1. Blending Passion with Integrity

Blending Passion with Integrity For Sam Tannahill '91, W&L provided a foundation of integrity, leadership and intellectual curiosity that have guided his personal and professional life.

By Kelsey Goodwin
September 25, 2025

"As our business grew, I no longer believed that we were in the wine business. The wine, in my view, became a means to an end, and that end was to create a company culture. The cornerstones of that company culture were honor, integrity and a curiosity about the world. And those are three things I really learned at W&L."

~ Sam Tannahill '91

Over the course of three decades, Sam Tannahill '91 helped build his company, A to Z Wineworks, into one of the largest wineries in the United States and put the Oregon wine industry on the map. Along the way, he earned a reputation as a leader who infused every venture with integrity. Tannahill attributes his strong ethical compass to his W&L experience.

Tannahill's father, Samuel "Pete" Tannahill '58, attended W&L and obtained his MBA from the University of Virginia, so Tannahill was familiar with the area and W&L's reputation from an early age. The San Francisco native says he remembers being one of only a handful of West Coasters on campus but that he quickly became enamored with the warm sense of community at W&L, largely due to its foundation in the Honor System.

"Something that is taught there, through the Honor System and through daily life, is that you live your life with integrity," Tannahill says, "and you live your life with honor. I brought those ideals to my business."

Tannahill graduated with an East Asian studies major and moved to Los Angeles, where he took a job in a wine shop that would change the course of his life. After realizing his true calling was winemaking, Tannahill set out on a year-long trip traveling the world, including many parts of Asia, before landing in Burgundy, France, for what was supposed to be a temporary job during the harvest season. The six-week plan turned into more than two years of full-time work in the vineyard's cellar while Tannahill studied winemaking at the University of Burgundy in Dijon.

In 1994, Tannahill attended the International Pinot Noir Celebration in McMinnville, Oregon, and realized its diverse landscape and small family-run winery culture reminded him of his time in Burgundy. He decided to settle in Oregon and has raised three children there while growing his wine business. However, along the way, Tannahill realized he wanted more from his life and career than to simply make great wine.

"As our business grew, I no longer believed that we were in the wine business," Tannahill says. "The wine, in my view, became a means to an end, and that end was to create a company culture. The cornerstones of that company culture were honor, integrity and a curiosity about the world. And those are three things I really learned at W&L."

Tannahill focused on environmental stewardship through organic and biodynamic farming practices and systemic sustainability throughout the production process, from vineyard to packaging. He says he also wanted to make sure that anyone who joined the company felt valued and invested in the company's success and that he noticed over time that this commitment led to extraordinary employee loyalty.

"When I look at the retention that we had at A to Z Wineworks, it's pretty incredible," he says. "People worked at the company almost since the start, and that's a testament to creating a place where people want to be, not just where they feel they have to be."

Tannahill's commitment to leadership soon went beyond the vineyard.

"The wine industry is the canary in the coal mine for climate change," he says. "Sustainability became one of the core tenets of our company."

Tannahill says his vision for a company that could do good in the world guided A to Z to pursue B Corp certification, a designation for businesses that meet high standards for their social and environmental contributions, accountability and transparency.

"Instead of using the business as just a force for profit, it's using business as a force for good," Tannahill explains. "You rewrite your bylaws to work with the triple bottom line: financial, environmental and community."

Civic engagement became a core tenet for Tannahill as well. He founded and chaired the Oregon Wine Council, co-chaired a statewide food and beverage task force, served as a member of the Oregon Innovation Council and advised Oregon State University's Food Science and Technology Department. Tannahill even found himself in a small group conversation with former President Barack Obama during discussions on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an example of the skill set of listening with intention and being able to speak across disciplines that he attributes to his liberal arts education at W&L.

Perhaps it's no surprise that a man who built a winery from scratch also thrives on ultra-endurance challenges. He has run the 210-mile Hood to Coast relay 11 times, tackled 100-mile ultramarathons and trained for the 70-kilometer ultra marathon at Everest Base Camp.

"I try to get in one endurance event a year," Tannahill says. "I've heard the expression 'pain is guaranteed, but suffering is optional' when applied to these events, and that resonates with me as an entrepreneur, too. What defines you isn't what you do when times are good, it's how you respond when times are hard."

His family has now begun joining in his adventures. His son recently circumnavigated Oregon's Mount Hood in 16 hours.

"Experiences are more important to me than material things," Tannahill says, "and that's what I've tried to pass on to my kids."

Tannahill sold A to Z Wineworks in 2022. He is candid about the rarity of "capturing lightning in a bottle" twice in the same industry and is exploring how best to contribute next but says he is enjoying the process of entering a new chapter.

"One of the things that Washington and Lee gave me is the confidence to be able to face the unknown and keep moving forward," Tannahill says.

Looking back, he sees W&L's ethos as the constant in his story.

"If you can work in what you're passionate about and make a living out of it," he says, "and you can look on that with honor and integrity - that's a life well-lived, in my mind."