Introducing Wines of Central

Central Washington University graduates are involved in every aspect of Washington's burgeoning wine industry. Wines of Central is an opportunity to sample wines with a CWU connection, sometimes one-of-a-kind limited editions and often at special prices.

For this fall, we thought what better than to pair Amy Mumma, Professional Wine Woman 2005 and the director of CWU’s highly-regarded World Wine Program, with alumni who own a winery and see what they come up with?

So we did just that, arranging for Amy to join Bob and Roger Gamache in the blending room at Gamache Vintners in Richland. Bob and Roger established their reputation as the growers of some of Washington's most sought-after grapes and now their own vintages are earning praise from wine lovers and the wine press alike. The result of their collaboration with Amy is Wildcat Reserve, a cabernet blend using grapes from two of the oldest vineyards in Washington. It’s superb, and our one regret is that they made only made 15 cases. It’ll go fast.

Amy and the Gamaches are already thinking about something different for next spring’s edition, and down the road we’d like to partner with other alumni-owned wineries. Who knows where this might lead?