Dec 15, 2004
Devin Derby, 47, whose Spring Valley Vineyard wines rank among the best from Washington, died Monday in a Seattle hospital from injuries suffered in an automobile collision late last month.

Derby had been a professional photographer, and his wife, Mary, had worked as a restaurant manager and wine director in Chicago when they returned to Washington in 1998 to help make and market wine at his family's farm outside Walla Walla. The family had replanted some of its wheat land to vineyards in 1993, got plaudits from wineries that bought the first grapes, and started making wine in 1998.

Spring Valley's wines have earned high ratings from Wine Spectator; both the 2001 and 2000 vintages of Uriah, a blend of Bordeaux varieties that centers on Merlot and Cabernet Franc, scored 94 points on the 100-point scale. The wine is named after Uriah Corkrum, Devin's great-grandfather, who started farming in Walla Walla in the 1880s. Devin's parents, Dean Derby and Shari Corkrum Derby, own the 650-acre property, 40 acres of which is set aside for vineyards.

Even though Devin came to the business without any academic training in winemaking, he was respected and well-liked in the Walla Walla wine community. He shared winemaking responsibilities with Mary and Shari.

"We're kind of going by the seat of our pants," the soft-spoken, boyish winemaker once said while pulling barrel samples in the tin farm shed that served as the winery. "But the wines are coming out the way we like to drink them."

The Nov. 28 car accident severed Derby's spine and required more than 13 hours of follow-up surgery. He had been airlifted to Seattle for treatment.

While the family was at the hospital in Seattle, friends in the industry pitched in to help run the winery and the tasting room, and Derby's assistant, Serge La Ville, continues to oversee the 2004 wines in barrel. A fund was being established at the Baker Boyer Bank in Walla Walla to help the family with uncovered expenses.

In addition to his wife and parents, Derby is survived by his 2-year-old son, Simon. A memorial service is scheduled for Dec. 21 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Walla Walla.