June 2011

Zefina, like Alder Ridge, Six Prong, and Sawtooth, was once owned by Corus Estates and Vineyards, a small company making wines in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Corus has close ties to the early history of Washington winemaking, when Associated Vinters was started by a group of Washington university professors interested in growing traditional European grapes. Associated Vintners became Columbia Winery in the 1980s, and in the 1990s, began acquiring other wineries, including Idaho's Ste. Chapelle, Pintler (renamed Sawtooth) and Covey Run (Columbia Winery, Covey Run and Ste. Chapelle were later sold to Constellation). Associated Vintners created a company called Corus to oversee these wineries, and, as Corus, created a large new vineyard in the eastern Columbia Gorge called Alder Ridge. Grapes from Alder Ridge were used in new labels, among them Zefina. In 2004, Robert J. Chowanietz was appointed head winemaker for three of Corus's labels—Zefina, Alder Ridge, and Six Prong.