Avennia Winery Opens New Tasting Room in Walla Walla

Avennia Winery, the Woodinville winery owned by acclaimed winemaker Chris Peterson and former Microsoft executive Marty Taucher, has a new tasting room in Walla Walla, WA. The tasting room officially opened its doors to guests on October 20.

Currently, the tasting room is open Thursday, Sunday and Monday – 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday and Saturday – 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; closed Tuesday and Wednesday. The tasting room is located at 3 S. First Ave, just off Main Street and situated on the new Walla Walla Plaza, a pedestrian-only plaza with water features, shade structures, bike racks, and landscaping.

“We are incredibly excited about the opportunity to be a part of the Walla Walla community and contribute to the region’s success as a world-class wine tourism destination,” said managing partner Marty Taucher. “We look forward to sharing our wines with visitors from around the world and offering our club members and guests another venue to enjoy Avennia wines.”

The new space, designed by the architectural firm Boxwood and renovated by S & K Mountain Construction, has the same modern look and feel as Avennia’s two other tasting room locations. The Walla Walla location offers tastings of Avennia’s current and past releases. Additionally, the tasting room may occasionally feature LIMINAL wines, a Peterson/Taucher project focused exclusively on Red Mountain’s WeatherEye Vineyard.

Kimberly Gammond, a member of the Walla Walla wine community, was hired on as tasting room manager.

About Avennia Winery

Avennia was founded in 2010 by winemaker Chris Peterson and managing partner Marty Taucher. The two met at DeLille Cellars, where Peterson was assistant winemaker and Taucher, a former Microsoft executive, was working as a harvest intern. Avennia is inspired by the Roman name for the city of Avignon, the heart of Old-World winemaking.

The goal of Avennia is to make wines that evoke clarity: clarity of place, clarity of type, clarity of purpose. Sourcing from acclaimed Washington vineyards, Peterson uses classic French varietals and traditional winemaking methods allowing the vineyards and terroirs to distinguish themselves within the wines.

The first Avennia tasting room opened in Woodinville in 2016. In 2021, Peterson and Taucher acquired an estate vineyard on Red Mountain and soon after opened an estate tasting room, which celebrated its one-year anniversary. In June of 2023.

Avennia wines have consistently received high accolades from critics and have appeared on several Top 100 lists. In 2017, winemaker Chris Peterson was named “Winemaker of the Year” by Seattle Magazine. Peterson and Taucher are also the team behind Lydian, a value label of wines made from many of the same vineyard sources as Avennia wines, and LIMINAL, premium wines sourced exclusively from Red Mountain’s WeatherEye Vineyard.

For more information about LIMINAL wines, visit:  www.liminalwine.com. And for more information about Avennia Winery, visit: www.avennia.com.