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Avril Mooney

Avril Mooney

Senior Communications Manager at Washington State Wine Commission, specializing in wine marketing and PR.

Jul 20, 2026

50:36
Really is amazing.
50:37
And he, Gros Grain is the perfect example, too, of this kind of new wave of producers that Washington is seeing.
50:43
They are younger.
50:44
They both, him and his wife, Matt and Kelly Austin, both had previous careers as professional adults and didn't even, not even related to wine, in the business sector of Seattle and down in California.
50:56
She was, I think, a fashion designer.
50:58
And they moved out to Walla Walla, bought this property that had previously had grapes on it, and are now experimenting with what they can do with the land that they have with grapes, and they are making these incredibly, very stylistically unique wines with the help of the Walla Walla Valley community, right? So, like, plugging into the talent and to the resources that are there, and trying their hand at this with, like, such curiosity and excitement and, like, l- look at the result of that, you know? Like, is that not the coolest way to produce a product of love is, like, through genuine, like, grit and like, "Yeah, let's try this," right? Because everybody in this state, I would say, especially those that have ended up in the wine-making position, has come to wine from having fallen in love with a Washington wine, if not multiple producers, right? Like, you claim your palate, you know your producers, you like your style, and then when you try your hand at it, like, to be able to kind of, like, 2.0 that version is, it's so fun to see.
51:53
And I think that Gros Grain is a great example of that.

8 MINS LATER

59:33
Okay.

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