• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Contact us
  • Wine of the Week newsletter
  • Wine submission guidelines
Great Northwest Wine

Great Northwest Wine

News, reviews and info about the wines of Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Idaho

  • Home
  • Subscribe to GNWW The Magazine
  • Explore
    • Wine news
    • Grapes and viticulture
    • Washington wine
    • Oregon wine
    • Idaho wine
    • British Columbia wine
    • Product reviews
    • Recipes
    • Wine Adventures
    • Podcast
  • Reviews
    • Latest wine reviews
    • Wine of the Week
    • Best Buys
    • Washington wines
    • Oregon wines
    • Idaho wines
    • British Columbia wines
  • Events calendar
    • Submit an event
  • Competitions
    • Cascadia International Wine Competition
    • Idaho Wine & Cider Competition
    • “The Invite” – Great Northwest Invitational Wine Competition
    • Platinum Awards
    • Walla Walla Valley Wine Competition
    • Washington State Wine Competition
  • About us
    • Awards and honors
    • Advertising on Great Northwest Wine
    • Wine submission guidelines
  • e-edition

Military firefighter creates Rain Shower Cellars on Whidbey Island

July 23, 2022 by Dan Radil Leave a Comment

Sean Merrill and his wife, Kim, are co-owners of Rain Shower Cellars on Washington’s Whidbey Island. They recently began working with Burmunk and Iskorka, two white varieties native to Russia, which are planted on property belonging to co-owners Craig and Kristy Anderson. (Photo by Dan Radil)

COUPEVILLE, Wash. — When Department of Defense firefighter Sean Merrill received a promotion in 2008 that took him and his wife, Kim, from Colorado to Whidbey Island, they couldn’t envision starting a winery in the tiny town of Coupeville just five years later. 

He had picked up some experience in the wine industry while living in Napa in the early 1990s prior to transitioning into firefighting. But nearly two decades had passed, and Coupeville, with a population of about 2,000 and at least 200 miles from the nearest Eastern Washington vineyard, could hardly be considered a mecca for winemaking.

And yet, it was there that the idea for Rain Shower Cellars took root, driven by a partnership with Oak Harbor natives Craig and Kristy Anderson that started in the Anderson garage. There’s now a dedicated production facility and the island’s newest tasting room.

Spark begins with work in Napa Valley cellars 

Rain Shower Cellars relies on fruit from Antoine Creek Vineyard along the Columbia River near Pateros, Wash., and Dry Lake Vineyard in Manson – which is within the Lake Chelan American Viticulturual Area. (Photo by Dan Radil)

Born in Cincinnati, Sean enlisted in the Marine Corps, which took him to California, where he met Kim in Monterey in 1995. He was in the early stages of being a firefighter at Fort Ord military base; Kim, originally from San Jose, was working as a paramedic.

A few years earlier, while Sean was living in the city of Napa (“back when Napa was cool,” he said with a smile), he worked at Beaucanon Estate and Monticello Vineyards.

“I was part of the winemaking process at Monticello, and I learned a lot from founder Jay Corley,” he recalls. “It was a great time, and I had a lot of fun, but life took me in another direction.”

After two seasons with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, he knew he had found his calling. From there, it was on to the Monterey Peninsula, and then to Colorado Springs from 2000 to 2008 before transferring to Washington state. He now is Whidbey Naval Air Station district fire chief. Kim is a nurse at Island Hospital in Anacortes.

Rain Shower Cellars takes shape with Anderson family

The tasting room for Rain Shower Cellars is one block north of Highway 20 in Coupeville, Wash., near Penn Cove Brewing Co. (Photo by Dan Radil)

Once the Merrills settled in at their home on north Whidbey, Sean made a work connection with Craig, who is fire captain for the City of Oak Harbor. The two quickly became friends.

“Craig had no experience with wine, but he liked to drink it,” Sean laughs, “and they were also making ciders at home, so that started the discussion about winemaking.”

Kim, along with Craig’s wife Kristy, a nurse practitioner in Coupeville, initially knew little about what their husbands were working on. 

“They started talking about the process, and he and Craig would scheme without Kristy and I being there,” Kim said with a grin. 

“But we had to have a better plan than, ‘Hey, we want to make wine,’ ” added Sean. “We knew Mark Hulst of Skagit Cellars, who in turn knew Carl Engebreth at Tulip Valley Winery in Mount Vernon. He introduced us to Carl, who said, ‘I’ll let you make some wine here to see if you remember if you know what you’re doing.’ We stayed with them for a year and loved the hands-on work.”

Sean went back to school, earning his enology certificate from Washington State University. The two couples purchased their own equipment, converted the Andersons’ garage near Coupeville into their production facility and licensed Rain Shower Cellars in 2013.

“After a few years, we realized, we really dig this, let’s get a bigger place,” said Sean, “and Kristy agreed. She said, ‘I want my garage back,’ ” he laughed.

They built a new facility adjacent to the Andersons’ residence in 2019, referred to as the barn, “and promptly realized it wasn’t a big enough space,” said Kim. 

Still, the facility allows the Rain Shower partners to produce 800 to 1,000 cases a year, putting them squarely where they want to be, for now, in the boutique winery category. They also finished a cozy tasting room with outdoor seating in July 2021, just off Highway 20 near downtown Coupeville.

Chelan-area vines yield Rain Shower wines

Brock Lindsay of Succession Wines and Alta Cellars in Manson, Wash., manages Antoine Creek Vineyard – a planting in the Columbia Valley American Viticultural Area that is the breadbasket for Rain Shower Cellars. (Photo by Eric Degerman / Great Northwest Wine)

Since its inception, Rain Shower has purchased all of its grapes within a short drive of Chelan. Nearly everything is off Antoine Creek Vineyard, led by grower/winemaker Brock Lindsay. Dry Lake Vineyard provides Merlot and Chardonnay.

“Brock is a fantastic guy who is doing wonderful things over there,” Merrill said. “Our relationship with him is phenomenal, and we never want to leave.”

Rain Shadow is producing all Bordeaux reds for now, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc. The Cab Franc is also made in a rosé style, and a delicious three-varietal red blend is also available.

This spring, the winery plans to release several new wines, including a 2019 Reserve Malbec, 2018 Cabernet Franc and a 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon-Malbec blend. All are from Antoine Creek, a key source for Lindsay’s winemaking portfolio in Manson at Succession Wines — Wine Press Northwest’s 2018 Washington Winery to Watch.

And just for fun, at least at this point, Rain Shadows planted its own estate grapes next to the production barn on the Andersons’ property.

The partners don’t care for Madeleine Angevine or Siegerrebe, which thrive in the Puget Sound, so they selected two other cool-climate white varieties — Iskorka and Burmunk. Those grapes, native to Russia, are turned into “friends and family wine,” though the Merrills note that once they have more time to tend to the vines, the winery may do a limited release in a couple of years.

Whidbey Island emerges as wine destination

A harvest crew pulls estate fruit off the vine at Spoiled Dog Winery on Whidbey Island. (Richard Duval Images)

Today, the quartet of owners have settled comfortably into their “second job” roles, Sean as winemaker, Kim working on “all things social media” and website-related, Kristy as the “ultimate planner” and administrative guru and Craig as cellar-rat and “the best piece of equipment you’ll ever have,” says Sean, only half-jokingly.

Being a small, family-owned winery with a wine club still in the works, and situated in a somewhat rural area, it’s Rain Shower Cellars’s appeal as a destination winery that will help drive customers.

Wine enthusiasts can explore the half-dozen or so other wineries in and around the town of Langley on the south end of the island, including Bloom’s Winery, Holmes Harbor Cellars, Spoiled Dog Winery and Whidbey Island Winery.

Visitors will also find that Coupeville, nestled along the shores of Penn Cove, is a charming town with several gift shops, galleries and restaurants. The Merrills single out the nearby Captain Whidbey Inn for excellent food and cocktails in addition to its accommodations.

For those who never dreamed they’d venture to this part of the Puget Sound in search of delicious wines, a visit to the area and its wineries should be a pleasant surprise.

Filed Under: News, Washington wine Tagged With: #WaWine, rain shower cellars, whidbey island

About Dan Radil

Dan is a journalist and retired educator who also serves as president of the Whatcom Beer & Wine Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes Pacific Northwest wines while raising funds for human and social service agencies.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Wine of the Week

Liquid Light Wines 2022 Chardonnay, Washington State $16

November 28, 2023

Latest Wine Reviews

Chehalem Wines 2019 Estate Reserve Pinot Noir, Ribbon Ridge $70

Mosquito Fleet Winery 2019 SS Fortuna Petit Verdot, Horse Heaven Hills $45

Love & Squalor 2016 Reserve Riesling, Willamette Valley $28

Yamhill Valley Vineyards 2022 Estate Pinot Blanc, McMinnville $30

Fortuity Cellars 2018 Heart of the Hill Vineyard Destined Cabernet Sauvignon, Yakima Valley $65

Spring Valley Vineyard 2019 Estate Uriah Red Wine, Walla Walla Valley, $60

Desert Wind Winery 2022 Estate Albariño, Royal Slope, $32

Wine Cruises & Safaris

National Geographic partners with Food & Wine magazine for 2024 wine cruise series on Columbia, Snake rivers

Cruising the Rhine and Moselle with Wit Cellars

Footer

Grapes

Airfield Estates Winery soars with Sauvignon Blanc from Yakima Valley

VineLines Dispatch gallery: ‘I go where they grow’ as 2023 harvest begins

My long, strange trip with Viognier

British Columbia wine industry prepares for widespread replanting

May’s heat pushes much of Northwest wine country ahead of hot 2015 vintage

Food

Match Maker: Caprio Cellars delectably achieves perfection in Walla Walla

Recipe: Prawn and Sausage Orecchiette

Recipe: Tomato Peach Gazpacho

Wine, wine cocktails, good spirit pour out at Iris Vineyards Wine Bar

Match Maker: King Estate Winery rising stars combine for elevated restaurant experience

History

Dennis Murphy of Caprio Cellars acquires Figgins shares in Seven Hills Vineyard

Washington wine leaders back HistoryLunch in Seattle

Love at first sip, thanks to Wente Vineyards

Merit, heritage surround helpful Meritage concept

L’Ecole N° 41 Winery develops lesson plan in history for Walla Walla

© 2023 Great NW Wine. All Rights Reserved.