04/16/2026
I am super excited to be hosting a tasting featuring the wines of Kobayashi this Friday at 7pm. Winemaker Travis Allen will be in the house!
Having become a powerful force on the Washington scene over the last decade, Travis and his wife Mario have developed a vibrant following for their wines. The program highlights Rhône grape varieties, along with innovative production techniques, Japanese family heritage, and energetically delicious flavors. Their production volume is intentionally capped, allowing quality to be maintained, although the wines now sell out faster than ever.
I first met Travis and Mario back in December of 2019 at an event with Modernist Cuisine, shortly before the world changed for a while, and I was able to unearth a photo from that evening, seen below. Since then I have been lucky to get to know them as friends, while following the ascent of Kobayashi as the wines continue to gain fame.
Travis takes direct inspiration from the likes of Gangloff, Allemand, and Selosse, and elements of those legendary producers shine through in the wines. Sidestepping the increasingly busy appellation structure within Columbia Valley, the labels typically carry the unassuming title of Washington State, although exceptional vineyard sources are used, including WeatherEye near Red Mountain. This reminds me of the great Tuscan producers who have opted to use Toscana IGT in lieu of the tangled web of Chianti and other appellations, allowing the wines to speak for themselves with less noise on the label.
Speaking of Tuscany, Podere Il Carnasciale of that region has become a collaborator with Kobayashi in recent years. They became famous for their emphasis on the unique Caberlot grape variety, which they favor bottling in magnum as a default format. The collaboration bottling of “Kobayashi x Caberlot” is a superbly rare release, and we are excited to feature this wine in the lineup, along with other Kobayashi treats like the Light of The Night Marsanne dessert wine.
RSVP available on the Medium Plus website.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you can join for the event, or another one of our tastings coming up soon.
Best,
Nick
Medium Plus, Seattle