WOODINVILLE, Wash. — The Auction of Washington Wines, one of the top five charitable wine auctions in the U.S., has named Devyani Isabel Gupta of Valdemar Estates in Walla Walla an Emerging Leader Award recipient for 2023.
This year marks the 36th annual Auction of Washington Wines, and the presentation to Gupta will be part of the second annual TOAST! Honoree Celebration on Thursday, Aug. 10 at Château Ste. Michelle.
The festive Winemaker Picnic & Barrel Auction is Friday, Aug. 11 on the winery’s campus, followed by the auction’s signature Gala on Saturday, Aug. 12. The Gala Online Auction begins Tuesday, Aug. 8 and runs through Aug. 12. Money raised helps support Seattle Children’s, the Washington State University viticulture and enology program and grant partner Vital Wines in the Walla Walla Valley.
Each of this year’s TOAST! recipients will be announced this week on GreatNorthwestWine.com.
Previously announced honorees for the 2023 Auction of Washington Wines include longtime Costco executive Annette Alvarez-Peters (Honorary Chair), Ben Smith and Gaye McNutt of Cadence Winery (Honorary Vintners) and Miguel Rodriguez of Weinbau Vineyard (Honorary Grower). Co-chairs are Cam & Linda Myhrvold and Ian & Laura MacNeil.
“The mission of the auction is to uplift the Washington wine industry through celebrated events that give back to the industry and community,” says Jamie Peha, executive director of the Auction of Washington Wines since 2019. “With the Washington wine industry as our North Star, the auction can add value to the industry by recognizing past and present icons, emerging leaders and all aspects of the industry including vineyard workers and champions of the industry.”
Gupta grew up in a Portland home that included a thought-out cellar featuring some of the West Coast’s top wines. A decade later, she was going to school in Walla Walla for a second time — this time to learn how to make wines that would match the quality of those in her father’s collection.
Her thirst for knowledge and drive soon attracted the attention of titans in the Walla Walla wine industry, leading to employment at houses such as Figgins Family, L’Ecole, Dunham and Amavi as well as an internship at venerable Seven Hills Vineyard.
Last year, at the age of 29, Gupta began calling the shots as head winemaker and viticulturist for Valdemar Estates — a five-generation company headquartered in Spain and the first winery in Washington state to be owned by a European family.
It has helped that Gupta’s Latina American mother and a beloved grandmother inspired her to add a Spanish degree during her cum laude course work in psychology at Whitman — the first Walla Walla college she attended.
Gupta’s winemaking for Valdemar CEO Jesús Martínez Bujanda produces about 5,000 cases. The viticulture education she received at Walla Walla Community College helps her to oversee a trio of estate vineyards in the Walla Walla Valley, and she also pulls grapes from some of the state’s most storied sites, such as Klipsun on Red Mountain.
Along the way, Gupta realized she owed much of her rapid rise in the Walla Walla Valley wine industry to the mentoring of Sadie Drury in the vineyards and Chris Figgins in the winery. Those experiences compelled her to help others chart their path to success.
“There are a lot of questions surrounding our industry right now, such as, ‘How do we be more inclusive?’ ‘How do we reach a broader audience?’ ‘How do we make wine more interesting and accessible?’ ”Gupta says. “I really want to have some impact there and help in those areas.”
This summer, Gupta began her term on the board for the Washington State Wine Commission, where Drury serves as the chair. And Gupta chairs the advisory committee for The Institute of Enology & Viticulture at WWCC.
Gupta also began serving as a mentor with Bâtonnage Forum, an organization launched during 2018 in Napa, Calif., to assist women in the wine industry. Annette Alvarez-Peters, this year’s Honorary Chair of the Auction of Washington Wines, is a Bâtonnage Forum board member and a mentorship program lead. Alvarez-Peters also heads up the group’s Industry Area of Focus (IAF) for Retail. The long-time wine buyer for Costco referenced those initiatives in connection with the young Toast! program.
“As I transitioned from corporate executive to semi-retired wine consultant, my aim was to support the community’s charitable needs and to give something back to our wine industry,” Alvarez-Peters says. “I felt the best means to that end were mentoring and promoting excellence for up-and-coming women and people of color, and to help develop future leaders. Much progress has been made, but much work lies ahead to achieve more diversity among wine professionals.”
Last November, Gupta was spotlighted by The Seattle Times as the cover story for Pacific NW Magazine’s profile “Meet 3 women guiding the future of Washington’s wine industry.”
It’s no coincidence that one of the first things Gupta learned working for the Martínez Bujanda family is simply that “wine is for everyone.”
Auction to reveal all Toast! recipients this week
Last year, the Auction of Washington Wines created the TOAST! program, which helps cast a spotlight on a number of those who have been key to elevating and innovating the state’s wine industry, according to Laura Kleinhofs, business manager for the Auction of Washington Wines.
“When we conceived of TOAST!, it was important that we recognize established industry leaders, but we also wanted to have a category where we would recognize those “up and comers,” those people who may not be generally recognized.,” Kleinhofs says. “We feel that the well-established folks get the bulk of recognition — locally and nationally — and we didn’t want the next generation, those newer to the industry, to feel that they weren’t being seen. That’s why the category of “Emerging Leader” was originally conceived.”
Recipients of 2022 Emerging Leader awards were Sadie Drury of North Slope Management in the Walla Walla Valley, Shae Frichette of Frichette Winery on Red Mountain, Andrew Januik of Novelty Hill/Januik in Woodinville and Lacey Lybecker of Cairdeas Winery in Manson.
“Last year, we had so many nominations for that category, we decided it made sense to honor more than one, especially since the rest of the categories arguably are geared towards those who have been in the industry for a longer time,” Kleinhofs added. “This year, it was again the most popular category, receiving the most nominations, and with so many to choose from we again decided it made sense to honor four people.”
Ste. Michelle Wine Estates is the sponsor for the TOAST! Honoree Celebration dinner and new industry after-party. Tickets and information are available here.
This year also marks the launch of the Allen Shoup Memorial Fellowship, which will award one journalist each year with a two-week research project in Washington wine country. Shoup, founder of world-renowned Long Shadows Vintners in Walla Walla, backed the establishment of the Auction of Washington Wines when he was the CEO of Stimson Lane.
Honor roll of 2023 TOAST! recipients
Monday, July 10
9 a.m. — Lifetime Achievement Award: Ted Baseler, retired President/CEO, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates
Noon — Award of Distinction: Marty Clubb, owner/managing winemaker, L’Ecole N° 41, Lowden
2:30 p.m. — Healthy Land, Healthy Communities: Hedges Family Estate, Red Mountain
Tuesday, July 11
8:30 a.m. — Emerging Leader: Becca De Kleine, GM/director of winemaking, Four Feathers Wine Services, Prosser
11:30 a.m. — Emerging Leader: Devyani Isabel Gupta, winemaker/viticulturist, Valdemar Estates, Walla Walla
1:30 p.m. — Emerging Leader: Michelle Moyer, professor, Washington State University, Prosser
3 p.m. — Emerging Leader: Ashley Trout, winemaker, Vital Wines/Brook & Bull Cellars, Walla Walla
Wednesday, July 12 – final day
9 a.m. — Vine to Wine: Eduardo Zaragoza, vineyard manager of Shaw Vineyards, Red Mountain
Noon — Wine Industry Champion: Andy Perdue, journalist, Richland
2:30 p.m. — Auction of Washington Wines Star: Gary McLean, President of GMMD Consulting, Seattle
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