Josh McDaniels

Coming Up

The practical foundation of a winemaking career is often built in repetition: long seasons, close work in the vines, and the slow correction of style through daily decisions. Josh McDaniels spent his years through 2015 as winemaker at Figgins Family Wine Estates in Walla Walla, Washington, in exactly that register. In Walla Walla, where precision and ambition are part of the working vocabulary, that early chapter placed him in a region that measures skill through patience as much as instinct. Role expansion can change the scale of the job without changing its craft. In 2015, McDaniels moved to Doubleback Winery in Walla Walla, Washington, where he also served as CEO and director of winemaking. The combination of titles points to a practice that extends beyond cellar work into the structure of the winery itself, with responsibility not only for the wine in process but for the decisions that shape how that work is organized and presented. A regional through line often matters as much as a title. After Doubleback, McDaniels worked as winemaker at Bledsoe Family Winery in Walla Walla, Washington, then moved into his current work at Bledsoe-McDaniels, where he has been winemaker since 2019. Across those chapters, Walla Walla remains the constant frame, marking a career defined less by detours than by accumulated attention to one place and its requirements.

Where They Are Now

Leadership in winemaking can mean holding both the cellar and the business in view at once. Cabernet Sauvignon is the clearest marker of his focus. McDaniels’s specialty is Cabernet Sauvignon, and that concentration gives his work a direct line from grape to house style. The point is stated plainly in his own words: “Philosophically, we believe owning the land and working the land yourself is the most unique and personal reflection of how wine is ultimately enjoyed.” The line places land stewardship at the center of the job, treating ownership and farming as the finished wine. Taken together, these roles keep McDaniels active in Walla Walla while holding Cabernet Sauvignon at the center of the work for which he is best identified. The arc is one of continuity: early technical training, then broader operational responsibility, then a sustained emphasis on a single grape and a single region. The result is a career built around fidelity to land, process, and the people doing the work.

Signature

The signature wines associated with McDaniels are Ensemble, Walla Walla Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, and Walla Walla Valley Merlot. The names point to composition, site, and varietal focus—the basic coordinates of the work.

In Their Words “Philosophically, we believe owning the land and working the land yourself is the most unique and personal reflection of how wine is ultimately enjoyed.” “I think that beforehand experience really rooted me with some great fundamentals prior to getting a more formal education.”