The Mad (Wine) Chemist: Meet Erica Orr of Orr Wines
This month we sat down with Erica Orr, an independent wine chemist who turned full-time winemaker. She has spent nearly three decades proving that the best bottle isn't just the one you save, it's also the one you put on your table any night, with friends or a good meal.
Harvest Hopping Around the Globe
Erica’s interest in wine dates back to 1998 when she was considering her wine education path and applying to the UC Davis program in California. Some of the best she was given was being told to go get her hands dirty first. During this time she met winemaker Aaron Pott and his advice was simple: "Work a harvest before you even think about applying to UC Davis." She listened, working her first harvest in Napa Valley that year before starting at UC Davis in 1999.
Every fall quarter, she'd take time off to chase another harvest, Napa in 2000 then Russian River Valley in Sonoma County in 2001, Burgundy, France in 2002, and finally Yarra Valley, Australia in 2003. She signed her master's thesis from Australia and graduated that March.
In 2003 she moved to Washington State and never left. Since then she opened and began running an independent wine chemistry lab serving small, family-owned wineries in Woodinville. In 2013, she launched her own brand, Orr Wines, focusing on fresh, delicious wines intended to be shared at the table rather than kept in a cellar.
Delivering Freshness and Value
Ask Erica what guides her winemaking and she won't talk about prestige or cellar-worthiness. She'll talk about value and freshness at the table. "I want my customers to enjoy my wines with friends and family, sharing a meal together," she says, and that idea shapes every decision she makes.
Her wines get picked less ripe, which naturally keeps alcohol levels down. She skips new oak entirely, aging instead in stainless steel drums and older oak barrels that won't compete with the fruit. Her release cycle moves fast, on purpose, so what's in your glass still tastes like what came off the vine. Freshness, brightness, a finish that makes you want another sip.
The Lineup: Five Wines, Five Reasons to Love Them
Old Vine Chenin Blanc is where it all started back in 2013, and it's still the backbone of the brand. Erica built it for Seattle's seafood scene: seared halibut, shrimp curry, fish tacos, crab boils, raw oysters though she'll be the first to tell you it pairs well with just about anything.
Grenache brings bright cran-raspberry fruit with savory notes of black tea and fennel underneath. Restaurants have paired it with everything from cedar plank salmon to roast chicken to smoked tofu — proof it's as flexible as it is distinctive.
Salumeria, a Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, and Merlot blend introduced in 2023. It’s named for the Italian word for deli — the place you'd go for prosciutto and salami. Translation: build a charcuterie board and pour this!
Oregon Pinot Noir is the outlier in the lineup, the only wine sourced outside the Columbia Valley, from an organic, dry-farmed vineyard in the Willamette Valley. Erica loves pairing it with steak salad then using the leftovers sliced with lettuce, blue cheese and pickled shallot for a snack. It's a cheese-plate regular, too.
Royal Slope Red is a mission based label that Erica started during the pandemic as a charitable giving project honoring vineyard workers, made from donated Merlot grapes from Stillwater Creek vineyard. 100% of profits go to the Columbia Basin Health Association's mobile clinic, funding pop-up preventive health screenings for the vineyard workers. To date, she's raised $33,000. The label itself is striking too — a black-and-white linocut by artist Christie Tirado depicting workers harvesting the grapes.
Building Inclusive Community
Wine production is still a male-dominated corner of the industry, and Erica noticed the informal networking that happens for the guys — a beer after work, a casual conversation that turns into a job lead or a mentorship. Women in production didn't have the same built-in space. So she made one: happy hours for women in wine production, a place to network, trade resources, and build real friendships.
That's how she met Jamila — she showed up to one of Erica's happy hours, and a partnership was born.
Erica shows up for her community in plenty of other ways too. She's active on social media, where customers tag her in photos from book clubs, restaurant celebrations, and backyard happy hours of their own. She writes a blog and a Substack newsletter with updates from the vineyard and the lab. And she's a regular presence at tastings around local restaurants, wine bars, and grocery stores, not because she has to but because she loves connecting with customers.
Twenty-nine vintages in, Erica Orr is still doing exactly what she set out to do: making wine you don't save for later. You just open it!
Follow Orr Wines | Instagram | Facebook
Find her wines at WeRise.