Kelsey Albro Itämeri came to winemaking via a long and winding road. After graduating from Georgetown University, she did a good bit of dabbling in politics, reality TV and film, natural foods, and as a bartender and food & beverage director in San Francisco. 

Ready to settle down, Kelsey looked to her homeland of Washington State and moved to Walla Walla, where her family had purchased land in the foothills of the Blue Mountains. The first year was spent moving handline in alfalfa fields, caring for a test plot of grapevines, and working harvest at Balboa Winery. 

Kelsey enrolled in WWCC’s Institute for Enology & Viticulture and interned at The Walls Vineyards and at Domaine Jean Chartron in Puligny-Montrachet in Burgundy, France. She came away with a deep appreciation for site-specific vineyard management and winemaking. 

In 2019, Kelsey founded itä wines, making minimal-intervention wines with grapes from the foothills of the Blue Mountains. Since the release of her inaugural vintage, itä has been named a “Winery to Watch” by Wine & Spirits and Kelsey was named one of Wine Enthusiast’s “Future 40” and her wines have garnered many 90+ ratings from publications such as Decanter, Wine Enthusiast, and Wine & Spirits.