Chris Figgins

Coming Up

Washington State University is the training ground in this profile, and Leonetti Cellar in Walla Walla Valley, Washington, is the early proving ground. Chris Figgins stepped into the role of head winemaker there from 2001, where the practical demands of the cellar and the specific conditions of the region came into sharper view. From there, the work moved into his current role as CEO and Winemaking Director of Figgins Family Wine Estates. The arc is defined by stewardship: a sustained push toward estate-grown fruit and wines that register the vineyards rather than cover them up.

Where They Are Now

At Figgins Family Wine Estates in Walla Walla, the estate remains the organizing principle. Chris’s own words describe the goal without ornament: “My initial ambition when returning to Walla Walla as my parents first fulltime employee was to convert Leonetti Cellar to all estate grown.” That line marks both a starting point and a throughline. The present work follows the same logic—less about novelty, more about tightening the connection between vineyard and finished wine until the estate reads clearly in the glass.

Signature

FIGGINS, Figlia, The Caves, Estate Red Wine, and Estate Riesling are the named bottlings tied to Chris Figgins. Taken together, they sit inside an estate-driven portfolio and point back to vineyard origin as the governing idea. The range suggests a style rooted in place and balance, with the estate itself doing the heavy lifting. More than a list of labels, these wines serve as the clearest expression of the house’s vineyard-first method.

In Their Words “My initial ambition when returning to Walla Walla as my parents first fulltime employee was to convert Leonetti Cellar to all estate grown.” “We are going towards being entirely estate grown, and that pushes me philosophically towards showing off our vineyards.”