Us.
We’re Candice and Steve, partners in life, love, and wine.
In the summer of 2023, Candice took Steve to visit Freed Estate—her family’s vineyard in Umpqua Valley, Oregon, for the first time. Steve loved it and said he might want to plant some grapevines at his place in Battle Ground, Washington. Candice suggested he try making wine first to see if he enjoyed it enough to commit to the hard and sometimes devastating work of owning a vineyard.
We started Química Winery that summer. ‘Química’ means ‘chemistry’ in Spanish. The name is a celebration of the chemistry between us, the chemistry of winemaking, a nod to Steve’s love of Chemistry, and an homage to Steve’s father, Miguel, a Spanish-speaking immigrant who came to the U.S. to pursue a better life, and whose hard work, dedication, and love have made our winery possible.
In the fall of 2023, we bought a ton each of Tempranillo and Syrah from Freed Estate and made our first wines with a winemaker. It was a crash course in winemaking that came with a lot of life lessons. In 2024, Candice started the Winemaking program at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon, while Steve built the winery at his home in Battle Ground, Washington.
Química Winery is a small operation, but we have big plans that we’re excited to announce as they come to fruition.
In 2026, we're finally ready to release our first wines, a two-pack called Summer Madness, comprised of the 2023 Midsommar Muscat and the 2023 Summer’s End Syrah. These wines are so fun, and we’re so excited for you to try them. Learn more about these wines.
We knew from the start that we wanted to have a business that supports artists. Candice’s mom is an artist who has transformed the family vineyard’s tasting room into a gallery for local artists to show and sell their work. From our first release, we chose to pay artists to use their work for our labels and other marketing materials. We plan to have an annual fellowship for artists, whose work we will support and showcase. We are looking for more ways to support artists, and we will update you when we learn new ways to do that. Learn more about the artists.
We also knew from the start that we wanted to give back to our communities. From our first release, we chose to give a portion of the proceeds from our wine sales to organizations doing good work in our communities. We are looking for more ways to support our communities, and we will update you when we learn new ways to do that. Learn more about the organizations.
For more about this journey, check out our blog, where we tell the story of this wild ride from the beginning up to now.
About Steve
Steve has lived in Battle Ground for over 30 years. He graduated from Battle Ground High School, worked in the family business here, and raised his daughter here. His background in Chemistry (B.S., University of Washington) and his longtime beer brewing hobby made him a natural at winemaking. His past life as a mechanic and degree in Mechanical Engineering (B.S., Washington State University) means he can fix all the things that break in the winery constantly. If you know, you know. He also has an MBA (University of Utah), so hopefully that will pay off for this winery’s business success. We’ll let you know!
About Candice
Candice grew up in Kailua, Hawaii. After graduating from law school (B.A. & J.D., University of Hawaii), she moved to Portland, where she raised her two daughters and built a respected estate planning law firm. Being a lawyer has made her uniquely equipped to fill out all the paperwork that comes with owning a winery. So. Much. Paperwork. It also means she had to go back to school to learn how to make wine. She attended Chemeketa Community College’s winemaking program and loved every second of it. If anybody cares, she has a 4.0.