About Us
Located in the historic and charming city of Walla Walla, Washington, Nicholas Cole Cellars was started by Mike Neuffer in 2001, taking its name from his children, Nicholas and Michele Cole. The successful release of "Camille" quickly put Nicholas Cole Cellars at the forefront of notable wineries in the Walla Walla Valley. Today, the goal is to produce hand crafted wines, using only the highest quality grapes in Washington State, while paying homage to the members of our family that so greatly influenced our passions.
Our enthusiasm for crafting wines started with a 376 case production of Claret. A Bordeaux style blend, it was composed of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon and 48% Cabernet Franc. The first vintage was crushed and fermented at Andrew Will and aged in the then newly completed Nicholas Cole Cellars winery in Walla Walla. Production was ramped up after the success of this initial blend and the wine's name was changed to Camille in honor of Mike's grandmother. The wine has varied across each vintage, an ever evolving blend, based on what the vineyards had to offer; some years Cabernet Sauvignon was the star, others it was the Merlot, but the stellar marriage of traditional Bordeaux varietals remains the constant. The 2005 vintage was a favorite of ours and prompted us to add Dauphine and Michele to the line, in order to take full advantage of the beautiful fruit produced in the vineyards of Walla Walla.
2006 offered up a small amount of Sangiovese and Nicholas Cole Cellars will proudly introduce our newest addition, Juliet, a Super Tuscan style blend, named after Mike's sister and in fond regard to a trip the two took to Italy in 2006. In the last months of 2007 we sold the original wine making facility and moved production to Artifex, a state of the art custom crush facility in Walla Walla. You can visit our recently renovated tasting room seven days a week, set in beautiful downtown Walla Walla, at 229 Main Street.