Melissa Dineen and Brian Mackey of Dineen Vineyards and Winery
Photos courtesy of Dineen Vineyards
Although Pat Dineen pursued a career in banking, he had grown up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. A love of the land and farming life was in his DNA. He and Lanie also loved wine, and visited many of the world’s wine regions. When Pat retired from banking, the idea of planting a vineyard seemed very attractive. The couple looked at property in California and Walla Walla before settling in 2001 on 12 acres in Zillah. They purchased 80 more acres the next year and today Dineen Vineyards has roughly 100 acres of vines, all in the Zillah area. In 2022, Pat and Lanie passed ownership of Dineen Vineyards on to their daughter Marissa, whose career in finance and time spent in Europe prepared her well for developing a wine brand. Under her leadership, Dineen is becoming known for its wines as well as its excellent fruit.
Marissa Dineen is a force in the Rattlesnake Hills AVA, working with The Hills organization to raise awareness regarding the uniqueness of this special terroir and its wines. In March 2025, she hired Brian Mackey as winemaker for Dineen Vineyards. Brian brings a wealth of winegrowing experience to Dineen, most recently as head red winemaker for Chateau Ste. Michelle. After overseeing more than a million cases of red wine from vineyards across the state, Brian is really looking forward to the more focused approach of making the best wines possible from a single vineyard. Marissa and Brian have plans to develop a new range of ultra-premium Dineen wines, in addition to the excellent lineup they are known for. Learn more about these exciting plans, the importance of mouthfeel in wines, the advantages of constraints in winemaking, and much more in this interview.
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