The never-ending quest for better bubbles in the Rocks District
“Who doesn’t love bubbles? They bring joy and the promise of a good time,” says Toby Turlay, the visionary behind Ducleaux Cellars. Nestled in Oregon’s storied Rocks District, this small, family-run winery brings an unexpected twist to Walla Walla’s wine scene by focusing on deep, nuanced reds and sparkling wines crafted with French finesse and an unpretentious spirit. With a deep respect for tradition and terroir, Turlay and her husband, Chris Dukelow, have grown Ducleaux from a single-bay garage into a winery known for its vibrant, small-batch wines.
What began as a personal connection to wine evolved when Turlay, along with her husband, began blending their lives and families. Wine became their shared passion. “Chris said he wanted to learn to make wine. The next thing I knew, he’d licensed a bay in our garage,” Turlay recounts.
That spontaneous decision led them down a path of formal education at the Northwest Wine Academy in Seattle, where Turlay immersed herself in the complexities of winemaking. “By the end of my first year, we were buying property in The Rocks District of the Walla Walla Valley,” she says. In just a few short months, what began as an innocent interest had blossomed into a full-fledged commitment to a new way of life.
It wasn’t until 2019 that Turlay’s true focus on sparkling wine took root. At the time, she was experimenting with Pétillant Naturel (pet-nat), a type of sparkling wine made with minimal intervention. But making sparkling wine wasn’t a straightforward pursuit. “I had a hard time finding information on how to make it, so I just went with what I knew and made a few educated guesses,” Turlay admits. Her first creation was a rosé of Grenache she named Call Sign, an homage to her father’s love for Champagne. For Turlay, this fascination with sparkling wine runs deeper than just the final product — it’s a process that has captivated her ever since her first sip of Champagne shared with her father, a Navy fighter pilot affectionately nicknamed “Champagne One” for his efforts in smuggling cases of bubbly to his squadron. Every year since, she’s produced at least one or two sparkling wines, each one a joyful experiment in a category she feels increasingly called to.
Earlier this year, she took that passion to the next level, working as a harvest intern at Domaine Chandon in Napa Valley, immersing herself in both the traditional and Charmat methods of sparkling wine production. She spent 12-hour days, six days a week, processing 10,000 tons of grapes alongside an all-women team, mostly from the Champagne region of France. Working at one of the largest sparkling wine producers in the world, Turlay learned the intricate details of traditional methods — techniques that would go on to influence her approach to winemaking back in the Walla Walla Valley.
“Traditional Method is technical, with a lot of moving pieces,” she recalls. But perhaps more importantly, she learned that making sparkling wine is as much about collaboration and decision-making as it is about technical mastery. The head winemaker at Chandon, a trailblazer in her own right, gave Turlay a window into the precision, decisiveness and hands-on expertise required to craft wines that could stand the test of time. “Women have been instrumental in the Champagne industry, and watching the head winemaker was inspiring,” says Turlay. “Her knowledge and ability to make quick decisions about each lot were impressive. She showed me that women are more than capable of being outstanding winemakers.”
During her time in Napa, Turlay had a few moments that would stick with her. “I was one of the oldest harvest interns. Many of the interns were in their 20s and from France, Brazil, Argentina, Australia and Spain. We had a hardworking, considerate team and we were fortunate to be able to rely on each other.” But there was also a lighter, memorable moment that showed just how different the work culture could be. “Chandon gave us lockers with combination padlocks. The same locks I grew up with in school. Not one of the other interns knew how to open the locks and had never seen a lock like that. I made a lot of friends that day,” she says.
Armed with these lessons, Turlay returned to her own vineyards in the Walla Walla Valley, focusing on traditional method sparkling wines using the white Rhone varieties grown in her estate vineyard, Belle Roche. Her goal? To craft a sparkling wine with the acidity and freshness reminiscent of Saint-Peray in the Northern Rhone. Turlay’s process is still in its early stages, but her eagerness to learn, to experiment and to evolve is at the heart of her winemaking journey. “It’s all about learning,” she says.
The sparkling wine industry in Oregon is still emerging, but Turlay sees huge potential for growth. “We’re seeing more wineries pivot to bubbles,” she says. With the Willamette Valley producing exceptional Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and her own estate vineyards offering an array of white grapes ideal for sparkling wine, she’s excited to see how Oregon’s sparkling wine scene evolves in the coming years. “We’ll be one of the few wineries in Oregon making traditional method sparkling wine in the styles of famous Rhone producers.”
Whether she’s mentoring aspiring winemakers or pushing her own limits, Turlay is always learning and sharing the knowledge she’s accumulated along the way. “It’s a joyful experience,” she says of mentoring others. “Sparkling wine, in particular, is about celebrating and sharing — it’s meant to be shared with people, and I’m all about that.”
For those considering a similar path, especially later in life, Turlay has clear advice: “Why not? Be curious, make mistakes, and don’t stop learning. I’m making wine because it’s science, it’s art, and it’s something I love.”
