Sean P. Sullivan Spotlights Sagemoor Estates in Northwest Wine Report
By Sean P. Sullivan | February 9th, 2026
Sagemoor Estates puts focus on its vineyards
“Sagemoor Estates is a vineyard-focused winery because that’s what we are and that’s who we are,” says Kent Waliser, brand ambassador at Sagemoor Estates. “The winery is all built around vineyards.”
Sagemoor Vineyards is a collection of six sites that encompass 1,200 acres in Washington’s Columbia Valley. Waliser oversees grape sales. With Sagemoor Estates, the company is looking to showcase fruit by its own hand.
At present, approximately 100 wineries use Sagemoor fruit. However, far fewer put the names of Sagemoor’s vineyards on the label. Sagemoor Estates addresses this by prominently featuring vineyards on its labels, in some cases even specific blocks.
The brainchild of Waliser, Sagemoor Estates started in 2014 with a Cabernet Sauvignon made by John Abbott (Devona). In 2016, the winery added a Merlot-Cabernet Franc blend made by Chris Peterson (Avennia) and a Sauvignon Blanc-Sémillon blend made by Ali Mayfield (Ali Mayfield Wines). The brand operated as a virtual winery, selling wine direct-to-consumer via its website and private events.
Since the winery started, Sagemoor Estates has evolved. The winery now has three tiers of wines. Sagemoor’s “estate wines” target retail and by-the-glass sales. The wines are meant to overdeliver, and both the estate white ($18) and red ($30) very much do. They are among the best values in their respective categories.
Next, Sagemoor Estates has a set of “limited release” wines. These wines come from specific rows at specific vineyards. They include two wines from Gamache Vineyard (a sparkling wine and a rosé) and two wines from Weinbau Vineyard (a Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre blend and a Merlot-Cabernet Franc blend). The winery’s Without Rehearsal is a Sauvignon Blanc-Sémillon blend made in a different style from the estate wine.
Finally, Sagemoor Estates has recently added a vineyard-designated Cabernet Sauvignon series. These wines are illuminating. For the 2021 vintage, the winery has Cabernets from Bacchus/Dionysus, Weinbau, and Southwind; from the 2022 vintage, Bacchus, Dionysus, and Gamache. The wines are made similarly, allowing for a direct comparison of vineyard expression. It practically begs for a wine tasting party to compare and contrast. Ultimately, there will be Cabernets from all six of Sagemoor’s vineyards.
“We are trying to showcase the vineyards so that the winemaker’s influence shows the least possible,” says Danny Gordon, Sagemoor’s general manager. “People say, ‘Anyone could do that.’ Actually that’s the hardest job of a winemaker where you need the most talent because there’s nothing to cover anything up.”
Aryn Morell (Morell-Peña, Alleromb) was named director of winemaking at Sagemoor Estates in 2021. Gordon joined the Sagemoor team in 2023 after spending years as winemaker at Tamarack Cellars in Walla Walla.
While Sagemoor Estates has evolved since the winery started, much remains the same. The goal is still principally to promote Sagemoor Vineyards’ fruit and the exceptional wine that it creates. The hope is that this will also help the wineries that Sagemoor Vineyards works with to sell their wine.
“Sagemoor is not going to be the brand in the market holding other people back from being able to sell their wine,” Gordon says. “We’re just going to be the ambassadors, helping everybody else that uses our fruit to sell those wines.”
With many key aspects now in place, Waliser says that Sagemoor Estates is starting to gain traction.
“I think it resonates with people, because they start to really feel like they’re connected to the vineyards and to the place more than to a rock star winemaker,” Waliser says. “I think now we’ve got the components to take the brand where we envisioned it, which is really based on the vineyards, where it all starts.”
Image by Richard Duval.