Unwined After Hours: 5/16/26 - Meet & Taste with Will Hamilton, Founder & Winemaker, Violin Wines

Unwined After Hours: Violin Wines
Saturday, May 16 from 7:15pm - 9:00pm

One of the most gratifying aspects of this business is when you are able to get in on the ground floor by supporting a producer before they get the recognition they deserve. That's not quite the case with Will Hamilton of Violin Wines in Oregon's Willamette Valley, as the reviews have come in, but I think he is still under the radar for most wine professionals and consumers in general.

Will began his wine career working harvest at Erath in 2005 and then quickly moved his way up the ranks at Northwest Wine Company, a custom-crush winemaking facility in McMinnville, Oregon, making his way to the assistant winemaker role, overseeing hundreds of wines from all over the state as well as from Washington. He parlayed this into a job with a mobile filtering company and a gig with Domique Lafon at Evening Land (which also allowed him to work along side Ken Pahlow and Erica Landon of Walter Scott fame).

Will moved with Ken and Erica into their own facility in 2013 where he traded labor for space in order to make his first vintage of Violin Wines. He quit a oenology consulting role in 2018 to pursue Violin Wines full time. He is now up to a scant 2,500 cases of wine, but this is his wheelhouse—what he can manage himself. These wines are the real deal, like Will himself, and I am proud we have them in the shop.

But, don't just take my word for it. Here is what Eric Guido said in his latest Vinous reviews, "This was a truly satisfying portfolio to taste through. The use of new oak is minimal. Balance and purity are front and center...Personally, I can’t recommend Violin highly enough."

Now is your chance to meet Will and see for yourself. We will taste six wines with paired, heavy snacks provided by the Revel kitchen.