Winemaking
Winemaker - Joseph Czarny
As the winemaker for Canvasback, Joseph Czarny guides the evolution of an acclaimed portfolio that began with Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon and has grown to include Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Merlot and Riesling from the most renowned AVAs in Washington State. Having honed his craft working in wineries throughout the US, and in Australia and New Zealand, Joseph has developed an intimate, vineyard-focused approach to winemaking. Working collaboratively with legendary vineyard manager Dick Boushey and Canvasback’s grower partners, Joseph helps to guide Canvasback’s estate and its grower programs, with the goal of capturing the terroir-driven diversity of great Washington winemaking.
Joseph was born and raised in Arizona and moved to Washington State in 2013 to study enology and viticulture at Walla Walla Community College. While earning his degree, Joseph was mentored by noted professors Sabrina Lueck and Tim Donahue, who encouraged him to further his education through international experience. For the next several years, Joseph alternated between northern- and southern-hemisphere harvests, gaining extensive hands-on winemaking experience at Forgeron Cellars in Walla Walla, Domaine Serene in Oregon, Vidal Estate in New Zealand, Lambert Estate in Australia, and Rooster Hill Vineyard in the Finger Lakes region of New York, where he served as associate winemaker.
After returning to Washington in 2018 with the goal of putting down roots in the community that first inspired his love of winemaking, Joseph joined Canvasback as a harvest intern and rapidly rose through the ranks from production assistant to enologist to assistant winemaker. Throughout this period, Joseph learned the Canvasback way working alongside acclaimed founding Winemaker Brian Rudin. “In many ways, Brian represented all of the things I love about making wine in Washington,” says Joseph. “His passion was infectious, he loved to teach and share information, and he embraced a collaborative approach as we explored the diversity of Washington wine together.”
As Brian’s handpicked successor at both Canvasback and its sister winery, Greenwing, Joseph continues a tradition of crafting dynamic, complex and compelling wines rooted in the vineyards and regions they come from. As part of this approach, Joseph focuses on harvesting each site at its ideal ripeness, developing techniques to tame Washington’s robust tannins, and refining the cooperage program to elegantly showcase the natural beauty of the grapes.
Joseph lives in Walla Walla with his wife and young daughter, and enjoys woodworking in his spare time.
Home to some of Washington State’s most celebrated vineyards, Red Mountain is renowned for Cabernet Sauvignon. With ideal southwest-facing slopes and significant day and nighttime temperature swings, this small but highly prized area in Eastern Washington produces exceptional wines.
Named for the Canvasback duck, which is native to the Pacific Flyway, the wines are crafted from grapes cultivated by some of Red Mountain’s finest growers. With Canvasback, our aim is to express and develop the depth, structure and sophistication that define wines from this young and exciting appellation.
Committed to Quality
In both the vineyard and winery, Joe embraces the challenge of making a richly compelling wine that shows the complexity and structure of great Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon.
Additionally, because Red Mountain receives only about 6 inches of rain a year, the viticulture can be finely tuned, contributing to the intense, uncommon character of the wines.
Committed to Quality
In both the vineyard and winery, Joe embraces the challenge of making a richly compelling wine that shows the complexity and structure of great Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon.
Additionally, because Red Mountain receives only about 6 inches of rain a year, the viticulture can be finely tuned, contributing to the intense, uncommon character of the wines.