United States · Columbia Valley

Charles Smith Wines

Washington State Riesling and Syrah from a former European rock band manager who launched with 330 cases from a 1987 Astro van.

The producer

Charles Smith spent a decade managing rock bands across Europe, based in Denmark, before a 1999 road trip to Walla Walla put him in the path of a winemaker who redirected everything. Two years later he released 330 cases from the back of a 1987 Astro van. That first case count has since grown into one of Washington State's most widely distributed wine operations, built around two flagships sourced from five appellations across eastern Washington.

Kung Fu Girl Riesling and Boom Boom! Syrah are the range anchors. Kung Fu Girl is a dry Riesling, built on white peach, mandarin orange, and apricot, with a mineral core and bright acidity that keeps the fruit from reading as heavy. Boom Boom! Syrah co-ferments with Viognier in the Northern Rhone style, weaving floral notes into a blackberry and white pepper core. Both wines carry the same directness as the origin story: loud, honest, and built for a wide table.

Known for

Dry Washington State Riesling and Viognier-blended Syrah sourced across five eastern Washington appellations

Notable facts

The story

The Name on the Label

When Charles Smith launched his 2007 Syrah, he named it after a woman. Not a vineyard, not a winemaking term, not a place. The wine was called Boom Boom!, after a woman he referred to as Boom Boom O'Brien, a first love he had not forgotten. He put the name on the label and sent it to market. The wine became one of Washington State's best-known Syrahs, sold nationally, reviewed widely, and drunk by people who had no idea the name on the bottle was a private memorial. Boom Boom O'Brien became, without knowing it, one of the more permanently remembered names in American wine.

From the atlas

Charles Smith Wines

At A Glance

The Producer

Charles Smith spent a decade managing rock bands across Europe, based in Denmark, before a 1999 road trip to Walla Walla put him in the path of a winemaker who redirected everything. Two years later he released 330 cases from the back of a 1987 Astro van. That was the beginning of what is now one of Washington State's most widely distributed wine operations.

The label sits under House of Smith, renamed as such in 2021, and draws grapes from five Washington appellations rather than a single estate. The range is built around two flagships: Kung Fu Girl Riesling and Boom Boom! Syrah. Both carry the same energy as the origin story: direct, loud, and built for a wide table.

Smith was named Winemaker of the Year by Food and Wine Magazine and received the same award from Wine Enthusiast in 2014.

Place

Washington State sits at roughly the same latitude as Burgundy, but the climate is defined by the Cascade Range rather than Atlantic weather. The mountains block Pacific moisture, leaving the eastern growing regions dry and sunny with cold nights. That gap between daytime heat and overnight chill keeps acidity in the grapes even when sugar accumulates.

Charles Smith Wines draws from five appellations within this landscape. Columbia Valley is the broad regional container, covering most of eastern Washington's wine country. Yakima Valley runs along the Yakima River and is one of the state's oldest and most planted areas, known for both white and red varieties. Wahluke Slope is a warmer, drier subzone within Columbia Valley, a south-facing incline where Charles Smith Wines sources grapes for Syrah. Rattlesnake Hills is an elevated ridge within Yakima Valley where cooler conditions lengthen the growing season. Ancient Lakes, in the Columbia Basin, sits at the north end of the Columbia Valley and is one of the cooler appellations in the state, well suited to white varieties, particularly Riesling.

Sourcing across five appellations lets the range hold both Riesling and Syrah at their respective best rather than compromising either to a single address.

Soil And Site

Eastern Washington's vineyard soils are largely wind-deposited loess over basalt, with sandy and stony layers depending on elevation and proximity to the Columbia River. Ancient Lakes, where Riesling performs particularly well, sits on fine sandy soils with good drainage that push vine roots deep and moderate fruit weight. Wahluke Slope's soils are coarser and warmer, contributing to the full-bodied Syrah character of Boom Boom!.

Story

Smith arrived in Walla Walla with no winemaking background. The meeting on that 1999 road trip was chance. He decided to stay, learned by doing, and launched with a case count small enough to fit in a van. The first 330 cases of K Syrah were poured from an operation that had no winery, no estate vineyard, and no regional reputation to borrow.

In the years that followed, the approach shifted toward high-volume flagship wines built for national distribution rather than small-production prestige bottlings. Kung Fu Girl Riesling became a label that introduced many American wine drinkers to dry Riesling at a time when the category was still widely associated with sweetness. Boom Boom! Syrah followed in 2007, blended in the Northern Rhone style with a portion of Viognier to lift the aromatics.

The Food and Wine and Wine Enthusiast winemaker awards in 2009 and 2014 marked the point at which the operation moved from regional curiosity to national story. House of Smith, the renamed parent company, now encompasses multiple labels. Charles Smith Wines remains the volume heart of it.

Vineyards And Cellar

Charles Smith Wines operates without estate vineyards, sourcing fruit from growers across the five appellations. The winemaking philosophy includes zero pesticides or herbicides in the vineyard and the use of native yeast in the cellar, choices that show in the wines as more textured and alive rather than technically smoothed.

Kung Fu Girl Riesling is kept fresh and unoaked. The goal is to preserve the stone-fruit aromatics and mineral line that come from the cool-climate Washington Riesling sites, particularly Ancient Lakes. No oak contact, no extended maceration.

Boom Boom! Syrah co-ferments with Viognier, a technique drawn from the Northern Rhone where Viognier is added to Syrah during fermentation to stabilise colour and weave floral character into the red fruit core. The proportion is small but audible in the glass.

Wines

Kung Fu Girl Riesling is a dry Washington State Riesling with no residual sweetness. The label is a deliberate push against the American habit of reading Riesling as sweet: the wine is built on white peach, mandarin orange, and apricot, with a mineral core and bright acidity that keeps the fruit from reading as heavy. It is widely available and priced for everyday use.

Boom Boom! Syrah launched in 2007. It is a full-bodied Washington State Syrah co-fermented with Viognier. The blackberry and white pepper core is joined by smoked meat notes and the floral lift that Viognier contributes. Tannins are firm and the palate is broad. The wine carries the heat and power of Wahluke Slope fruit alongside enough aromatic complexity from the Viognier to keep it from reading as flat.

Beyond the two flagships, the range draws on all five Washington appellations to cover different price points and grape varieties, with Columbia Valley serving as the broad regional base and the sub-appellations providing more focused single-origin character in specific bottles.

In The Glass

Kung Fu Girl Riesling opens with white peach and mandarin orange, with an apricot note underneath and a clean mineral line threading through the fruit. In the mouth the acidity takes over from the aromatics: bright, mouthwatering, dry. The finish is long for the price and clean, with the stone fruit fading into something more mineral and precise. There is no sweetness and no oak. It is one of the more honest expressions of what Washington Riesling can do at volume.

Boom Boom! Syrah is bigger in every direction. Blackberries come forward on the nose alongside white pepper and a low note of smoked meat. The floral thread from the Viognier co-ferment sits above the fruit and keeps the wine from closing in on itself. The palate is full and the tannins are present but not grippy. The finish is warm and long, with the pepper note returning at the end. It is a wine built for roasted meat, cold evenings, and no apology.

A Bottle To Understand It

Kung Fu Girl Riesling is the right first bottle. It is dry, which surprises anyone who expects American Riesling to be off-dry or sweet. The white peach and mandarin orange aromatics are immediate and easy to read. Then the acidity arrives and changes the frame: this is a serious white wine made for the table, not a fruit-forward pour for sipping. Start here to understand what Washington State does with cool-climate white grapes and why Charles Smith Wines built a national audience on the back of this one label.

Anecdote

When Charles Smith launched his 2007 Syrah, he named it after a woman. Not a vineyard, not a winemaking term, not a place. The wine was called Boom Boom!, after a woman he referred to as Boom Boom O'Brien, a first love he had not forgotten. He put the name on the label and sent it to market. The wine became one of Washington State's best-known Syrahs, sold nationally, reviewed widely, and drunk by people who had no idea the name on the bottle was a private memorial. Boom Boom O'Brien became, without knowing it, one of the more permanently remembered names in American wine.

Final Word

Charles Smith Wines is a Washington State operation built on two ideas: that Riesling does not have to be sweet, and that Syrah from eastern Washington can compete on the world stage. The flagships are made at volume and priced accessibly, but the underlying sourcing across five appellations and the commitment to native yeast and clean farming give the wines more character than the label style suggests. Start with Kung Fu Girl. Follow with Boom Boom!.

Sources

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