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Brian Carter was a microbiology major at Oregon State University in the late 1970s. A wine appreciation class seemed like an interesting elective, and that class spurred him to visit local wineries. His interest soon became his calling, and today Brian Carter is one of the most respected winemakers in Washington State.

Brian is co-owner of Apex Cellars with his partner Harry Aldaheff, one of the country’s best wine retailers. They founded Apex Cellars in 1990 in the Yakima Valley. This area is known for its continental climate, with warm days that ripen the fruit and cool nights that maintain acid balance.

Apex Cellars is known for some truly exceptional wines, including Chardonnay, Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot Noir and the occasional Late Harvest Gewurztraminer. It seems they have won every award imaginable. For example, in 1997 their wines won 200 gold, silver and bronze awards, a number of Best in Class, Consumer’s Choice, Best of Show, Highest Scoring and Grand Champion designations. That was a fairly typical year in a 25-year career filled with rare achievements in the wine industry.

After graduating from Oregon State in 1978, Brian headed for UC Davis where he got a Master’s degree in oenology. In his first position making fruit wines at Paul Thomas Winery, he developed a process (now an industry standard) for keeping solids from precipitating in fruit wines. Brian expanded into grape wines, and the decision quickly paid off when the Paul Thomas 1983 Cabernet Sauvignon was chosen to compete in New York City with top wines from the U.S. and Bordeaux. Carter’s wine outscored most of those entered, including first growth Chateau Lafitte Rothschild.

In another career highpoint, Brian Carter was recognized as “winemaker of the year” by “Washington” magazine, and he is the only winemaker to win this award twice. In 1996 Brian received the state’s highest honor for contributions to the winemaking industry, the Alec Bayless Award. Despite all these accomplishments, his greatest legacy may be the increased recognition of Washington State wines during his 25 years in the industry.

When Brian came to Washington State in 1980, the region had only 16 wineries and wine lovers knew little about Washington State wines. Today these wines are recognized everywhere, thanks to respected winemakers like Brian Carter of Apex Cellars.