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Wash. winemaker, donating to vineyard workers without health insurance, to pour at Oscars event

Photo from Ashley Trout of ‘Vital Wines.’

WALLA WALLA, Wash. — A Walla Walla winemaker will pour her wine at an Academy Awards event this year. Winemaker Ashley Trout will be at a pre-Oscars event in Los Angeles on Saturday, Feb. 25.

Trout's winery, 'Vital Wines,' was started as a nonprofit; all of her earnings go to a Walla Walla health clinic that provides medical care to vineyard workers without health insurance.

Why Trout donates toward medical care for vineyard workers without health insurance

Trout said her 'surrogate grandmother,' native to Guatemala, injuries she suffered in Japan, and working with vineyards since she was a teenager -- all pulled her toward helping ensure her community members' access to medical care.

"I was raised by my surrogate grandmother," Trout said. "She's Guatemalan and doesn't really speak much English. As a kid, I would get dragged along to do the translating [at medical appointments] and it is a tough situation for kids to be in. … The kids really want to get it right, yet they've never heard any of these words in any language. That's stressful. The grandparents, on the other hand, have to divulge all of this embarrassing information about their non-functioning body parts to the person they are supposed to be in charge of.

"When you look at who is in our cellars, who is in our vineyards, how much we all get paid in the wine industry at every level -- it's a profession of love to say the least -- and how few translators there are in local hospitals, it was important to me that we call out the situation for what it is, and I think Vital has been an excellent vehicle for that.”

Another catalyst: Trout was in a serious rock climbing accident in Japan, during which she fell almost 40 feet.

She was in the hospital for over a month, undergoing five surgeries.

“I turned 23 in the hospital that summer,” Trout said.

She had worked in the wine industry in the United States since she was 18 years old, and never was offered health care.

“Wineries aren’t the bad guys here,” Trout said. “If you look at the Washington wine industry, almost all wineries are young, family-run companies with two or four people. … It’s just a tough situation to be in.”

She was thrilled that the accident happened in Japan, where she said the care was amazing and the hospital food was "stunning."

“My orthopedic surgeon flew to Walla Walla for 48 hours a few years later for my wedding,” Trout said.

Since starting Vital Wines and donating to SOS Health Clinic, she's encountered many vineyard workers who benefit from the clinic. Read about the SOS Health Clinic in Walla Walla here.

From Walla Walla to serving wine at a pre-Oscars event

At the event Saturday, Trout will serve March Cellars 2014 Chardonnay and Vital Wines’ "The Gifted" blend.

The wine she will pour from Vital Wines is a mix of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.

“Blackberry and plum, fig and woody thyme stems lead to cracked pepper and baking spices, dried papaya and rare white chocolate notes,” Trout said, describing Vital’s "Gifted Blend."

The woman in charge of organizing this year’s gifting suites for the Oscars was with a friend of Trout’s, who had a bottle of last year’s rose. Trout said that specific vintage sold out in just over a month.

“I’m glad that within that month it got into whomever’s hands,” Trout said.

How Trout fell in love with winemaking

“I've loved it since the first week,” Trout said of winemaking. “I'm a potter and a climber, so I have a long history of diving into physical, sensory and dirty jobs. I love the adrenaline rush of harvest, the knowledge that you couldn't have done any more with your day because you barely have the strength to drive yourself home. I love the dust and juice, smell and feel of a long, hard day. I love crashing in front of a fireplace in December. I adore long, fancy dinners -- all of it. Any job where you can justify putting on Carhartt overalls and black tie in the same week -- that's the kind of bipolar I can get behind.”

Trout’s father is a "true southerner," she said. He can sit with his loved ones and friends for hours, just talking, often with a glass of red wine in tow.

Her husband, Brian Rudin, is also a Washington state winemaker.

"In August, you walk around deserts with the wind blowing dust in your face as you kneel on the ground and get in and out of dirty old trucks, usually with dogs in tow -- a helping hand makes the day seem more pleasurable," Trout said, describing winemaking "You check on vines, get your hands dirty with grape juice, smush berries to taste and run sugar and acid levels -- sometimes with machinery, sometimes just by taste. You look at the weather constantly."

Trout said that aside from professional athletes and surgeons, she can’t think of any modern-day jobs that rely so heavily on a person’s honed and sharpened senses.

“It gets pretty hectic with dogs, chickens, children, harvest, travel and work schedules, but what keeps us healthy and happy is that we both love to live life to the fullest and that usually entails being outside, being with people, eating and drinking, and usually all of the above," she said.

Dinner held involves ticket holders, vineyard harvesters

Vital Wines also hosts a dinner each year, April 5 this year, where every ticket sold is also a donated seat for a harvester who harvested for Vital or a donor who gave money to the winery.

“We take over all of Whitehouse Crawford in downtown Walla Walla, and it is a night unlike any other in the valley where all winemakers get together,” Trout said.

"Even if you don't speak the same language, everyone here speaks the language of good food and wine -- and there is a bond in that."

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Posted by Vital Winery on Tuesday, January 3, 2017

So honored to be part of the Academy Award festivities this year. #winning #tellingeveryoneaboutimporantthings #wine #cheers #havingfun #honored

Posted by Vital Winery on Tuesday, January 24, 2017

We'll be open 11-5 tomorrow because here at Vital, we like #takingcareofeachother See you tomorrow.

Posted by Vital Winery on Friday, December 30, 2016