Bob Lorkowski of Cascade Cliffs Vineyard & Winery
Photos Courtesy of Cascade Cliffs Vineyard & Winery
Bob Lorkowski grew up in Pennsylvania where his parents and grandparents made basement wine and moonshine for family and friends. He did his share of helping out and tasting, especially in high school. But it was college fraternity parties that really sparked his interest in wine. It seemed way more cool to him than beer. When he graduated from Penn State University in finance and couldn’t find a job, he looked to the West coast where he knew vinifera grape vines grew well. His uncle told him that WA and Australia were the up-and-coming wine regions, so he made his way to Seattle. He worked in a Seattle wine shop and then for a distributor to learn the wines of the world. One WA wine he distributed was Chinook Wines owned by Kay Simon and Clay Mackey. Bob worked at Chinook for a couple of years and learned much about winemaking from Kay and Clay.
While driving around WA with a fellow winemaker, Bob learned about Cascade Cliffs Vineyard and Winery in the Columbia Gorge. The original owners planted a small vineyard in 1986 and started the label in 1990, making it one of the first wineries in the Columbia Gorge. In 1997, the owner suggested to Bob that he purchase Cascade Cliffs, as he was ready to retire and his kids were not interested in the business. With his finance background, Bob was able to put a plan together and purchased the vineyard and winery that year. He realized that Nebbiolo and Barbera were doing best in the small vineyard, so Piedmont wines, especially Barbera, have been the focus of Cascade Cliffs since 1997. Today Cascade Cliffs has three tasting rooms, a 23 acre vineyard, and produces 13000 cases of Piedmont, Bordeaux, and Rhone style wines.
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