doing business as
employer: SMAK Wines founded: 2018 location: Walla Walla employees: One website: www. smakwines. com
SMAK Wines
SMAK Wines is a rosé-exclusive winery in Walla Walla with a mission to bring rosé to consumers year-round. Founder and winemaker Fiona Mak grew up in Hong Kong, worked in New York City’ s restaurant industry, and moved to Walla Walla to pursue her passion for wine. At age 32, Mak became the first Asian woman to open a winery in Washington. She helped establish the Alliance of Women in Washington Wine and was the inaugural winner of AWB’ s Diversity Award presented at the 2024 Evening of Excellence.
Jacqueline Allison
rosé all year: The vision for SMAK Wines began on a train journey through French wine country. While brainstorming winery ideas with her sister, Fiona Mak shared that her happiest wine memory was drinking rosé on a beach. While rosé is typically enjoyed in summer, Mak wanted to introduce consumers to rosé year-round, offering a different rosé for spring, summer, autumn and winter. Mak draws on her sommelier background to decide which grape variety and winemaking technique best emulate each season and suggests food pairings. All her non-sparkling wines are vegan.
new york city to walla walla: Before starting her business, Mak earned a degree in hospitality and worked as a restaurant manager and sommelier at prominent New York City restaurants. She moved with a friend to Walla Walla to round out her wine education, enrolling in the Institute for Enology and Viticulture at Walla Walla Community College. She worked several grape harvests in Walla Walla and California before founding SMAK Wines in 2018.
commitment to diversity: In 2021, Mak helped launch the Alliance of Women in Washington Wine, serving on the board as the inaugural communications director. The nonprofit works to connect and inspire women in Washington’ s wine industry through events, scholarships and mentorship programs. Mak is also involved with Bâtonnage Forum, roundtable discussions on diversity in the wine industry, and creating events that highlight woman and minority-owned wineries in Walla Walla.
permanent roots: SMAK Wines occupies a building through the Port of Walla Walla’ s wine incubator program, which provides low-cost production space for start-up wineries to grow their business over six years. Nearing the end of that lease, SMAK is looking for a permanent home. Mak hopes to bridge the gap between SMAK Wines and her second company, Wallala Dumplings, an online shop that sells frozen handmade dumplings, to bring more food and wine options to Walla Walla.
“ The beauty of the Walla Walla wine community is that everyone comes together when someone needs help. You just have to ask.”
– SMAK Wines owner and founder Fiona Mak