Doug Frost and Taylor Oswald of Echolands Winery
A college degree in theatre and a Mormon upbringing are not obvious foundations for a career in wine, unless you’re Doug Frost and Taylor Oswald. Doug’s acting background enabled him to impersonate a wine steward colleague at his first restaurant job with such skill, that he won a wine sales contest. He was hooked from then on. Taylor’s life of abstinence was changed by a visit to L’Ecole 41 and a gift bottle of Seven Hills 2002 Cabernet just after he turned 21. He then pursued a Master’s at WSU in Food Science, focusing on winemaking biology. Doug is now one of the most knowledgeable people in the world about wine. In fact, he is one of only three people to hold both the Master of Wine and Master Sommelier titles. Taylor is the winemaker at Echolands Winery, founded in 2018 by Doug Frost and Brad Bergman, both residents of Kansas City.
Echolands opened its downtown Walla Walla tasting room in January 2022, and is thus one of the town’s newest wineries. The first estate vineyard, Taggert, was purchased in the Sevein area in 2017 and planted in 2019. A second 340-acre site purchased more recently sits at the foothills of the Blue Mountains, and offers terroir very complementary to Taggert’s. The new site will be home to a spacious, state-of-the-art winery and tasting room offering stunning views of the Blue Mountains and the Palouse. It is scheduled to open in August 2023. Doug and Taylor are crafting some unique wines, including a light Grenache with a bit of fizz that is perfect for summer sipping. They also plan to experiment with some grape varieties not currently seen in Washington. Assrytiko (Santorini) vines are already planted at Taggert, and we may see some Fer Servadou (SW France) and Narince (Turkey) in the future. Listen to this interview to learn more about these grape varieties, the differences between the Master of Wine and Master Somm exams, ways in which Echolands wines are unique, and much more.
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