Brennon Leighton of Substance Wines on Finding Washington's One Voice

I think the story of Substance is really a story of wanting to make something that is substantial and something that is really special at a very good price. That was the initial idea of it, to go out there and do all the things that you would do to make a super extraordinary wine, and to put it into a bottle that was affordable for a lot of people.

We treated the vineyards like they were lower intervention vineyards, and creating that atmosphere, but also trying to create it where we can keep the value in the wines. The transformation of what we were trying to do as a winery was to create something that had the attributes of something that was really special and well-made and expensive, but for a really good price. And that was the whole intention behind Substance. Planting vineyards with closer spacing, doing lower yields, to doing 100% native fermentation in these huge, giant tanks. This was something which no one had ever really done before; doing native fermentation in 75-ton fermenters, and doing barrel aging, and all the stuff that you would do for something that costs $80 a bottle, not something that was so much less than that. That attention to detail. That’s what Substance is all about.

When Jeff O’Neill bought Substance, it was a really perfect match. For Substance, it felt necessary. It was a bridge for us to continue and to grow as what we needed to grow. One of the things that O'Neill really helped us achieve was doing 100% sustainability and actually helping us create and form a sustainability organization in Washington, and also introducing us to regenerative viticulture. We were already going in that direction, and just their 100% belief in this, this making wine and growing grapes in this way has kind of, like, boosted us up and kept us going in the direction that we always wanted to go. So, it's been the best thing that can have ever happened to Substance. O'Neill coming in and adopting us. It feels really good, it feels natural, it feels… important. It feels all these things that have been incredibly good for us. I've also sold other labels to other people, and the transition is usually really messy, and gut-wrenching, and not fun, and this has been the complete opposite.

It's a totally different place to make wine than anywhere else in the world. And that's what makes it special, whether that's what makes it, I think it's what makes it intriguing as well, but whether people gravitate to that or not is a totally different story, but to me, there's something very special in Washington. I think that there's something very unique in Washington wines. I mean, everybody says that, no matter where they're from.

I truly believe that there is something, and I can taste that, and I think that people who have experienced Washington wines can also experience that. I think that it's really hard to take the Washington grape growing experience out of the wines that you're tasting. No matter how much you tried, that character comes through in more ways than one, and… I think that’s the magic.

Right. There's a unique perspective and voice that Washington wines have. And I think that they're important to the wine industry, and I don't think that that has been expressed very well.

Yeah, I think that there's a voice that is beckoning to be heard. I do think at times it has been heard, but, you know, I certainly think that it's in a place where we really need to spread the word. Most of the wines that are coming out of Washington, that most people get to taste, are not really the core or what makes Washington special. It’s been really hard to get those wines outside of Washington.

When you look at our little neighbors to the south of us in Oregon, and how they've been very good at expressing who they are and what they do. They got the message out to the world of what to expect from Oregon wines. This is something we need to do. We need to celebrate our uniqueness.

Yes. It’s a really exciting time. To have a shared voice. It’s all about defining what Washington wine is, whether it’s viticulturally, winemaking practices or marketing. We are truly at a point in Washington's history to be on the map for who and what we are. Almost like a rebirth in who we are for the future generations of winemakers and wine people that are going to be part of this industry for a long time. We need to get our voice out there and really show what Washington is. Washington itself can find a really powerful voice in this industry.

I’ve spent 15 years trying to put Washington State on the back labels and sell Washington State. Finally, we have the opportunity to really do that. I think this is a really positive time for the Washington wine industry.

We're just about to release a Riesling under the Substance label. Everyone's extremely excited about it. You know, one of the things I have a plethora of experience of making is Riesling. I don't think there's very many people in the world that have made as many gallons of Riesling as I have. I've been making Riesling for a long time and I think the Riesling that just got released is a really special Riesling. I think it has a lot of expression and a lot of perspective, and I'm really excited about what other people think about it. I'm getting a lot of good feedback about it. So, I think that's the buzz coming from Substance right now.

Absolutely. It comes from one of my favorite vineyards in Washington State called Evergreen Vineyard. The soils are primarily limestone and a lot of basalt and volcanic soils so it has this really pure minerality to it. And really beautiful aromatics.

Thank you, Lisa. It's really good to see you again.