Nefarious Cellars began when Dean and Heather Neff returned to Washington in 2004 after training in Oregon and purchased a former pear orchard on the south shore of Lake Chelan. They opened the winery in 2006 as the sixth producer in the Lake Chelan AVA. Their work is split by design with Dean making the reds and Heather making the whites. Estate farming centers on Defiance Vineyard and Rocky Mother Vineyard, while additional fruit comes from select Columbia Valley sites. Production focuses on Rhône varieties along with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.