenacity and innovation has helped position Red Mountain as a premier winegrowing region in the new world. This milestone celebrates Kiona Vineyards and Red Mountain, and is an integral part of Washington wine history.
ABOUT KIONA VINEYARDS
Kiona Vineyards is a family-owned and operated winery located in the Red Mountain AVA of Washington State. Established in 1975 by John and Ann Williams, Kiona is now led by the third generation of the Williams family, and has been instrumental in developing Red Mountain into one of America’s premier wine-growing regions. With a focus on sustainable farming and producing quality grapes and wines, Kiona continues to be a leader in the Washington wine industry, growing and producing a wide breadth of varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Sangiovese, Chenin Blanc, and more. For more information about Kiona and their 50-year legacy on Red Mountain, visit kionawine.com.
