The estate vineyard and winery led by Director of Winemaking Blair Trathen adds Assistant Winemaker Dallas Way, Vineyard Manager Ben Dymecki, and Distribution Sales Manager Nathalie Quick to its dynamic team
Carlton, Ore. (July 17, 2024) — Abbey Road Farm, producers of diverse fine wines in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, has announced the hiring of new top-tier talent in winemaking and distribution sales ahead of the 2024 harvest.
The winery team is led by exceptional talent Blair Trathen who joined Abbey Road Farm as director of winemaking in January of 2022 after a meteoric rise in Oregon. Beginning with harvest internships at Willamette Valley stalwarts Archery Summit, Patricia Green Cellars, and Beaux Fréres, Trathen served as assistant winemaker at A to Z Wineworks, one of the state’s largest and best known producers of quality affordable Pinot Noir, until ultimately becoming head winemaker for iconic cult producer Shea Wine Cellars in 2012. During his tenure at Shea, Trathen crafted 40 wines for the brand that scored 94 points or better with several Pinot Noir and Chardonnay bottlings landing among leading publications’ Top 100 lists.
The onboarding of the likes of Trathen, and the continuing development of Abbey Road’s capable team, signal a forthcoming era of exceptional quality in winegrowing and winemaking at the 42-acre estate vineyard and modern winery, tasting room, and working farm.
Joining Trathen in the cellar is assistant winemaker Dallas Way, an Oregon transplant who brings international winemaking experience in New Zealand and Australia, as well as experience at wineries in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range to his new role. Way’s Oregon resume includes work with some of the Willamette Valley’s most celebrated winemakers, like Maggie Harrison of luxury producer Antica Terra where Way worked the 2017 harvest. Between 2018 and 2023, he fulfilled full-time winemaking roles under Robert Brittan at Brittan Vineyards and Luisa Ponzi at her family’s prominent Ponzi Vineyards. Way brings with him to Abbey Road Farm an impressive history of winemaking in some of the region’s most respected cellars.
Of course, great winemaking starts in the vineyard, as Abbey Road Farm’s new vineyard manager Ben Dymecki knows deeply. An Atlanta native, Dymecki studied environmental economics at the University of Georgia before traveling to New Zealand’s Central Otago winemaking region for vineyard and cellar internships, followed by similar work at Carter-Envy winery in the Napa Valley. Dymecki then pursued the viticulture certificate program at Washington State University while working harvests with esteemed Oregon producers Alexana Vineyard & Winery, Failla Wines, and Dukes Family Vineyard. Most recently, Dymecki spent three years with Stirling Wine Grapes, Abbey Road Farm’s vineyard management partner, where he became enamored with the 80-acre property and its diversely-planted estate vineyard: “My goals at Abbey Road Farm are to nurture a resilient vineyard system while also encouraging biological diversity on our property, incorporating crucial sustainable farming practices,” he says. “I look forward to working hand in hand with our winemaking team to produce the most authentic estate wines possible.”
With ever-increasing estate wine quality at the forefront of Abbey Road Farm’s ongoing evolution, the team tapped veteran distribution sales juggernaut Nathalie Quick to oversee the brand’s presence in important regional markets across the country. A multi-talented native Oregonian, Quick served in the U.S. Marine Corps as an aircraft mechanic and parachute packer and graduated from Portland State University before discovering her passion for hospitality and Oregon wine. Quick spent the next twenty years in the Oregon wine industry, thirteen of which she dedicated to distribution sales management for Willamette Valley icon Adelsheim Vineyard. Inspired by Abbey Road Farm’s diverse portfolio of estate wines, Quick is looking to secure a robust network of national distribution partners that she says play a deeply critical role in evangelizing new lovers of Oregon wine:
“Most fine wine retailers and customers know the Willamette Valley’s reputation for producing exceptional Pinot noir,” she said. “But Abbey Road Farm’s diverse estate wine portfolio shows Oregon’s potential to support countless fascinating grape varieties like Aligoté, Chenin Blanc, Trousseau, Mencia, and beyond.I love seeing distributors’ curiosity piqued by what Ben, Blair, and Dallas are doing here at Abbey Road Farm, and in my new role I get to be the first in a chain of storytellers across the country who then spread the word about Oregon’s unbound potential.”
The entire crew at Abbey Road Farm now eagerly awaits the 2024 harvest which will be the first collective effort for the freshly-completed team.
