Winemaker
Trey Busch
- Discipline
- Winemaker
- Based in
- Walla Walla, Washington, United States
i. Biography
Coming Up
Training at University of Georgia preceded a working route through service, retail buying, and wine business before the cellar became the fixed point. Trey Busch served as a navy veteran at United States Navy in near Seattle, then worked as a buyer at Nordstrom in Seattle area (1992–2000). Those rooms put discipline around presentation, customer reading, and commercial judgment before those skills were applied to wine. The move into Walla Walla wine came through a wine business role at Dunham Cellars in Walla Walla, WA (from 2000). That step placed Busch inside a region where vineyard work, cellar decisions, sales, and community are tightly linked. The craft narrowed from general taste work into the practical trade of making and selling wine from place. Sleight of Hand Cellars is now the house where Busch works as co-founder and winemaker.
Where They Are Now
The Co-Owner and Winemaker role at Sleight of Hand Cellars in Walla Walla, United States, joins production, hospitality, and business under one set of daily decisions. For Busch, the work requires cellar practice, vineyard patience, blending judgment, and the ability to keep the finished bottle connected to the people who drink it. The cellar method at Sleight of Hand favors minimal intervention, native-yeast fermentations, native malolactic fermentation, minimal-to-no new oak on Rhône varieties, lees aging until final blending, and elegant, age-worthy wines focused on vineyards and fruit. Busch states the position plainly: “Our winemaking philosophy leans towards minimal intervention, allowing the vineyards to show their true selves.” He also says, “Our goal is to make elegant, age-worthy wines that deliver complexity, and puts the focus on the vineyards and the fruit.” Syrah carries a major share of the cellar’s identity. Sleight of Hand makes several Syrah wines and has a club for customers who want only Syrah wines in annual shipments. Psychedelic Syrah is a single-vineyard Syrah from Stoney Vine Vineyard in The Rocks, which Busch considers the most unique AVA in North America. In that frame, fruit and site lead; the cellar is used to support, not cover. The working culture is stated with the same directness: “Our only goal from the outset has been to make world class wines while having the most fun that is legally possible.”
Signature
Signature bottlings include Archimage.
Acclaim
Seattle Magazine named Sleight of Hand Cellars among The Next Generation of up-and-coming wineries in Washington State. The same publication also named the winery among The Next Cult Wineries.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Trey
What is Trey Busch's current role?
Trey Busch is winemaker at Sleight of Hand Cellars.
Where did Trey Busch train or study?
Trey Busch trained at University of Georgia.
What is Trey Busch known for?
Sleight of Hand makes several Syrah wines and has a club for customers who want only Syrah wines in annual shipments.
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