FEATURED WASHINGTON WINERY
O.S. WINERY- SEATTLE,
WA
O.S. Winery has been making premium quality wines for nine years, earning them an impressive following and plenty of recent national recognition. All of these accomplishments can be attributed to the unique sense of balance in and around their small winery. Owners Bill Owen and Rob Sullivan, while being very different people have somehow managed to create a Yen & Yang approach that works to produce some of the best wines in Washington State.
The wine they produce is a superbly balanced mixture of different fruit, with every red (except Syrah) including some blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Even their varietal wines contain some percentage of each grape. The resulting wine offers dark concentrated fruit with a light refreshing finish and smooth voluptuous mouth feel. Dark in color with light flavors is a great example of the kind of balance that has lead to some very successful wines as of late. And while these wines are immensely enjoyable young, they also possess the structure for many years of cellaring.
 The winery, which has been described as a “jury-rigged winery in a nondescript business park near Seattle-Tacoma Airport” is indeed just that – “jury-rigged”. But still, within it they have managed to produce some of the finest premium wines of Washington State. And while the winery itself sometimes appears to be in complete disarray, the French wine barrels they use to make the wine are always treated with the utmost care. Constantly being cleaned and cared for, the center rings are painted red with wine, to cover up sloppy siphoning, while the outer rings are bleached with yeast. The result is a beautiful collection of eye pleasing barrels that, instead of being stacked on elevated racks beyond reach, remain close to the floor for easy manipulation and appreciation.
The owners themselves are extreme opposites. Bill Owen is the serious winemaker stubbornly set in his wine philosophy and practices, even down to the smallest detail. His goal last year was to try and not yell once during crush. This goal was never quite realized. His intensity and self-assuredness comes from over 25 years of experience working in and around the wine industry. Rob Sullivan, on the other hand, is an easygoing guy with a wine-lovers heart. And with limited experience in the wine world he concentrates his efforts on marketing their product and building the business side of the winery. Together these two personalities come together in one of the most acclaimed wineries in Washington State.
The day of our interview Bill Owen lead us around the winery with Rob Sullivan popping in and out for an occasional anecdote. Owen was in his element and didn’t waste any time letting us in on his approach to winemaking.
WC: Tell us a little about your winemaking style.
OS: “We try to make wines that are plush and inviting.”
With a French influenced style leaning toward the expression of terroir, and quality of the fruit, it’s no surprise that Owen and Sullivan have always focused their efforts on securing grapes from some of the best vineyards in Washington State. This was apparent as Owen rattled off a continuous flow of names from different vineyards and vineyard managers. While his knowledge about grapes and growing regions is quite extensive, Owen focuses his winemaking practices on simplicity. With no filtering or fining, and all bottling done by gravity, the end result is a wine with generous mouth feel and a more complete flavor profile.
 In an attempt to keep the wine focused around the fruit Owen only uses 1/3 new oak barrels. But all of the barrels used are French oak. “Our wines are aged exclusively in French oak barrels with approximately 35% new and the remainder in second, third and fourth year.” It’s Owen’s belief that fruit doesn’t take oak barrels very well. “If I wanted to eat a barrel I would!” he said in reference to some California producers that overemphasize oak in their wine.
Owen is not a fan of high alcohol wines either. “I want a nimble wine without the heaviness. A wine can still be concentrated and voluptuous without having to be heavy.” From Owen’s experience customers are not saying they want more alcohol in their wine; “the bigness should be in the concentration [of the fruit] not alcohol.”
The result is a beautifully crafted wine that focuses on the true essence of the wine – the grape and where it came from.
WC: How did you get into wine?
OS: “Because the war in Vietnam sucked!”
Bill Owen grew up in a family of doctors and good cooks, so art, music, food and wine were a big influence in his life. But it wasn’t until he went to Europe instead of Vietnam that Owen truly caught the wine bug. While traveling around Europe, he visited numerous winemaking regions and studied the practices used by French, Italian and German producers. Upon his return Owen started working in restaurants, where he would taste wines from regional distributors. After his stint as “The Wine Guy” in the restaurant industry Owen jumped around between different wine jobs, including retail and wholesale, in an effort to learn more.
WC: What made you decide to open your own winery?
OS: “From being around wine so much I thought that making it seemed quite simple.”
After 25 years of learning about and working within the wine industry Owen came to the conclusion that making wine is actually pretty “simple”. And so he started working with a couple of Washington’s top winemakers, including Chris Camarda of Andrew Will and began developing his own style. Coincidentally, Rob Sullivan, a Seattle-area banker and investor, was the owner of the apartment complex where Owen lived. So, around the time Owen was looking to start a winery of his own (but needed funding) he approached Sullivan. And in 1997 Owen-Sullivan Winery was born.
Since that time Owen (aka. “The Palate”) has handled the winemaking while Sullivan (aka. “The Bank”) takes care of all the marketing and distribution. When asked about his own wine experience Rob Sullivan says he knows what he likes…”and fortunately Bill makes what I like.”
WC: What’s with the recent name change from Owen-Sullivan to O.S. Winery?
OS: “A lawsuit.”
Due to legal action brought on by Sullivan Vineyards of Napa Valley Owen Sullivan was forced to change the name of their winery. Of course this only happened after the winery began garnering some press over the last couple of years from their high scoring wines. The simple choice to change to O.S. was not that big of leap, so there hasn’t been any real effect on the wineries operations or sales. “We considered defending ourselves against this, but in the end we decided we would rather put the money into grapes and barrels,” said Owen.
Look for some great wines coming from O.S. Winery in upcoming vintages but don’t expect them to be available for long once they release. Owen Sullivan has built quite a loyal following of wine drinkers that are happy to buy up all the wine for themselves.
Owen and Sullivan are definitely an amusing pair to meet if you have the chance. The two friends are having fun, but still remain very serious in their approach to the business of wine on one side and winemaking practices on the other. A perfect balance in the efforts to produce the perfect wine.
 O.S. WINERY
Phone: 206-243-3427
Fax: 206-243-3471
mail@oswinery.com
Mailing Address:
1501 S 92nd Place Suite B
Seattle, WA 98108
www.oswinery.com
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