THE HISTORIC SLOCUM HOUSE has been home to East Fork Cellars since August of 2013. Owners Jeff Waddell and Stacey Stroup hope it becomes a great place to enjoy live music as well as award-winning wines.
EAST FORK CELLARS Co-owner Jeff Waddell has been a professional musician for 30 years and is blending his love of music with his love of winemaking at the historic Slocum House in downtown Vancouver. Photo courtesy of East Fork Cellars
THE LES CELLAR RATS are shown here – Jeff Waddell, Bruce Barnes, Rich Recker, Brad Halleck, and guest guitarist Rick Sheldon – performing recently at East Fork Cellars. Photo courtesy of East Fork Cellars
THE DINING ROOM of East Fork Cellars is shown here with tasting room to the left. A limited menu, paired by Gray’s at the Park, is available during winery hours.
At East Fork Cellars, guests have discovered they can sip award-winning wine inside a gracious historic home featured on the Travel Channel’s Haunted Destination of the Week and enjoy live, local music as well as visiting musicians.
In June, at the second annual Craft Winefest held in Esther Short Park, East Fork garnered two more awards – Double Gold for their Cellar Rat Red and Double Gold for their 2012 Dry Riesling. The honors were determined in a double-blind tasting and chosen from 23 participating wineries.
Co-owner and winemaker Jeff Waddell is especially proud of the Cellar Rat, which is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.
“It’s the highest awards of the event. We’re excited to get the Cellar Rat Red because that’s our mascot,” Waddell said.
Long-time residents will remember the Old Slocum House Theatre as the previous tenant. The home was built by Charles and Laura Slocum in 1867 and has many stunning architectural features including a widow’s walk on the roof. During East Fork’s restoration of the Slocum House, Waddell broke the seal to the widow’s walk and posted photos of the panoramic view on their Facebook page, describing it as “breathtaking.”
Along with his business partner, Stacey W. Stroup, Waddell opened East Fork Cellars in Ridgefield in 2008. Once they had completed their move to Vancouver, the Ridgefield location was closed in April 2014.
Waddell and Stroup had established a strong musical following in Ridgefield and they intend to continue on that track at their Vancouver location. Waddell’s career as a professional musician spans 30 years, touring with Tommy Two Tone, Cheap Trick, Ted Nugent and REO Sweedwagon to name a few.
Drastic Measures and Les Cellar Rats, East Fork’s house band that Waddell plays guitar in, performs regularly. He’s putting together a new band called Drats!, which is a combination of Drastic Measures and Cellar Rats. They’ll focus on 70s hits in the vein of Boz Scaggs and Jackson Browne.
Hilton Hotels’ Gray’s at the Park has created a food menu for East Fork customers that pairs specifically with their wines. After a phone order, food is delivered directly to the tasting room from noon-8 p.m. East Fork is working with other area restaurants to adopt a similar service.
Although Waddell has taken some wine-making courses, the majority of his experience is self-taught. He focuses on Bordeaux blends and Italian-style wines.
“I don’t care about the varietal at all but ‘Will it be balanced in the end’? It’s all about balance. I blend just about everything,” Waddell said.
He also regards the knowledge and experience of other winemakers as priceless. Dan Anderson, winemaker at Three Brothers Vineyard & Winery and Walt Houser, winemaker at Bethany Vineyard & Winery are two of his best friends. They meet every Monday for what he affectionately calls “The Brotherhood of Pain’’ to talk about what works and what doesn’t in the world of wine.
As for the historic Slocum House location, Waddell said they’re seeing about 10 times the traffic in sales but that it also puts them in the center of what’s happening in Vancouver. They want to be a strong cultural presence and support that by displaying art by local artists and being a stop on the popular First Friday Downtown monthly event.
East Fork also has plans to complete a theatre in the back of the house for independent filmmakers to showcase their projects and reach out to actors from the Old Slocum House Theatre to be part of winemaker dinner/murder mystery theatres.
There is lots to look forward to for premium wine club members, as well. There’s a club card in the works that will offer discounts from area restaurants and shops for members. The theatre space will be available for club members and guests to bring their own movies or choose from East Forks’ extensive library of live concerts, bands, foreign films and indie movies. An exterior box seat, sponsored by an area bank, is being planned that will overlook Esther Short Park with visual access to the park’s main stage and gazebo. It will accommodate up to 25 guests and have dedicated restrooms.
East Fork still maintains its Battle Ground presence with a private winery and four-acre vineyard planted with three clones of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris. All the processing, bottling and wine storage occurs in Battle Ground. The rest of their juice is sourced predominantly from Walla Walla and Tri-Cities with Napa Valley rounding out their needs.
Room rentals such as private parties, events and weddings are available at East Fork.
East Fork Cellars is located at 605 Esther Street, Vancouver. Contact (360) 750-8000 or go to www.eastforkcellars.com.
