 |
 Wineries
around Washington are seeking grapes grown on Red Mountain, a
3,600-acre area in the Yakima River Valley. Here a driver takes a load
to be crushed. Red Mountain grapes are considered premium by
winemakers, especially for use in red wines like merlot, Syrah,
Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Yakima Valley
In the beginning was the Yakima River Valley, where the state's
earliest vinifera was planted, thanks to the urging of scientists
at the WSU Prosser Research Station.
As the Washington wine business aged, the valley changed. Like a
wine, it lost its green flavor, deepened, and developed new
characteristics. Last summer perhaps the biggest change was the
increased focus on terroir, the French notion that place can affect
the wine.
The Yakima Valley appellation is being broken up into specific
American Viticultural Areas (AVAs), a federal designation.
Winemakers hope to use the new AVAs like Red Mountain, Horse Heaven
Hills, and Wahluke Slope to express and market the distinct growing
conditions of their areas, says Gail Puryear, owner and winemaker
at Bonair Winery.
Puryear and his wife, Shirley, met as foreign language students
at WSU in the late 1960s. They pursued jobs in education and social
work in California. Two decades ago, they decided to move home and
grow grapes on five acres of weeds and alfalfa near Toppenish.
While they had good customers in the nearby wineries, just growing
grapes wasn't satisfying. So they mortgaged their farm, started
their own operation, and made their first batch in their bathroom.
Today they have a full-blown winery, including one of the oldest
vineyards in the state, which they purchased from the original
owner. "It's not hard to make good wine around here. It's not
rocket science. Just don't screw up," says Gail, the winemaker.
They sometimes sits beneath a locust tree in front of the English
Tudor-style tasting room and watch the cars come in, many with
license plates from Oregon and California, noted Shirley one
afternoon last summer.
Behind their tasting room and further south across the Yakima
River lies Horse Heaven Hills, Washington's seventh and newest AVA.
It joins the Puget Sound, Yakima Valley, Walla Walla, Red Mountain,
Columbia Gorge, and Columbia Valley appellations.
To the north of the valley is an area vying to be Wahluke Slope.
And Bonair is right in the middle of what the Puryears hope will
become the Rattlesnake Hills appellation. The area has nearly 30
growers, 23 wineries, and its own distinct set of weather, soil,
water, and cultural conditions, says Gail Puryear.
So far the AVA movement has met little opposition. But some in
the industry are cautious. "The only concern I have is that we
don't want Washington growers and wineries pitting themselves
against each other," says Ste. Michelle's Baseler. "Up to now, it
has been such a collegial atmosphere." He fears that some may start
declaring their appellation better than others. "Our position is
this state offers so many kinds of terroir. And it's all good."
At the east end of the valley, where the Yakima River bends
north around Red Mountain, the Williams family planted the first
vines for Kiona Vineyards and Winery in 1975. Today, they still
have some 30-year-old Cabernet vines in their 65 acres of grapes.
The business was co-founded by WSU alumni John '61 and Ann Williams
'63.
In jeans stained with grape juice and dust and with a sun-burned
face, their son, Scott Williams, also a Coug, looks more like a
farm hand than a recognized winemaker and winery manager. It would
be hard to guess that he crafted the stunning Chenin Blanc ice wine
that took the top award at the Northwest Enological Society judging
last summer.
He has a real enthusiasm for his product, though he's quick to
disclaim credit for it. "You don't have anything unless you have
good grapes," he says. "Red Mountain grapes make very, very
powerful, very structured wines with a lot of color and a lot of
mouth feel." Most of the people who buy grapes from Red Mountain's
vineyards use them as the backbone for their wines and then blend
in other grapes, he says.
In many ways, the Williams family has been ahead of its time
breaking sagebrush-covered land on Red Mountain and figuring out
what to grow there. In others, the small operation is just now
coming of age. Kiona's tasting room is still in the basement of
John and Ann's house, but the family has plans to expand, with
ground already broken on a new multi-million-dollar cellar and
tasting room. And now they're watching as the land around is bought
up by the likes of Hedges Cellars and Ste. Michelle. Since the
1970s, nine other wineries have popped up around them. And in 10
years, Scott Williams predicts, the whole Red Mountain slope will
be covered with grapes.
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