Drew Pauk of Moonbase Cellars
Drew and Laine Pauk met while working at a Missouri grocery store chain, he as a buyer and she as a pharmacist. They intended to make their home in Missouri, until they caught the wine bug during a stay in Washington state. Drew pursued wine education and sommelier certificates while at the grocery store, and in 2017 they left Missouri and headed for Walla Walla. Drew enrolled in the Enology and Viticulture Program at the Community College, and in 2019 they bottled their first Moonbase Cellars wines. Those wines were released in 2021 when they also opened their downtown tasting room. Drew credits his and Laine’s backgrounds in business and science, the excellent community college program, and some very helpful mentors for the speed with which Moonbase Cellars became a reality.
The winery name reflects Drew’s interest in space, and he admits to fantasizing about a second tasting room on the moon, though the glasses would need to be big enough to contain the swirls. Many of the wine names have references to space, including Moonlapse, LGM GSM, and Max Q which is a series of wines made with grapes from the Rocks District AVA. A favorite wine is the LGM GSM blend, with its little green man (LGM) in a space suit on the label. The stories behind the names are on the back labels and also explained in this interview. Drew also discusses some very interesting winemaking techniques he uses such as yeast blends in his excellent Viognier and no racking for his Rhone style wines. A perk of joining the Moonbase wine club is access to the many wine education videos Drew has produced, which also contain at the end a fascinating moon fact.
Listen to the Interview: