John and Rebecca Otis of Velen Winery
2025 Zillah Winery of the Year
When Rebecca went wine tasting with friends in Texas, she never expected to meet her future husband. John Otis was the owner and winemaker at CrossRoads Winery, and he fell in love at first sight when he saw Rebecca. The two married in 2011, and started building their dream home in a Texas suburb not far from the winery. But a trip to the Pacific Northwest resulted in new dreams. They fell in love with the Zillah area, and with the idea of making wine in Washington. The property they purchased had a house in need of renovation and enough land for a vineyard. They moved in 2015, and started planting 3 clones of Cabernet Sauvignon the following year. A winery and tasting room came a couple years later, as did more grape varieties. In 2019, Velen Winery opened its doors to the public.
Velen Winery is located in the Rattlesnake Hills AVA area of the Yakima Valley. The site offers beautiful views of the valley, and RV camping sites for visitors. Velen’s Vineyard is small, with 3 acres of red grapes, and 1 ½ acres of white grape varieties. The couple learned about netting vines the hard way, as they lost 50% of their crop one year because they neglected to net each row individually. Velen offers a variety of wines that are both estate and sourced from other vineyards. John is partial to their estate Tempranillo, perhaps because Tempranillo is also one of the main grapes in Texas. The best seller at Velen is the FB Nineteen, a field blend of 5 grapes from the 2019 vintage.
Listen to the Interview: