WALLA WALLA, Wash. — Alex Evans is part of Precept Wine — one of the fastest-growing wine and spirits companies in the U.S., with a portfolio representing American wine regions throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho and New Mexico.

“We acquired Waterbrook Winery from the original owners in 2006 and built a new winery and tasting room,” she said.

Waterbrook was the fourth winery established in the Walla Walla Valley — a premier wine region in Washington, in the southeast corner of the state.

“We are nestled between two of the other top four founding wineries — Woodward Canyon and L’Ecole 41,” she said.

Established in 1984, Waterbrook was originally launched by the Rindal family.

“Their goal was incredible quality and great value to their customers with affordable expressions of this wonderful wine in Washington,” Alex said.

“We became known early on for our red wine blend that we call mélange. This beautiful blend of mainly Bordeaux red varietals put Waterbrook on the map.

“Today our mélange continues to be a top-selling wine, along with our Chardonnay,” she said. “We also have incredible varietals from Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet, Chardonnay. We are also well-known for our aromatic white wines and rosette expressions.”

Though everything is produced in Walla Walla, this winery also sources grapes from vineyards outside the valley, to explore all that Washington has to offer.

The present winery was built in 2008, and the tasting room hosts year-round events.

“The wines we sell specifically at the tasting room are produced by John Freeman, who has been our winemaker more than 20 years,” she said. “We have a great team and are lucky to have John. He’s been with Waterbrook longer than we have.

“He sets the tone and established the taste profile for the winery and the wines.”

Raised in Napa Valley, Calif., Freeman began his wine career with seven years at Franciscan Vineyards and five years as cellar master at Miner Family Winery.

Intrigued by the growth of Washington state wines, he joined the Waterbrook winemaking team in 2003 and was promoted to lead winemaker in 2005. His winemaking philosophy is simple: Make the best wine possible.

“John has an incredible team around him; many of them have been there more than 20 years, as well. They know what they are doing and work well together; they are like a family, and it’s fun to visit the winery and see them at work,” Alex said.

Waterbrook’s estate vineyard was planted in 2009 in the Spring Valley area — the northeastern corner of the Walla Walla Valley AVA.

“There are only two vineyards in that viticulture area, surrounded by golden wheat fields. We source a lot of the wines for our tasting room from this vineyard,” she said.

The tasting room is adjacent to the Waterbook Winery, with a pond between them.

“We focus on quality and value, making sure that our offering is an incredible expression of Walla Walla,” she said. “We want people to walk through the door and be instantly in a Walla Walla state of mind. It’s a slower pace and people can enjoy food and wine in good company. We also focus on our food program and ‘beyond wine experience’ and make sure consumers can soak into this relaxed lifestyle.

“They can sit on our patio and enjoy a meal. We have a full kitchen, well known for our Waterbrook Burger. Our flatbread has also been popular, as well as some of our appetizer boards.”

They also have ice-cold beer, wine slushies and “something for everyone,” she said.

“We also offer kids’ flights; we have a milk flight and a juice flight,” she said.

“We are family friendly and dog friendly if people want a family outing. This year we started a picnic program; people can grab a bottle of wine or two and select a great picnic basket to take out to the lawn area.”

The pond has trout and people can enjoy catch-and-release fly fishing.

“There are also walking paths and games. People can stay and play,” Alex said. “We have a golf course, basketball court and they can play horseshoes and corn hole out on the lawn.”

This oasis is like a mini resort where people can get away from their daily routine.

“It is difficult for many wineries to accommodate large groups, but we have this luxury of land so it’s a great spot to host group events,” she said. “It provides adequate space that’s peaceful, comfortable and aesthetically pleasing.”