Louis Skinner, Winemaker

A native of the Pacific Northwest, Louis was first introduced to wine while living in Los Angeles, California. The wine scene in LA has a long history of passionate amateurs which Louis stumbled into through a friend. After experiencing a flight of classic wine examples from regions in France and the Napa Valley, Louis was fascinated and needed to know more.

This single tasting changed the trajectory of Louis’ life and career ambitions.

Following a couple of years of intense book study and plenty of regular tasting, Louis returned to the Pacific Northwest to enroll in South Seattle Community College’s enology and viticulture program. Not long after beginning his coursework, a retail sales opportunity presented itself, and Louis began working for the Redmond-based wine retailer, Fine Wines. This provided the much-needed tasting experience to accompany his book studies.

Louis’ time working in the retail sector provided valuable interaction with both local and traveling winemakers from around the globe. For several years, Louis’s studies balanced school, sales work, and travel. His interest in old, rare, and collectible wines added dimension to his studies, providing insight into the influence of quality on the evolution of wine in the bottle.

Louis spent his formative winemaking years working alongside both Bob Betz (Betz Family Winery) and Chris Upchurch (DeLille Cellars).

Both mentors helped shape his perspective on the winemaking approach and helped further his study of the global wine market.

In 2014 Louis was asked to “come home” to take over the winemaking responsibilities at Betz Family Winery. During his tenure at Betz Family, Louis embraced the culture of constant improvement, working tirelessly toward refining and redefining all aspects of the wine growing and raising process.

When asked about his approach to winemaking, Louis’s response is centered around mindset rather than process:

“The foundation of great wines are great grapes. Grapes are the product of agriculture and as such, vary each year. To get the most out of each unique year, we must be willing to continuously adapt and view the process with fresh eyes each harvest.”

When asked about the future of wine quality at Force Majeure, Louis offers insight:

“What differentiates the greatest wine estates in the world is never one single skill or value. It’s a combination of many small decisions working together. That said, if I had to identify one attribute that elevates the worlds greatest wine estates, it’s the ability to be critical of one’s work and willing to improve. Combing through our decisions each year, from the vineyard to the bottle, identifying what works and what doesn’t, and leveraging that intel. Nothing is more powerful.”

Louis joined Force Majeure in April of 2025 with a focus on building a culture of excellence through highlighting the unique skills and perspectives of the entire Force Majeure team. Louis points to our vineyard efforts as the foundation of quality, but is quick to add, “the people are the key to elevating wines and wineries. The grapes may provide the raw material for great wines (our potential), but the people who present our wines to the world are what make them most special. The ability to translate all that goes into a bottle of wine is what makes the greatest wines so compelling. To gain an understanding of exactly why a wine tastes so special is often the most valuable part of enjoying a wine. Wine is a craft, an art, and a science. It can express a place, a time, and the viewpoint of the people who grew the grapes and raised the wine. But above all, it is an experience that only reaches its greatest expression through presentation and storytelling.”

When Louis isn’t working on wines, he’s enjoying the Pacific Northwest life with his wife Lauren and cats Lucy and Winnie