It was 2014. Craig Leuthold, the co-founder of Maryhill Winery with his wife, Vicki, was lying in bed with what he describes as “one of the worst fevers I’ve ever had as an adult, just soaking the sheets.” The phone rang. The call was from the 415 area code. Leuthold says he thought it might be a vendor who needed assistance, so he answered. The caller told him that Maryhill had just been named “Winery of the Year” at the San Francisco Chronicle International Wine Competition, one of the more prestigious such competitions in the country.
“I was barely able to get through the conversation,” Leuthold recalls. “I kind of nonchalantly said, ‘OK, thanks for calling and letting me know.’ Honestly, I was thinking it might be one of my friends in the industry calling to punk me. After I hung up, I thought the guy on the other end must think I’m some kind of weirdo, so I handed the phone to Vicki and asked her to call back the number that was on there. A few minutes later, I heard her shrieking in the other room: ‘Oh, my God!’”
It was the first and — to date — only time that a Washington winery has been so honored.
“That stands out as one of the greatest moments for Maryhill because [winemaker] Richard [Batchelor] had been with us for six years and all the wines were his,” Leuthold says. “We knew that he had a special talent after his first vintage with us in 2009. We felt that he’d be able to have wines show their highest and best, and that proved to be true.”
Leuthold and Batchelor say they both believe that when a wine is labeled as a varietal (i.e., cabernet sauvignon or chardonnay), it should be composed of 100 percent of the variety.
“We made a choice early on that we wanted all our varietal wines to be 100 percent unless it was a purposeful blend,” Leuthold says. “We want to give people an understanding of what a variety tastes like and what terroir really means.”
For Batchelor, that translates to taking a “minimalist approach” in the cellar.
“I truly believe that great wine is made in the vineyard, not the cellar,” he says. “Nature and the vineyard deliver most of what ends up in the bottle, so my role is to respect that and gently guide the process to highlight the best characteristics of the fruit.”
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Maryhill sources its fruit from more than 20 vineyards in seven appellations (growing areas) across Washington, and Batchelor works closely with the growers so the fruit can be harvested at optimal ripeness.
“The goal is always intense flavors, complexity and balance — wines that showcase the purity of Washington fruit with elegance rather than heavy manipulation,” he explains. “It’s about letting the vineyard and the vintage shine through.”
Today, Batchelor crafts more than 65 unique bottlings annually, utilizing more than 35 grape varieties. The depth and breadth of the lineup led the Washington Wine Awards to name Maryhill “Most Valuable Producer” in 2022. There have been other “Winery of the Year” honors, including in 2009 and 2015 from Wine Press Northwest, and most recently in 2025 from the Dan Berger International Wine Competition in Sonoma County, California.
The medal haul from the Berger competition numbered 75, including triple gold and best of class for the 2024 Classic Riesling, as well as gold and best of class honors for the 2024 Albariño RSV, 2024 Carmenere EM and 2023 Syrah Eritage.
The overall medal count for Maryhill now tops 5,000, which is, Leuthold points out, more than any other Washington winery.
Batchelor says the recognition is validation of the approach that he and the Leutholds have embraced from the moment they began working together. And while much of the work takes place in the vineyard, he suggests “the true heart of my work begins in the most enchanting moment: tasting the wines themselves.”
As the blending trials begin, Batchelor says that “some wines are straight-up delicious and nothing further is needed. They need no intervention; they simply ask to be bottled as they are, a pure expression of the varietal and vineyard. Others call for gentle guidance: an adjustment to balance, to soften an edge or lift a hidden layer — always with restraint so the wine’s own character remains the star.”
In other words, Batchelor uses a deft touch of science to make nature shine as bright as possible.
“In these tastings, the cellar becomes a sanctuary of connection,” he says. “Between grower and grape, vintage and palate, restraint and revelation. It’s one of the deepest pleasures of this craft to witness, and occasionally nurture, the wine’s emergence into its fullest, most authentic self.”
The approach breeds success, and success enables the Leutholds to support events such as Inlander Restaurant Week as the official drinks sponsor — something Craig Leuthold describes as “a pleasure” since they are Spokane residents and Maryhill has a tasting room in the Kendall Yards neighborhood.
“Wine can help build community in so many ways, and we enjoy being part of the Spokane community,” he says.
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