The Wine Knows

Walla Walla is crowded. With something like 125 wineries, a new producer can get lost in that crowd. Those who have been around awhile have a hard-earned reputation that comes with time and quality, while new guys struggle to be more than another nondescript winery. There are two ways to do this: Make great wine, and have a great story. Meet Otis Kenyon.

First, the wines. They are spectacular, thanks to vineyard sources that include Seven Hills and their own Stellar Vineyards, both on the Oregon side of the Walla Walla Valley. But enough about that. Let's get on to the story.

According to the winery Web site, James Otis Kenyon was a struggling dentist in the early 1900s in Milton-Freewater, Ore., 15 miles south of Walla Walla. When another dentist opened a clinic, James burned it down and spent a little time locked up.

His wife left him and moved to Walla Walla, and he vanished for a half-century until his grandson, Stephen Otis Kenyon, found him living on the Oregon Coast. Everyone joyously reunited, and old James lived long enough - to 101 years - to meet his great-grandchildren, Muriel and Samuel Otis Kenyon.

"That," my wife exclaimed when I read this to her, "was one of the best black-sheep tales of redemption I've ever heard."

The grandson who found James, Stephen, started the winery with the 2004 vintage and even put old James' silhouette on the bottle (sans flames).

Most folks wouldn't air their family's dirty laundry like that. But it's a great story that goes along with some beautiful wine. And whenever you see a bottle of Otis Kenyon Wines, you'll likely think of it and smile.

And that, my friends, is how you successfully separate yourself from the crowd.