6 Questions With Athena Honey-Sandidge
Tanya Morning Star Darling spoke with Athena Honey-Sandidge, Wine Club Manager and Owner at C.R. Sandidge Wines in Lake Chelan, Washington, and asked her six questions about her experience in Washington Wine.
1. Did you grow up with wine in your home?
Alcohol was rarely seen outside of social gatherings in my home and those occasions usually included beer (sometimes bourbon). I was raised in Central Washington, and most of the economy in the Wenatchee/Entiat/Chelan areas were supported by rural tree farming, blue collar work, and government jobs. Wine was considered a luxury, a product indicative of wealth outside of the normal socio-economic class. I fell in love with wine while working in local restaurants as means of supporting myself while in college/university. Making better tips meant understanding the relationship between wine, food, and personal experience and taste. I instinctively wanted to know more.
2. How was C.R. Sandidge Wines Founded?
The Rising from the Ashes story ... My husband and I continued the winery in 2009 after it was first established by his immediate family in 1999 in Prosser, WA. As can happen in large family businesses, the original business model lost its focus and become easily tugged into a million expensive directions. The family decided it was best to hand the reigns to my husband (and I) because he was to person with the most obvious interest in its success. In 2009 we took the business, ran with what we had left after selling off restaurant equipment, and re-opened a small tasting room in downtown Manson, WA. It was small ... really small, but perfect for two people to manage: Ray, the production and winemaking, and me, well, everything else we needed to sell our product/wines.
Ray’s superior reputation for making high quality wines and my willingness to apply my years of accumulated knowledge in wine sales allowed us to rebuild, dig ourselves out of the debt from early years, and move into a very successful, thriving business. We’ve currently purchased the Purtteman Vineyard located above the north shore of Lake Chelan, we’ve planted with 5 acres of vines, and will proceed with construction of a winemaking facility and tasting room on the 14.7 acre location this summer.
3. On Mentorship:
I’ve had countless waitstaff and sommeliers work and correct my service etiquette and enhance wine knowledge over the past 20+ years. I’ve had passionate restaurateurs spend extra time, money, and training for me (and them) to reap the rewards of my interest in wines, as was the case at Anthony’s Homeport and Semiahmoo Resort in Bellingham, WA. My first true rock-star encounter with brilliant women in wine was with our dear friend and international wine expert Amy Mumma-Mafree. I met her in Ellensburg, WA during a staff training at a local restaurant. Her poise and knowledge was inspiring and her ability to penetrate the normally male led industry with equally impressive knowledge of the science and winemaking.
Currently, while working my way through the WSET L2, L3, and now DipWSET course, I have two amazing mentors Mimi Martin and Tanya Morning Star Darling. I participate in as many of the additional classes they provide online and feel comfortable asking them for any academic advise. As a mother, working full time for our business from home, their empathy and encouragement is priceless. I would not know what I do or be where I am if it weren’t for the constant influence and refinement of other women in the wine industry.
4. What is the value of your formal education versus experiential learning?
There are a lot of advantages to having real world and on the ground experience in the industry. In fact, it is very important. However, many people have tasted, travelled, and experienced lots of different wineries and wine regions, and some have access to the most exclusive and luxurious wines in the world. But few have the entire concept of what it takes to make a wine valuable to themselves or the average consumer, or what it really takes to make and sell it successfully. My formal WSET education and my hard acquired knowledge is more extensive than the average tasting consumer. Having a WSET degree distinguishes those milestones for me and for in the wine community. The formal WSET, Wine Scholar Guild, and other online college classes have solidified my knowledge of wine and allowed me to begin to speak with some confidence and authority in wine business.
5. What do you love most about your life with wine?
I love the personal story and the environmental context of an individual wine in relationship to human perception. It makes sense to me that every bottle created is a unique individual life, meant to be experienced only once, under particular circumstances that may or may not create an ongoing relationship. It’s personal. The mind-body connection with wine and the relationships to all of life it provides intrigues me. I can’t imagine a life without wine now.
6. Where do you hope your studies lead you?
I hope to continue to build relationships, accumulate knowledge and global wine experience, and hope to bring attention to the wonderful wines we are producing in Washington State (especially Lake Chelan, WA). Honestly, I hope my education never ends and because the industry is always changing, I don’t think is ever will. I also hope to host classes in our new facility with WSET educators for area students/guests that may want to know more about wines, receive WSET accreditation, or just have fun with particular grapes and wine regions they’ve come to love.
Follow Athena on Instagram @the_wine_bean_21
Learn more about C.R. Sandidge Wines at crsandidgewines.com
