David Lake (1943 – October 5, 2009) was a Washington winemaker and Master of Wine.K. Watson '
Noted vintner David Lake passes away Monday in Issaquah after a lengthy illness
"'' ''Issaquah Herald'' October 7, 2009 Born in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

parents, Lake started in the wine industry working for a British wholesaler. In 1975 he earned his Master of Wine certification before traveling to the United States to enroll into the

enology Oenology (also enology; ) is the science and study of wine and winemaking. Oenology is distinct from viticulture, which is the science of the growing, cultivation, and harvesting of grapes. The English word oenology derives from the Greek word ' ...

program of

University of California-Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institution was ...

. In 1978 he accepted a position of enologist with the Washington winery Associated Vintners (later renamed Columbia Winery) where he soon rose to the position of chief winemaker. Among Lake's accomplishments was releasing Washington's first

single vineyard designated wine A vineyard designated wine is a wine produced from the product of a single vineyard with that vineyard's name appearing on the wine label. Throughout the history of winemaking and viticulture, the differences in quality between one plot of land ...

s and making the states first

Cabernet franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux (wine), Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire (wine), Loire's C ...

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse ...

and

Pinot gris Pinot gris, pinot grigio (, ), or ''Grauburgunder'' is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the pinot noir variety, it normally has a pinkish-gray hue, accounting for its name, but th ...

wines.H. Steiman '
Longtime Columbia Winemaker David Lake Retires
'' ''Wine Spectator'' October 17, 2006 He was the first US winemaker to hold a Master of Wine accreditation.

Career

After working in the British wholesale wine industry, David Lake earned his Master of Wine accreditation in 1975. He moved to the west coast of the United States where he enrolled in the enology program at the University of California, Davis. Upon completion of his studies, Lake spent a brief time in the

Dundee Hills AVA Dundee Hills is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Yamhill County, Oregon within the Willamette Valley AVA, and is located about approximately southwest of Portland, Oregon, and about inland from the Pacific Ocean near the town ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

working for Eyrie Vineyards under winemaker

David Lett David Lett (1939 – October 9, 2008) was the founder and winemaker for The Eyrie Vineyards in the U.S. state of Oregon. He was a pioneer in the Oregon wine industry. Lett grew up on a farm in Holladay, Utah earned a degree in philosophy and pre ...

. He also worked briefly in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA for Bethel Heights Vineyard and Amity Vineyards.H. Goldberg '
David Lake MW dies
"'' ''Decanter Magazine'', October 7th 2009 From there he joined the Woodinville-based winery of Associated Vintners (soon to be known as Columbia Winery).A. Perdue '
Washington wine pioneer Lake dies at 66
'' Seattle Times, October 11, 2009 In the early 1980s, Lake pioneered the practice of producing vineyard designated wines when he released

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

from the Yakima Valley vineyards of Otis, Red Willow and Sagemoor. Working with Mike Sauer, owner and lead

viticulturalist Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...

of the Red Willow Vineyard, Lake encouraged the plantings of the first Syrah vines in Washington. Noting similarities between the Red Willow vineyard and the La Chapelle vineyard of the

Hermitage AOC Hermitage () is a French wine ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) in the northern Rhône (wine region), Rhône wine region of France south of Lyon. It produces mostly red wine from the Syrah grape; however, small quantities of white wine ...

in Rhone, Lake arranged for Syrah cuttings to be imported into the state and produced Washington's first Syrah in 1988. By 2009, Syrah would grow to be the third most widely planted red wine

grape variety This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, Zante currant, currant, sultana (grape), sultana). For a complete list of all grape species, including those unimp ...

in Washington State. Shiraz Grapes

Through his career, David Lake would promote or pioneer Washington production of a wide range of grape varieties including

Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

Viognier Viognier () is a white wine grape variety. It is the only permitted grape for the French wine Condrieu AOC, Condrieu in the Rhone Valley (wine), Rhône Valley.J. Robinson ''The Oxford Companion to Wine'', Third Edition, p. 754, Oxford Univers ...

, Pinot gris and Cabernet franc. Among his many accomplishments, he was the first in Washington to blend Merlot and Cabernet Franc in a style similar to the

Right bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. David Lake's winemaking style was often described by wine experts, such as writer Paul Gregutt, as "

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

"-producing wines with moderate oak influence and

alcohol levels Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest of the solution, ...

Illness and death

Following the 2005 vintage, David Lake began to experience a variety of health problems, including back issues that required surgery, that prompted his retirement from Columbia Winery. After battles with

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...

and

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

, Lake collapsed in his

Issaquah, Washington Issaquah ( ) is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 40,051 at the 2020 census. Located in a valley and bisected by Interstate 90, the city is bordered by the Sammamish Plateau to the north and the " Issaquah ...

home on October 5, 2009 and died hours later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake, David Masters of Wine American winemakers Washington (state) wine University of California, Davis alumni 1943 births 2009 deaths People from Issaquah, Washington